Prairie Sociology

Terrorism on the Prairie

2009-03-25T23:29:00.004-05:00

One of the battlegrounds of the war on terror is our own backyard. Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri was a citizen of Qatar and a legal resident of the US, living with his family and attending Bradley University. Al-Marri is on trial in a federal court in Peoria.

Al-Marri had been arrested in 2001 and charged with credit card fraud in 2002, but was then detained as an enemy combatant and transferred to a brig in South Carolina in 2003. He was held there without charges and without access to a lawyer until 2004. He's been involved in complicated litigation since then. He was finally released from the brig in February 2009, only to be arrested for terrorism charges and transferred back to Peoria. Although he wasn't transferred to Guantanamo, he was isolated from other prisoners, denied access to all reading materials other than the Koran, and subjected to extreme cold.

The bottom line is that with the change of administration, al-Marri is going to be tried by a civilian court rather than these ginned up military commissions. And the conditions he was subjected to in the brig are likely to come out.

If those of us on the Prairie can possibly make it, the federal courthouse in Peoria is going to be the place to be for the next several months.

Obama's Civil Rights Appointment

2009-03-25T20:05:00.003-05:00

It's hard to be upset at Obama given what he's up against and what he's done so far to restore the rule of law to this beleaguered country, but this was a bit disappointing.

The LA Times reports -- and the NY Times editorial page rues -- the fact that Obama bypassed Thomas Saenz, a prominent civil rights lawyer and the counsel to the Mayor of Los Angeles, for an appointment to the Civil Rights division of the Department of Justice.

Saenz has been an important voice in the effort to make the rights of immigrants an important civil rights issue -- a frame for immigration policy that is sorely in need of development. In our policy debates, it is frustrating that immigration policy is so often discussed in terms of "homeland security" or law enforcement or border control or lots of other things that seem to involve weaponry. What's lost in all that discussion is the fact that immigrants, especially those who are undocumented, have basic human needs that don't always get met -- that is, immigration is a longstanding and pressing civil rights issue.

Saenz was trying to address those problems. In his legal career, he has led the effort to protect immigrants from unwarranted police raids, and he's worked on trying to secure rights to social services for immigrant populations. But because of these efforts, he's been labeled as an extremist. Google his name and see all the hysterical right wing propaganda that bubbles up.

Obviously, we don't know for sure, but that right wing hysteria is probably what kept Obama from naming Saenz to this post. But Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) noted the irony for us: “In what other position do you find that your life experience, your educational knowledge and commitment to an issue actually hurts you?”

Don't get me wrong -- it's all an improvement over the past 8 nightmarish years. Still, I sense that there will be more disappointments like these along the way.

A Crime Against the Collective Consciousness

2005-07-07T10:47:00.000-05:00

London

Closing the Plant

2005-07-06T18:38:00.000-05:00

I've recently been on hiatus from the blog due to working my 9 to 5 this summer (just more evidence that I am destined for academia where I can make my own hours). However, last night my Dad told me a really sad story, that is worthy of a blog.

My father worked for most of my life in a large plastics plant in Connecticut. About eight years ago, he went into business for himself. He told me that yesterday, some of his old friends from the plant stopped by the business to tell him that the plant was closing. They gave the employees the 5th off with pay, and then told them they were out of a job. No warning, just a meeting attended by everyone at the plant...and the local police. Some of my Dad's friends had worked there for over thirty years. No deals, no early retirement, just laid off.

I asked my Dad if the workers had a union, and he said no. Surely, if they had representatives, the abrupt closing of the plant would not have happened. They would have had some notice, or some form of severance pay. I understand that from a purely economic standpoint, the company probably found the plant expensive to keep open, and it may have been losing money. The cost of living in Connecticut is high, so opening a plant down south or offshore is more cost-efficient. But the people who put years into this job, figuring they'd retire from the plant are now jobless, with their age working against them in an already competitive job market. Even if the plant was losing money, it is owned by one of the wealthiest companies in the world (whose name I'll omit for the purpose of the blog). I cannot believe the company did not have the money to compensate its workers at all.

While I am not very theory savvy, after hearing this story, I can begin to understand what Marx is talking about. The working class is powerless against the bourgeois unless they unite. As long as there is competition for jobs, and people willing to work for less and less money, with no union representation, the worker will continue to be exploited. I want to go further with this, but I feel somewhat under-qualified...anyone want to help? Possibly a fellow blogger who is teaching theory this summer whose name begins with an E?

Unpopularity is good, ask Weber

2005-06-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

In Science as a Vocation, Weber made me chuckle on two different points.

1. His skepticism of popular courses (and popular teachers to be more precise).
2. His claim that mediocrity rises to the top of academia, not the cream. This is due to rules of cooperation. If you’re too good, you’re too different, and we don’t want to play with you.

Yeah, all this coming from the graduate superstar himself. Is he attempting humility? Or is he crediting his privileges for much of his success? Regardless…

On the first point, he is slamming huge popularity as a sign of not quite adequate teaching. In some cases, I agree. There are many easy ways to slack off and make the students favor you the more for it, or simply suck up to them/bribe them to give you higher scores on teaching evaluations…groveling, ick. However, aren’t there a lot of popular teachers who work really hard at teaching well and are popular perhaps because of personality traits to boot? For all the unpopular conscientious teachers out there, Weber will stroke the old ego. It’s because you’re sooo good that you’re not hugely popular.

On the second point, I laughed out loud. Partially because of the irony that he was writing this, and partially because there is some truth to it -- case in point, W.E.B. Du Bois. By mediocrity, I took him to mean a meticulous status quo thinker, not the really creative foundation-questioning thinkers. They are doomed to the margins, with cult-like followings. Hah! I laugh again. I love when I stumble over things like this I missed the first time. Oh, but did you see the ASA president-elect?

Anyway, so if you don’t rise to the top and aren’t a really popular teacher, then maybe you are just too good...or maybe not.

Neko Case

2005-06-12T11:55:00.000-05:00

We saw her on Friday. She tuned her own guitars. Had a great band. And her voice live was flawless, definitely up there for me on "best performances live." I tried to get a picture I would've posted on the blog, but I couldn't turn off the flash and so it was just the back of a bunch of heads. There were many guys, and girls, there with obvious crushes. There's just something about her voice. The HighDive is a great rock bar, too. It's a lot of fun to see a band perform in such an intimate setting (this is where we saw My Morning Jacket a couple years ago as well).

WMD's, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, Downing Street memo and Iraq: They aren't going away

2005-06-06T20:15:00.000-05:00

One month ago on May 6, Joe Conason wrote about the Downing Street memo on Salon.com. He asked

Are Americans so jaded about the deceptions perpetrated by our own government to lead us into war in Iraq that we are no longer interested in fresh and damning evidence of those lies? Or are the editors and producers who oversee the American news industry simply too timid to report that proof on the evening broadcasts and front pages?

I have to admit, when I first saw the memo, the answer to Conason's first question for me was "yes." The only reason I knew about it, however, was because I read alternative media sources. Had I just read the New York Times or the Washington Post I don't think I would've known much about it.

Becoming jaded can be disempowering, like, we might hope it all just goes away. Media stop talking about it (if they started), and accept it. But, ho, the New York Times calls for the permanent shut down of Guantanamo Bay*, as does Senator Biden after Amnesty International's damning assessment of the prison as the "gulag" of our times.

Vigilance is key to preventing death, such as the 77 US service women and men killed in Iraq in May 2005. Remember the 1000 dead? Well, we are approaching 2000 dead, at over 1800 already. Who really knows how many Iraqi's died last month or in total?

But vigilance, there is. Rallying around the damning evidence of the Downing Street memo >Downing Street memo, a congressional investigation is being called for to see if the president and members of his administration conspired to mislead the public. Led by Representative John Conyers, there are over 133,000 signatures petitioning for the president to respond to questions raised by the memo. Have you signed it yet?

UPDATE: Jimmy Carter is now calling for the shutdown of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.

UPDATE 2: Republican Mel Martinez also calls for closing of Gtmo.
* Guantanamo Bay's website boasts of being the oldest overseas naval base, but doesn't fully mention how this naval base was acquired. The "brief history" just mentions a treaty, conveniently ommitting the war that forced the treaty. So I'll tell you. It was acquired through the imperialist Spanish-American War (Cuba was previously a colony of Spain), in which the US took Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Samoa, and Guam as it's colonies (the justification for which was the US was a more "benevolent" patron), and officially participated in formal imperialism.

I was just wondering

2005-06-06T10:08:00.000-05:00

if anyone has a suggestion about a film that displays some of Durkheim's concepts from The Division of Labor (mechanic/organic solidarity or interdependence/anomie). I'm not really looking for methodological stuff, this is for theory.

I've been looking for months and can't find anything that fits well enough. I had considered I Heart Huckabee's for anomie, but...there's too much pomo going on top of it all, don't you think? I guess if I can't find anything, the poor kiddies will have to listen to me make references to "Fiddler on the Roof."

Jazz Therapy

2005-06-03T10:24:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we went to hang out with my brother in Chicago. We took in a Cubs victory. By the way, they are on a kickass winning streak with some of their most talented players injured. And we went to the Greenmill, a former speakeasy of Al Capone's and current jazz club. We waited an hour to get in the doors. It was worth it. The sextet playing was so good, and the bar itself was just so much better the "unce unce unce" dance(?)clubs downtown (I can't stand those places).

Seeing the jazz group play, reminded me of my trumpet playing days. The only thing I liked about band was jazz band (marching band was the pitts, but you had to do it all). Our jazz band won awards in junior high. Then, I didn't like the highschool jazz director (also my 6th grade band teacher), so I didn't try out. I stayed in band and joined the quintet, which I didn't like because of the pressure (if you messed up everyone knew) and the music - classical just wasn't as fun for me. I got into chorus instead. But I still love listening to jazz, and I miss helping make it.

So, I've been on a jazz kick lately. I'm thinking of learning to play jazz piano. I never was that attached to the trumpet, and anyway, my younger sister uses the trumpet I used, which my aunts also used (it's a kind of family heirloom I guess). Jazz provides that great balance and tension musically that could be a therapeutic release. Which, let's face it, you have to find in graduate school unless you want to allow your dissertation to hold dominion over your life. And drinking just isn't enough for me anymore.

Grassroots Activism targeting Wal-Mart

2005-06-01T21:24:00.000-05:00

A grassroots movement is afoot targeting Wal-Mart's lack of healthcare benefits for employees. Two groups Democracy for America and Wake-Up Wal-Mart, specifically, are responsible.

I was talking to one of my relatives, employed by Wal-Mart, about trying to start a union at Wal-Mart. She's on the spunky side, so I wondered what her thoughts were on the issue. She wasn't too interested because she knew what Wal-Mart does to successfully and unsuccessfully organized employees. Her assessment was it was a catch-22. She needed the job to take care of her kids, and she didn't have a lot of alternatives. She also needed the healthcare and a better wage, but...you take what you can get to put food on the table.

Do you think with these kinds of groups involved there will be new leverage on the table for employees trying to organize? or do you think it will make a difference? Will Wal-Mart pay attention to a few consumers if they don't to employees?

What Now?

2005-05-25T12:21:00.000-05:00

Trying to give voice to just how bad things are for our (attempt at) democracy was/is the impulse behind a lot of blogs. Many of these blogs are, as often noted, part of a movement to get questions asked that aren't otherwise being asked by the mainstream media.

The clamoring over the lies, and calling them lies, is now, thankfully, nothing new. The irresponsibility of much of the media is also now a given. War for profit, institionalized violence for which individual soldiers are being held responsible, are all a part of daily realities. After numbing out under the crushing weight of the Bush re-election, people are starting to regroup and say, "what now?"

Bill Moyer's Speech at Conference Assails Right Wing shows how angry he is at the strong arming of the media by those in government and the complicity of much of the media by not asking questions that matter. Angry enough he said, perhaps, to get him out of the "rocking chair" and back behind the "anchor chair."

Molly Ivin's article, "They Lied to Us" once again outlines how the government leadership really did lie. But she talks about asking a question, "Since I believe one of our greatest strengths as Americans is shrewd practicality, I thought it was time we moved past the now unhelpful, 'How did we get into his mess?' to the more utilitarian, 'What the hell do we do now?'" But still she talks about how we got into the mess without addressing the "what now."

I just saw Seymour Hersh speak in early May, here on campus. The last question in the question/answer session, was basically, "What do we do now? We know it's bad, but what do we do? How do we keep on keeping on?" Hersh's response was more or less, just keep moving. At the conference Moyer's addressed on Media Reform, people also left mad and energized, but feeling they were without a plan. It appears people are looking for direction, but for someone else to give it to them.

Howard Zinn, not just lamenting the troubles of today, but encouraging change states in his address "Against Discouragement" at Spelman College:

I want to remind you also that when the war in Vietnam was going on, and young Americans were dying and coming home paralyzed, and our government was bombing the villages of Vietnam -- bombing schools and hospitals and killing ordinary people in huge numbers -- it looked hopeless to try to stop the war. But just as in the Southern movement, people began to protest and soon it caught on. It was a national movement. Soldiers were coming back and denouncing the war, and young people were refusing to join the military, and the war had to end.

The lesson of that history is that you must not despair, that if you are right, and you persist, things will change. The government may try to deceive the people, and the newspapers and television may do the same, but the truth has a way of coming out. The truth has a power greater than a hundred lies. I know you have practical things to do -- to get jobs and get married and have children. You may become prosperous and be considered a success in the way our society defines success, by wealth and standing and prestige. But that is not enough for a good life.

Remember Tolstoy's story, "The Death of Ivan Illych." A man on his deathbed reflects on his life, how he has done everything right, obeyed the rules, become a judge, married, had children, and is looked upon as a success. Yet, in his last hours, he wonders why he feels a failure. After becoming a famous novelist, Tolstoy himself had decided that this was not enough, that he must speak out against the treatment of the Russian peasants, that he must write against war and militarism.

My hope is that whatever you do to make a good life for yourself -- whether you become a teacher, or social worker, or business person, or lawyer, or poet, or scientist -- you will devote part of your life to making this a better world for your children, for all children. My hope is that your generation will demand an end to war, that your generation will do something that has not yet been done in history and wipe out the national boundaries that separate us from other human beings on this earth.

There is a yearning for change, but no one seems to know exactly what to do next. Are we all waiting for that "charismatic leader" to follow? Who would "we" all agree to follow anyway? Would it matter as long as s/he had that charismatic magic of appearing to have all the answers? And by the way, who are "we"?

If it's democracy we are looking for, how does following "the one" help us really achieve that end? Can we not use our own minds to figure out what we are capable of doing individually and find links there to working cooperatively and then collectively?

The hand wringing is with good reason. There are serious issues ahead to attend.

However, people are doing little things all over, and as Zinn said those little things add up. Given the current crises, it seems something big is the only answer, and that is what we are lacking, Something Big. It seems like everything's been tried, or at least that's how some jaded activists feel and lend as their interpretation of their experiences. But I disagree. There's a lot to do, and people are doing them, as a reminder...

1. Demanding an Exit Strategy from Iraq. Local Demonstrations, anyone? or How about trekking to DC in September? This is big. Don't forget that Military families are organized against this war, actively speaking out as are many soldiers. This is an historical break.

2. Staying on the Media dereliction. After the conferences critical of the media in the past month, I noticed the News Hour with Jim Lehrer had an actual alternative media representative on as a voice for discussing recent Uzbekistan murders. I'd never seen that before. An incremental change, but change nonetheless.

3. Single issues, like gay marriage, healthcare, social security, are getting disparate groups involved in the political process and giving more opportunities to get questions asked in a way that is framed beyond the Republican/Democrat tiny way of thinking. I, for one, plan to get certain people t-shirts for Christmas that say "Jesus was a Socialist"-- I can't wait for following discussion.

There are just a few things going on. I don't think sitting behind our computers writing on blogs will be enough, but it is one of those little things that can add up. The bottom line is people are doing things; but, of course, we should challenge ourselves to get more creative, make more connections, and get collective with our individual practices.

I don't think we need a charismatic leader. I think that may be exactly what we don't need. We need grassroots organizing, everyday people getting involved. This way we'll stop looking to others to tell us what to do and start figuring out the answer to that question for ourselves and with our own networks.

So, what now? Now that you know what I've been thinking, what do you think? Do we dare look to ourselves for answers to problems? If no, why not?

Star Wars or USA 2005?

2005-05-24T15:42:00.000-05:00

Caution: This post contains Revenge of the Sith spoilers.
I'm not a big enough fan of Star Wars and George Lucas to have any idea what his political leanings and hawk/dove status are, but there were many things in the new Star Wars movie which may have been hints (or may have just been products of my overactive imagination - what do you think?). Certainly there was much that made ME think of our world today. Quotes aren't exact, I'm sure, but are as close as I can remember.
1) Right before his duel with Obi-Wan, Anakin/Darth Vader says "You are either with us or against us" leaving no room for disagreement or gray area, compromise or creative thought. Sound familiar?
2) Conversation between Obi-Wan and another Jedi (Mace Windu?) about Anakin's apparent conversion to the dark side of the force: "When you see only in absolutes, you have joined the side of the Sith."
3) Senator Padme Amidala to Senator Organa, just after Chancellor Palpatine announces to the Senate that he is elevating himself to emperor and changing the republic to an empire: "So this is how democracy falls: with thunderous applause." The Senators, whose jobs were being eliminated, were among Palpatine's most vocal supporters.
4) One particularly striking line ("I have brought peace and justice") was spoken twice: first by Darth Sidius/Palpatine to Anakin/Darth Vader, and later by Anakin to Padme as he rationalized the murders - including those of children - which he had just committed. Instead of bringing peace and justice, however, what in fact had happened was takeover and mass murder. The war, which had been started by Palpatine himself, was ended because he, Darth Vader, and their clone troups had physically and brutally eliminated all dissent.
5) The showdown between Yoda and the new emperor took place in the deserted (and now presumably unneeded) Senate rotunda.
6) When asked by Padme whether he could really turn against Obi-Wan, Anakin responds that Obi-Wan and the other Jedi betrayed the Chancellor - the head of the republic - and that "My loyalty stays with the Republic". Immediately afterward, Anakin shows that his loyalty is not to the republic at all, because he doesn't bat an eye when his mentor dismantles the republic in order to name himself emperor.
7) Despite his claims that he was joining the Sith in order to save Padme, the second she disagreed with him Anakin began to use his power to choke the life out of her. This part reminded me of this administration's approach to women's rights to their bodies (professing to value life and to wish to protect women even as they take steps which endanger lives).
So - sci-fi fun, or political statement?

Musical Batons

2005-05-20T09:28:00.000-05:00

Something to post for fun? Sure, I'll play (after some technical difficulties with Mozilla). Brayden passed on this musical baton, which I accept in the spirit of TGIF.

Total volume of music on my computer: Right now, 15.82GB. Some CD's still aren't in the library, but my most precious albums are of course. Like Tina, I'm kind of surprised I have more than the AZ boys. In all fairness, some of this music is the likes of Tom Waits and The Bottle Rockets. These are not mine, but T and I share iTunes.

Last CD I bought: Aimee Mann, The Forgotten Arm (a couple weeks after T gave me Kathleen Edwards, Back to Me: so awesome it's worth mentioning here).The Forgotten Arm is a story. Classic Aimee.

Song playing right now: "You've Had It With You," Paul Westerberg (iTunes shuffle selection)

Five Songs I Listen to A Lot, Or That Mean A Lot To Me: This is going to be a mix of most listened to music and my therapy.

1. "Rowing Song," Patty Griffin, Impossible Dreamers. We just saw her in St. Louis in April at The Pageant--an amazing venue--at the opening show of her current tour. She's so tiny and has this huge voice. I want to be Patty's friend. We'd have great conversations.sigh.

2. "Good Things," Kathleen Edwards, Back To Me.

3. "We are Nowhere and it's Now," Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake It's Morning. Because we are nowhere and it's now, sometimes.

4. "Bring the Funk," Ben Harper, Diamonds on the Inside. Because Ben Harper is hot, and because sometimes we need to get out from the desk and dance.

5. "If You Knew," Neko Case, The Tigers Have Spoken. Neko is coming to Champaign in June and we're definitely going!

Five People to whom I'm passing the baton:

*Carolyn
*Anne
*Heather
*Laura
*Kareem

All from Prairie.

just a little girl

2005-05-16T21:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to the McDonald's playland with my son; I've been remembering a little girl (approximately 4 years old?) ever since. She was running around, jumping and climbing and moving very quickly and very agilely. As she did so, she chanted, "You'll never catch me!" After a few minutes of this another child approached and, apparently thinking that the other child was in fact trying to catch her, the little girl changed her tune to "No, I'm just a little girl! I'm just a little girl!"
I've been trying to imagine the circumstances under which that phrase became engrained in her mind. Was it when a well-meaning parent tried to explain to a bigger child that s/he had to be gentle with littler children? Was it because someone influential in her life truly believes - and says to her - that there are certain things that, as a little girl, she can't or shouldn't do?
I've also been wondering what exactly that phrase means to the little girl (and to millions of other little girls), and how that meaning will change as she grows up. Will it change to "I can't do math - I'm a girl" or to "I can't run or throw right - I'm a girl" or "Take care of me please - I'm just a girl" or even "When my boyfriend/husband/significant other hits me, what can I do? I'm just a girl"? Is she learning not only to doubt her own abilities but also to use femininity as a way to get out of doing things that she actually can do?

A Horror Story Since its Friday 13th

2005-05-13T15:13:00.000-05:00

When I sit at my desk I have my legs wrapped around like a pretzel in my chair, usually leaning on one side. This is not good for my back, but I do it unconsciously, and only notice when my leg falls asleep or my back starts hurting. I’m thinking about this a lot since I’ve been at my desk writing and revising and rewriting. I’m trying to break the habit.

But, when I took my area exams, I had one week to answer two questions, each requiring about 15 page answers (of course I went over, just a smidge). I was writing my ass off, in another zone, for the entire week. So by the end of the week when I handed in my exams, I noticed I’d really hurt myself. I mean the pain went from the back of my left thigh up through to my lower left back continuing up through to my right shoulder blade. It was the most painful back problem I’ve ever had.

So I went to get a massage the next day. The horror begins. This was only my second professional massage in my life, so I was excited. I went to a place on campus with an advertisement out in front (get a recommendation first!!). She seemed nice enough. So I went into the room where the massage was to take place, undressed and got under the sheet. Everything normal so far, right? I thought so.

Then she came in and was really chatty. First of all, I was exhausted. Second, I’m not usually that talkative and when I’m getting a massage I’d like to just relax, not have to make conversation. I needed to be healed for godsake; I was in serious pain. So I tell her about the pain and my exams, hoping she'd get the hint I was exhausted. In fact I think I said I was exhausted. She then asked what program I was in, (and this is where it all started I realize looking back) and of course I answer sociology.

I think she mistook me for a psychologist and thought she might get some free therapy while she tried to work out my kinks. A half hour goes by (I was paying for) and she had told me about all three of her unhappy marriages! Trying to be a generally nice person I attempted to console her, also praying she'd stop. I could see she was snowballing.

Then, she proceeded to tell me how horrible of a mother she has been for her daughter and starts CRYING!! I was laying there face up, under a sheet, as she did some funky thing with my leg. She had to stop the massage, go outside the room, leaving the door open, while I laid under the sheet, naked and completely vulnerable! I mean I’m not a prude, but c’mon.

Finally, after a few minutes, she came back with tissues and finishes her story. By then, I no longer felt like being nice. I was pissed. I went to be treated for some serious pain, not give some free therapy. However, I was still naked under the sheet. So, she had me trapped. She finished her story, rather than finish my massage. Left, this time closing the door.

I dressed quickly. Paid for the services not rendered, and left no tip. I hadn't imagined such drama could happen during a massage. I’d also never realized being confused with a psychologist could have such dire consequences.
*I had to update the title to make clear this didn't happen on a Friday the 13th.

Women's Reproductive Healthcare, or "Stay Away from Me Doctor!"

2005-05-12T10:06:00.000-05:00

This article,Procedure On Women In Labor Adds Risk, on the often needless procedure of episiotimies, is a little dated; however, it is still important to raise the issue of women and reproductive healthcare. I know THE DOCTOR told a lady I know very well, every time she had a kid (and she had five), she had to have an episiotomy. He told her,"It will be better in the long run," when she specifically asked him not to do an episiotomy (after she was experienced at the whole child birth thing). He did this even though she told him that was the hardest part of recovering from child birth. "It's better than tearing," he said. She's going to be a nurse now, so she'll get her revenge on THE DOCTOR uninformed on women's reproductive healthcare, and hopefully help out some other women.

But another significant and irreversible problem with the reproductive healthcare women receive is, "if there is a problem, solve it with a hysterectomy." Take it all out! It is so overprescribed for women with a very hard recovery since it is major, invasive surgery. And, again, irreversible. There are cheaper, less invasive, ways to deal with many of the problems women have, rather than just taking it all out. I know another very strong woman who was prescribed by her DOCTOR to have a hysterectomy. She said "no," and I'm going to get a second opinion. She was in her middle 30s, and still has her uterus.

*I have had good experiences with the women's health doctors at McKinley.

Frank Rich: Conservatives Heart South Park

2005-05-01T23:51:00.000-05:00

Frank Rich had a piece in the NYTimes today that discusses the Terri Schiavo South Park episode I previously commented about. If you want to check it out, here it is. He also talks about censorship. Its a great article, I would write more, but I should be writing a paper...

Eggs, the gift that keeps on giving

2005-04-27T16:52:00.000-05:00

According to the Stem Cell Guidelines Issued by a board of scientists and ethicists, women should no longer be paid for their eggs. However, according to the board there is nothing wrong with making a gift of one's eggs, and they can reuse them indefinitely! Katie previously posted on the issue of women being paid for eggs and the corresponding problems, which is partly what led the board to this decision. However, I can still sell my eggs for about $6000 a pop (up to 6 times safely according to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine). They like to recruit us hyper-educated types. Kieran's post today has a sample of his forthcoming book and the issues involved in selling/donating one's organs or blood, which is obliquely related so I mention it. Commodification of, harvesting of, gifts of...body parts, it's all so fascinating. What do you fertility researchers make of this?

Update: Link to Katie's previous post now works.

Race and Genomics

2005-04-24T21:59:00.000-05:00

On the resourceful Sociologists for Women in Society listserv, Barrie Thorne pointed to the Race and Genomics discussion being addressed on the Social Science Research Council site. They are responses to an article written March 15, 2005 by Dr. Armand Leroi about "race" being a genetic/scientific reality. Two responses are from Troy Duster, ASA President, and Ann Morning, also a sociologist.

This is a must read for social scientists researching/teaching with "race" in mind. It would be a fantastic teaching tool as well.

Grad Students at Yale and Columbia Strike

2005-04-19T11:53:00.000-05:00

UIUC, after many years of organizing, unionized and got a contract in the last couple of years, a topic on which I blogged. From discussions in the comments of this post, it looks like soc grads at Wisconsin could take some of these complaints to their union, which led the grad employee union movement by organizing in 1969. Unions have grievance procedures which would strongly encourage that many working grievances be addressed if the department is really of no help.

Our fellow grads at Yale and Columbia are striking to be recognized as a union. You can Take Action: Freedom of Association is a Human Right! and send a letter to the administrations of these fine institutions of higher learning in support of graduate employee's right to be recognized.

Desperation: Attempts for Attention

2005-04-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

Here's (Democratic Underground Forums - College Conservatives raffle off an assault rifle) a discussion undergrads are having on this issue. I didn't realize The Observer was in such need for funds. They know how to get attention.

I love the picture of Marx on the upper left side of the forum. This conservative journal has accused a sociologist of being a Marxist. So funny, as if that is an insult, even though it wasn't correct.

UPDATE: I walked by the protest/raffle. It was a great mix of protesters. While I was walking by, the guy with the microphone said he didn't think the feminists with posters (men too) were really feminists, if they were...you know the argument already. The chanting got louder. I'm sure there were more protesters than those from an explicitly feminist persuasion, but I didn't have time to read all the posters as I had to meet a student. I saw one of my former students, too.

UPDATE 2: The argument that increased gun-ownership reduces crime is a fallacy as Brayden points out on Pub Sociology. Kieran also points to Tim Lambert's discussions on this issue, who has contributed to the methodological shredding of the research supporting this thesis.

Gun Raffle

2005-04-13T15:54:00.000-05:00

I received this email today, which I am going to post here:

Hello, Quoting the president of the RSO the Orange and Blue observer, "If more women carried firearms, there would be fewer cases of rape."On Thursday, April 14, the Orange and Blue Observer will be raffling off 3 semi-automatic handguns to display their constitutional right to bear arms as well as their contention with the Illinois laws prohibiting citizens from carrying concealed weapons. Shocking though it may seem, their actions are completely legal, and the only recourse we as students have is to protest their actions, acknowledging them to be extreme distortions of the concepts of safety and self-defense. Two weeks ago, when the OBO raffled off an AK-47, we were able to rally together students within 2 hours to protest. ..Please help us increase our numbers and strengthen the protest against deadly weapons --without safety training-- on our campus.

Quoting both the Daily Illini and the Orange and Blue Observer, here's the other side of the story:"If more women carried firearms, there would be fewer cases of rape"'"God made man and woman," Observer Editor Leo Buchignani said. "Smith and Wesson made them equal. For the first time in history, handguns neutralize the male strength advantage over women. I don't understand why all feminists don't arm themselves." The Observer held the "Defense of the 2nd Amendment" to protest Illinois' gun laws, some of the strictest in the nation. These laws cause hundreds of preventable rapes, murders and robberies. Gun laws hurt vulnerable groups like inner city communities, minorities and women the most because they are most in danger from predators. The Observer feels gun law is a moral issue and protests the immoral Illinois gun law regime." (End of Email)

First, I would like to applaud the students who are protesting for getting that together so quickly. I am happy to know that people are mobilizing against this. Maybe I am just naive, but I can't believe this is occurring on a college campus. Is it necessary for any college student to have an AK-47? I am also shocked that this group is using feminism as its basis for why people should be able to carry concealed weapons. The answer to violence against women IS NOT to give everyone guns without training or permits. How about the obvious other answer: work to restructure society in a way that violence against women is reported and the perpetrators are prosecuted. If violence against women wasn't tolerated (or in some ways sanctioned) by society, maybe it would occur less. The Observer believes that carrying guns is a moral issue, and that Illinois has an immoral gun law. WHOSE MORALS? Who defines moral rights? We do live in a violent society, however, I do not believe the answer to this is more violence. I know the gun debate will probably never end, this is just another chapter. I am actually too flustered right now to get together the sociological argument against this (if someone wants to help with this, please comment). I just want to be on the record stating that this is the most disturbing thing that I've encountered on this campus since I arrived two years ago....

PS - I know I'll get nasty comments on this post, so bring them on.

Some of America's Richest Say 'No, Thanks' to Bush Tax Cuts

2005-04-11T09:02:00.000-05:00

Some of America's Richest Say 'No, Thanks' to Bush Tax Cuts

Film: Voices in War Time

2005-04-11T08:58:00.000-05:00

Video/Trailer

Q: What's an example of Institutional Racism?

2005-04-08T17:39:00.000-05:00

Sports writer Greg Couch from the Chicago Sun Times went where no one wanted to go this season, to the "Chief" controversy in Where's the Chief? Illinois must decide. He even consulted a sociologist apparently.

His article outlines the bureaucratic process of how institutional racism works, tabling, debating, "honoring" justifications, and ultimately no change. Meanwhile the number of American Indian students on campus are few. Some of them have made their positions clear that they do not support the "Chief." But what the controversy does, is makes them politicized before they even get here. University education is challenging enough not to have to be a spokesperson for a movement against racism. Charlene Teters, the graduate student who energized the movement, was motivated in part through her position as a mother and wanting her children to understand and be proud of their heritage. Here we are 15 years later with a movement, but no institutional change within the university.

So my question: If you know many American Indians do not feel "honored" by a mascot, and in fact feel your "reverence" is a covert racism given your refusal to listen to what they want (no more "Chief"), why would you continue to support it if you are genuinely interested in offering honor and reverence? Wouldn't honor and reverence be better expressed, for example, through scholarships for American Indians - living people - rather than standing at half-time to "honor" an empty symbol of school spirit?

Ideas for other mascots have been the "Prairie Fire," "Orange Crush" (the name of the super-student-fan-block), and I'm sure there are others I haven't heard.

UPDATE: Here is a link to a post on a sociologist's rather new blog, Smidgen of Truth (added to the blogroll), on loving sports and hating racist mascots. I concur. It's baseball season and the Cubs need a closer!!!!

Shaky Political Coalitions: Christians and Conservatives*

2005-04-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

After the last election cycle, conservatism took on a whole new religious meaning. We think less of simply the "right" but more so of the "religious right." With instances like the Schiavo case, pharmacists refusing to give birth control for moral reasons, missionary zeal to spread "freedom" and "democracy," it has seemed at times like this theocratic impulse might make some deep and lasting impressions on the current American democratic formation.

Just when disbelief is about to become the normal emotion when reading the news, those pesky Christians start making some noise for another cause. No, not on reproductive politics or another war. This time it's about poverty and justice.

Eric Schlosser's op-ed
A Side Order of Human Rights discusses the boycott of Taco Bell and the groups involved:

At first Taco Bell tried to ignore the protests and to deny responsibility for the behavior of its suppliers. "We don't believe it's our place to get involved in another company's labor dispute," Jonathan Blum, the Yum Brands executive, said in an interview with The New Yorker. Asked about the possible link between slavery in Florida and Taco Bell's food, Mr. Blum replied, "It's heinous, but I don't think it has anything to do with us." The company's attitude gradually changed as the boycott gained support not only from students, but also from the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the National Council of Churches, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights and former President Jimmy Carter, among others. (Disclosure: I supported the boycott, too, and spoke out on behalf of the coalition.)

With coalition members conducting hunger strikes and staging demonstrations in front of Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine, Calif., it seemed increasingly unwise for the nation's leading purveyor of Mexican food to be publicly linked with the exploitation of poor Mexicans. And the coalition's wage demand was by no means outrageous. It was asking for a pay raise of one penny for every pound of tomatoes picked - the first major wage increase in Immokalee since the late 1970's.

As part of the agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers last month, Taco Bell vowed to help "improve working and pay conditions for farm workers in the Florida tomato fields." It promised to give the penny per pound increase to its Florida suppliers, so that migrant wages could be raised by that amount. It invited the coalition to monitor the new labor policies. And it said it would reward those suppliers that treat farm workers well. The penny-per-pound supplement will nearly double the wages of migrants picking tomatoes for Taco Bell. And though there is some debate about the final cost to Yum Brands, the figure will most likely be a few hundred thousand dollars a year - not a huge sum for a fast food company with annual sales of about $9 billion worldwide.

Servitude and exploitation continuing on in the U.S. taken on by none other than the students, the christians, and the few politicians. Dorothy Day would be pleased, I think. So the radical Christians are still out there working for economic justice. OK.

Then there are the disenchanted conservatives tiring of their patience for the continued infringment of religion into the government and personal lives.
Common Dreams

WASHINGTON -- The controversy over Terri Schiavo has raised concerns among many Americans about the moral agenda of the Republican Party and the political power of conservative Christians, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll finds.

In the survey, most Americans disapprove of the efforts by President Bush and Congress to draw federal courts into the dispute over treatment of the brain-damaged Florida woman. She died last week.

Some old stereotypes about the two parties have been reversed:

* By 55%-40%, respondents say Republicans, traditionally the party of limited government, are “trying to use the federal government to interfere with the private lives of most Americans” on moral values.
* By 53%-40%, they say Democrats, who sharply expanded government since the Depression, aren't trying to interfere on moral issues.

The debate over Schiavo has spotlighted the central role “values” issues — abortion, stem cell research, same-sex marriage and the right to live or die — now play in politics.

Mark Rozell, a professor at George Mason University in Virginia who studies religion and politics, says the case has created a “clear backlash.”

“It's one thing to look at religious conservatives as part of a broad coalition that makes up the Republican Party,” he says. “It's entirely another if people think that religious conservatives are calling the shots in the Bush administration for what was a deeply personal situation.”

What's happening here? Are the less conservative christians, who have always been around doing their activism for issues like poverty, not so excited with the way the "religious right" is using christianity politically? Are less religious conservatives disenchanted with the federal government's long fingers reaching into our most private affairs? This was an unhappy marriage from the start. Let the backlash ensue; this is what my dreams are made of.

*The idea from this post came from a discussion with a professor (who wanted no credit, although this has been an argument of hers I think for quite some time) and another graduate student.

Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and Reproductive Politics

2005-04-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

Blagojevich took a stand against health care discrimination. Great! I can still get birth control without a pharmacist refusing to fill my doctor's prescription.* We aren't a theocratic "handmaid's" nightmare, yet!

* However, my not having babies is the cause of much of my family's displeasure (mostly cousins who pepper me with baby questions, attempts at guilt trips, biological clock talk, etc, to the point where I just say I'm not having kids p-e-r-i-o-d. I won't say how young I am (you might not take me seriously anymore;-), but I'm fairly young with plenty of time to be child-free.) This isn't even the Catholic side of the family.** They are pretty reasonable and stay out of my business.
UPDATE**As a footnote to my footnote, I should point out that when I was married (really young) in the Catholic church I signed some paper (knowing full well I wouldn't do one of these and maybe I wouldn't do either) saying I would have kids and that I'd raise them Catholic. I thought for sure, if there is a hell, I'm going. Catholic Guilt! Maybe I'll see you there; we'll chat.

Go Illini!

2005-04-03T11:15:00.000-05:00

With 36 hours to go, I need to give a shout out to the team: GO ILLINI!! (And woohoo to my old student cheerleader who has been on TV 8 million times!)

Opportunities Lost

2005-04-01T13:39:00.001-06:00

Has anyone else noticed that – amidst all the recent media discussion of the Schiavo case – barely anyone has brought up the issue of euthanasia? Had a quick and painless death through euthanasia been available, her doctors and husband would have had an option beyond those, I would argue inhumane, options at their disposal, i.e., allowing her to live in a ‘vegetative’ state and suffering a slow and painful death. Why hasn’t this case resurrected this particular debate in the mainstream media? The answer is probably pretty obvious, but I still think it’s worth politicizing 'obvious' problems.

I also noticed that another aspect of this case was poorly problematized in the media coverage, namely the events that lead to her condition. How many of you know that the low potassium levels Terri suffered -- which caused her heart to stop and ultimately culminated in her brain damage – were likely caused by her long struggle with bulimia? Wouldn’t this have been a wonderful opportunity to educate the public about the possible consequences of starving your body (I’m not horribly cruel, so I’ll avoid making explicit the obvious irony here)? How many people watch these news stories? And how many of those suffer from eating disorders? And, of these, how many would have sought treatment after seeing image after horrifying image of Terri visually juxtaposed to images of her before this all happened? Obviously, the media (bosses, or whatever) wanted to portray her as an innocent victim. Which, I think she was – at the very least a ‘victim’ of our cultural obsession with weight. And sure, I buy the argument that eating disorders are often about the ‘need to have control’ as they like to say. But, in our society this increasing need to have control (which can be argued is a result of living in an alienating, highly individualist and competitive society such as ours) happens to manifest itself in practices that result in body disfigurement … which brings us back to the cultural obsession with weight, which is drilled into our brains every time we do any TV or web surfing …

Columbia Unbecoming (II): Response by Columbia University

2005-03-31T09:22:00.000-06:00

Columbia Panel Reports No Proof of Anti-Semitism

Here's the actual report.

Can't Sleep Syndrome Leads to Institutional Questions

2005-03-31T01:43:00.000-06:00

Since I can't sleep, I decided to get up and read something I've already read. It's too late to tackle something new. So I grabbed the New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, edited by Walter Powell and Paul DiMaggio (1991). Like I said, I've already read some of this when I was more awake. In reading the introduction I found more I liked about institutional theory. They talk a bit about the compatibility with Bourdieu's "Theory of Practice" as well as the turn toward understanding cognitive structures and processual orientations. They also mention history, legitimacy, culture, and reproduction as issues new institutionalisms have tried to incorporate and understand. Fantastic!

Then, they get to where they would like new institutionalisms to go: explanations/understandings of institutional "change, power, and efficiency" (p. 26). I have every reason to believe they sincerely would like to see new institutional theorists undertake issues of "change, power, and efficiency" with regard to institutions. I'm new to the "new institutionalism" literature so issue may already have been addressed (this was publish in '91), but just in case... One of those pesky paradoxes has crept up, it seems to me. The institution of sociology tends to marginalize studies and scholars who are already undertaking these issues, specifically scholars studying race, class, and/or gender with regard to resistance. Nowhere is this addressed or alluded to that I can find - please correct me if I'm wrong. But it seems this is entirely overlooked.

Scholars of gender/race/class centrally focus on power, stasis and change, and the efficiency/inefficiency of mechanisms that in various ways control or empower groups of people. These are the scholars documenting and highlighting "conflict, contradiction, and ambiguity" (p.28). By making a call for this kind of research, don't they highlight and reify the marginalization of the body of work that new institutionalist theorists clearly don't engage with as part of the institution? This is not a value judgement, just a question.

I think this bolsters the case for mainstream sociology to take into consideration class/gender/race, not just as variables that can be added or extracted, but as categories of experience and meaning-making that inform ways of inciting change structurally through challenging power and the inefficiency of the status quo, or stasis, that keeps certain groups in/out of power or influence (like scholars of race/class/gender). Hence, we have the example of this "Introduction" to New Institutionalisms calling for research that is already being done (inefficient). The question should have been how to bring research already being done into the framework of new institutionalisms, should it have not (more efficient)?

Like I said in the first paragraph, I like institutional theory, it keeps growing on me. I look at this paradox simply as a product of the institution of sociology.

Weber Making the Rounds

2005-03-25T11:19:00.000-06:00

I started this post as a response to Drek's post on Weber. Brayden also posted on Fukuyama's unsurprising and highly debatable, this is being very nice, analyis of Weber's work. So I figured, Weber deserves some love here on the Prairie, since he's been to the pub, finding himself in the trash shortly thereafter. I know, I'm sorry I couldn't resist; I'm so Katie Couric with humor. Anyway...

A few ideas that I'd like to raise with regard to Weber and education:

First, while Weber is often taught as an "idealist" as opposed to a "materialist" like Marx, I don't think this is accurate; it's way oversimplified. Weber has a much more nuanced analysis of capitalism that incorporates both materiality and immateriality. While he was trying to critique the focus of Marxist analysis on the mode of production, he didn't negate materiality, but rather added another dimension of how materiality is produced. I also, think his stance on "objectivity" and "value-free" sociology deserves a more nuanced discussion. It reads more like a version of self-reflexivity to me.

A Weberian analysis adds some interesting points to the commodification of education.* Students seem to increasingly see education with themselves as consumers of the product of education, resulting in a degree that will get them a job. We've all heard the argument that they are paying for our services and that because of this we owe them whatever it is they are asking for. This is all too "rational" and utilitarian for my taste. Where is the simple joy of learning and the challenge of wrestling with some ideas until you get it? followed by a euphoric feeling of accomplishment! Alas, I'm too romantic.

Seeing education as a commodity, students don't want/need knowledge that will cause the discomfort of stretching one's mind, or the trauma that comes with the realization that their preconceived notions were based on an ideology of consumerism, for example. As educators, this outlook is depressing. However, we can't forget the students who are there to learn for the challenge and joy of learning as well as the obvious rewards of getting a degree. And we can point out this paradox to our students who are the resistant consumers of education, at the very least.

Back to Drek's example. What fascinates me about "rational choices" is how irrational they can be. To be clear, I do not typically subscribe to "rational-choice" theory. There was a clear irony - the iron cage- in Weber's analysis that doesn't get enough press, in my opinion, in that the very "rationality" of ration-choices are so irrational. While it may be "rational" politically, which may lead to a justifiable economic rationale, for the science theater Drek mentions not to show films on the "Big Bang" or Darwinian theory of evolution, it is irrational in that it is a science theater not showing well-known and currently fundamental scientific theories. We rationalize ourselves into metaphorical cages that can materialize into actual physical traps!

So I disagree with Drek's application of Weber and his use of religion for explaining today's "rational" choices. I disagree in that he takes Weber's analysis of religion out of the historical context in which it was intended to describe the historical process of the development of capitalist culture. The historicity of religion is fundamental to the socio-historical analysis of Weber's theory. Using a Weberian analysis for todays historical context offers an interesting discussion on the irony of rationality as I see it.

*See the premise of University, Inc. by Jennifer Washburn.

Maria Full of Grace

2005-03-19T12:04:00.000-06:00

Since my weekend plans got foiled by a sinus infection, last night I stayed parked on my couch and made it a Blockbuster night. I heard that "Maria Full of Grace" was a good movie, so I made it one of my feature presentations ("I Heart Huckabees" was the other, also worth a rental). "Maria Full of Grace" is a must-see. The basic plot of the movie is that Maria, a 17-year old Colombian girl, finds herself pregnant and unemployed. She doesn't want to get married to the baby's father, so she needs to find a new job with a substantial income. She becomes a "mule" for the drug trade. Mules ingest small pellets filled with cocaine, get on a plane, fly into New York, and then excrete them and pass them off to dealers in America. Its extremely dangerous, because if even one opens, it will kill the carrier. The mules are paid $100 a pellet, and swallow between fifty and one-hundred, depending on their size.

The film follows Maria through her entire journey. She finds out that she is one of four mules sent at once, her employers like to send more than one, so if one gets caught, the others are more likely to get through. All four mules are young women. Throughout the entire film, they are treated as objects, walking shipping containers, whose lives are not worth the amount of drugs they are carrying within them. After one of the girls has a capsule open up inside of her and dies, the dealers in America cut her stomach open to get the rest of the drugs out, and dump her body in New Jersey.

What struck me about this movie is how well the directors capture Maria's perspective. She sees this opportunity as a way to overcome her dismal future, as a poor single mother living with various family members in a cramped house. If she crosses the border safely, and survives, she will make $6200 in one week. While the viewer knows what she is doing is illegal, and extremely dangerous, I found myself beginning to understand why, and admiring her courage. Maria is extremely intelligent, composed, and street-smart for her age, and I couldn't help but think that if she had been born somewhere other than Colombia, she would have infinitely more options for what to do with her life. When faced with a life working on a flower plantation, de-thorning roses all day for little money, becoming a mule seems like a much better opportunity.

After staying in a dingy hotel room for a couple days, Maria makes her way to Queens. Twice during the film, Maria looks out onto Manhattan, with the Empire State Building glittering in the sunlight; she is clearly not part of this shiny image of New York. Having grown up only a train ride away from New York, I've spent plenty of time there. I realized that I know absolutely nothing of the New York that Maria sees when she arrives from Colombia. In fact, if it wasn't for the scenes of Manhattan from a distance, I would not even be able to identify the city. In Sociology, we often talk about privilege, and being aware of how we as individuals are privileged. I am aware that as a white, middle-class, female who grew up in the suburbs of Connecticut, I have had certain advantages. As I watched Maria navigate this New York, I realized how privileged my friends and I actually are. We walk around New York, eating at this trendy restaurant, shopping at that cool store, finding the hippest club. New York is our playground. For Maria, the New York I know is inaccessible. Because of her status as a poor woman from Colombia, she sees Manhattan from the outside. Even if she decides to stay in New York City, she will face working in a sweatshop (a job that is offered to her during the course of the movie), living in a poor, possibly unsafe neighborhood, and raising her child alone. I have always been aware that this New York exists, but somehow Maria makes it real. In actuality, I don't think Maria and I are that different, but due to my privilege, I am working on a Sociology PhD, on my way to becoming a professor. She is a human shipping container for the drug trade.

The film ends with Maria deciding to remain in New York. We have the sense that she will be okay, that America offers her opportunities that she did not have in Colombia. However, the hurdles she faces as a new immigrant to this country are many. But that is material for another post...

The Blogosphere and Academia: Celebrating Femininities

2005-03-16T10:19:00.000-06:00

Happy Women's History Month! Everyone (men too) nurture your underappreciated feminine qualities as you appreciate women in the making of history!

With Larry Summers and David Brooks to contend with, and reading Maureen Dowd’s op-ed I’ve been thinking more and more about the social category of woman and what that means for communication and signification. What does it take to be heard? This entails questions of style and tone – use subtlety or get straight to the point? If being pointed and still unacknowledgment is the result, where does civility have a place? How does gender performance, and gender as signifier, come into play with styles of effective communication? What does it mean when your comments aren’t responded to (in class, at a talk, when blogging, etc)? Are the issues women raise uninteresting, trivial, overstated? or do we signify positions of uninterest, triviality, and/or overstatedness? How much leeway do we give the established order of communication before we say, screw it I’ll say it whatever way is necessary? Do the ends justify the means?

These questions have been recurrent for me in the blogosphere more so than in my, albeit, limited experiences in academia. The blogosphere has been largely a masculinist experience, as distinctive from patriarchal. Pro-feminists can be masculinist in that masculine practices are normalized while espousing feminist ideals. Practices gendered beings take part in will in some way reflect the genders of those beings, especially if gendered ways are not interrogated but simply enacted and normalized. Given that the most well-known and popular bloggers are men, and that they often set the tone of snark (and by the way I like snark) and attack the blogosphere was gendered when I came into it. Trying to indoctrinate myself into the blogging culture quickly, and quickly finding once I felt I'd been properly socialized that I didn't particularly like many of the cultural ways of communication I decided to step back from it - disengage a bit and try to figure out a way to blog that would suit my gendered style and feminist ideals. So I tread the line between snark and community building. The Walt Whitman poem "Prairie Grass-Dividing" from Leaves of Grass is part evidence to this. The poem in it's entirety is:

THE prairie-grass dividing—its special odor breathing,
I demand of it the spiritual corresponding,
Demand the most copious and close companionship of men,
Demand the blades to rise of words, acts, beings,
Those of the open atmosphere, coarse, sunlit, fresh, nutritious, 5
Those that go their own gait, erect, stepping with freedom and command—leading, not following,
Those with a never-quell’d audacity—those with sweet and lusty flesh, clear of taint,
Those that look carelessly in the faces of Presidents and Governors, as to say, Who are you?
Those of earth-born passion, simple, never-constrain’d, never obedient,
Those of inland America.

Isn't that great? (Although, I don't mind "taint" or "following," if I trust the leader.) Currently, the first half is up with Prairie Sociology's name. But I started by putting up the snarkier second half. If you've read this blog before, chances are you know how I feel about the President. But my point is that there are two impulses in this poem that I've felt myself in blogging. I like the constructive conflict that can occur freely in blogging. I've learned quite a bit from that, more about communication probably than actual substance. But back to the point, I thought about what are we trying to cultivate here that perhaps isn't as immediately apparent with blogging? community? constructive conflict (not anonymous trolls that just rip and shred for good measure)? nutritiousness (i.e. feeding each other's minds)? copious companionship, open atmosphere (what else is the blogosphere)? The audacity is important, but given, so I opted for the first half as a bit of femininity. But my main point is the poem in its entirety: socially constructed values of femininity like community and nurturing with the more socially constructed masculine qualities of snark and audacity. Taken together, that would be the ultimate blogging experience in my opinion.

Other women bloggers have noticed masculine normativity too. The she-bloggers are out! Take cover, she might get (to) you!

And on biology…It’s interesting to see women’s history month being referred to as estrogen month, a predominantly female hormone although males produce small amounts of estrogen too. Women produce different levels of estrogen as well. But anyway… So is estrogen being referred to metaphorically for femininity or literally to celebrate female biology? If the latter, is this a response to Summers and the whole women and science debate?

Speaking of Summers, on to academia and the signification and representation of "women" in the institution: Linda Kerber, Chair of History at University of Iowa, discusses in The Chronicle for Higher Education how a feminine and feminist intervention in academia might impact the masculinist institution:

If we are going to reconfigure our universities so that men as well as
women will be able to meet the challenges of human life, we are in
desperate need of social scientists who understand the social and
economic relations within their own academic institutions; who understand
that choices about what "fringe" benefits cover are themselves
socially constructed. "Choices" about 80-hour weeks, whether
free or coerced, actually follow choices that the institution has already
made about the configuration of the work that it sustains. We need
economists who will not dismiss criticism as coming from "activists
whose sensibilities might be at odds with intellectual debate" (as
one Harvard economist complained to a Boston Globe reporter in the
wake of the Summers controversy), but rather bring their expertise about
race and gender stratification in the workplace squarely to the necessary
work of reconfiguring the academic institutions in which they live...

Many years ago the abolitionist Thomas Wentworth Higginson wrote an
essay, "Women and the Alphabet," in which he made the point
that if you didn't like uppity women the place to start was at the
beginning. Once you teach girls the alphabet they'll want to read, once
they read they'll get ideas, once they get ideas they'll make claims.
Once Harvard decided to educate female students, it should not have been
surprised that the institution would face questions about the social
arrangements in which scholarship takes place. Women have been earning
Ph.D.'s in the academy in equal numbers to men for more than a decade.
Why be surprised that we now demand that workplaces be user-friendly to
us -- and to all?

Happy women's history month: an affirmative celebration of femininities, corrective to normalized masculine ways (as far as femininities and masculinities have been socially constructed, always throw in the qualifier for good measure), and appreciation for women who have been able to make a difference.

Some important women, often overlooked, who helped shape sociology: Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Harriet Martineau, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Mary Church Terrell, Florence Kelly, Jane Addams. Feel free to add women important to sociology in the comments.

ASA Statement on Gender Differences in Math and Science

2005-03-07T14:23:00.000-06:00

Statement of the ASA Council on the Causes of Gender Differences in Science and Math Career Achievement

This is a response by the ASA to the controversy started by Larry Summers, president of Harvard.

Here are the first two paragraphs:
"Harvard University President Lawrence Summers' recent statement that innate differences between the sexes might explain women's poor representation in science and engineering has generated strong public debate. Summers' "call for more research" (especially as President of one of America's most prestigious academic institutions) suggests that there is no overwhelming body of serious scholarship that informs this topic [www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/2005/nber.html]. Yet there is substantial research that provides clear and compelling evidence that women, like men, flourish in science, just as in other occupational pursuits, when they are given the opportunity and a supportive environment.*

Measures of gender differences in such areas as verbal, mathematical, and spatial abilities have changed over time showing virtually no differences at the present time. While contestations remain in the research over explanations for the source of any differences in performance, the far greater explanatory power lies in differential access and support. Studies show that social and cultural assumptions and stereotypes about differences in women's and men's abilities are the cause of noticeable differences in their interests and performance. Not surprisingly, therefore, such assumptions also have a larger impact on judgments about people's potential job performance and success. "

The statement is followed by a list of suggested readings that includes a publication co-authored by blogger Jeremy Freese.

Walden Bello: Public Sociologist Analyzing the Situation in Iraq

2005-03-04T16:56:00.000-06:00

Desperate Martians Now Wooing Venusians

Excerpt:

The crisis of overextension

But the US is not only overextended in Iraq. Iraq has in fact worsened the crisis of overextension of the US globally. The key manifestations of the imperial dilemma stand out starkly:

* Despite the recent US-sponsored elections in Afghanistan, the Karzai government effectively controls only parts of Kabul and two or three other cities. As UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said, despite the elections, "without functional state institutions able to serve the basic needs of the population throughout the country, the authority and legitimacy of the new government will be short-lived." And so long as this is the case, Afghanistan will tie down 13,500 US troops within the country and 35,000 support personnel outside.
* The US war on terror has backfired completely, with Al-Qaeda and its allies much stronger today than in 2001. The invasion of Iraq, according to Richard Clarke, Bush‚s former anti-terrorism czar, claims, derailed the war on terror and served as the best recruiting device for Al-Qaeda. But even without Iraq, Washington‚s heavy handed police and military methods of dealing with terrorism were already alienating millions of Muslims. Nothing illustrates this more than Southern Thailand, where US anti-terrorist advice has helped convert simmering discontent into a full-blown insurgency.
* With its full embrace of Ariel Sharon’s no-win strategy of sabotaging the emergence of a Palestinian state, Washington has forfeited all the political capital that it had gained among Arabs by brokering the now defunct Oslo Accord. Moreover, the go-with-Sharon strategy, along with the occupation of Iraq, has left Washington’s allies among the Arab elites exposed, discredited, and vulnerable. With the death of Yasser Arafat, Tel Aviv and Washington may entertain hopes of a settlement of the Palestinian issue on their terms. This is an illusion, and we probably will see this in growing support for Hamas among the Palestinians at the expense of Mr. Abbas‚ PLO.
* Latin America’s move to the Left will accelerate. The victory of the leftist coalition in Uruguay is simply the latest in a series of electoral victories for progressive forces, following those in Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, and Brazil. Along with electoral turns to the left, there may also be in the offing more mass insurrections such as that which occurred in Bolivia in October 2003. Speaking of the turn towards the left and away from the empire, one of the US’ friends, former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda, assesses the situation accurately: "America’s friends are feeling the fire of this anti-American wrath. They are finding themselves forced to shift their own rhetoric and attitude in order to dampen their defense of policies viewed as pro-American or US-inspired, and to stiffen their resistance to Washington‚s demands and desires."

This is the global picture that belies the triumphalism that accompanied Bush’s European tour. This enterprise sought to enlist diplomacy in the service of countering the erosion of the American position. It was a trip undertaken out of desperation. One can, in fact, say that while the papers have been filled with bellicose words from Washington against Iran, Syria, and North Korea, the reality is that, owing to its being pinned down in an endless war in Iraq, the US is in less of a position to destabilize these governments than it was in 2003, before the invasion of Iraq.

Brooks the Communist (?) but Never the Feminist

2005-03-01T10:05:00.000-06:00

David Brooks' op-ed today is about the economics of marriage. Specifically, it is about his upset over couples maintaining separate checking accounts. A quote from To Have and to Hold, for Richer for Poorer:
"But some of the people quoted in Shellenbarger's article seem unaware that there may be a distinction between the individualistic ethos of the market and the communal ethos of the home. A Texas woman celebrated her family's separate accounts, remarking, "It's so freeing to be your own person, and not feel like someone is looking over your shoulder." It's not clear whether she's talking about a marriage or a real estate partnership.

I went to the local bookstore and was startled to see how many personal finance gurus insist on separate accounts. 'If you're part of a couple, maintain separate accounts - yours, mine and ours,' writes Glinda Bridgforth in 'Girl, Get Your Money Straight.'

'Each partner needs his or her own money,' writes the best-selling guru David Bach. 'Regardless of whether or not you both work, each of you should maintain your own checking and credit card accounts.' Bach says he doesn't need or want to know every detail of how his wife spends her money: 'It's none of my business.'"

Notice whose finances are targeted as being "separate"? Once again, sociological wannabe Brooks fails to locate marriage in a historical context. Women were once the legal property of their husbands. After that (and at the same time), property they brought to the marriage was legally then their husbands. All the while (in families where the man could afford a wife to stay home), men continued to earn money and women were at the mercy of their husbands economically.

So really what Brooks laments is a new formation of family economics that seems to be more empowering for women (most likely middle class women, as poorer families are still going to have to pool all their resources to get by). He calls this individualistic rather than communal. He reveals a patriarchal bias of family, which has meant historically that the wife is supposed to sacrifice her property for the commune the husband controls.

It's amusing to hear Brooks espouse communal values. But using this rhetorical device, he is trying to justify a status quo that has hampered women's ability to be self-sufficient and not dependent on her husband. This has kept many women not only in unhappy, unhealthy marriages but also psychologically and physically damaging relationships as well.

So the economics of marriage do matter. Does he forget the divorce rate? So sisters, make sure you are taking care of yourself.

Soldiers Coping with War

2005-02-20T10:41:00.000-06:00

Fighting Words, an article in the New York Times this morning talks about how soldiers are using rap, and other music, as a coping mechanism. Specialist Shaw writes some lyrics to express the loss of a friend to those of us in the US:

'Trials and tribulations daily we do/And not always life's pains wash away in our pool/When we take a dip, we try to stick to the script/But when those guns start blazing and our friends get hit/That's when our hearts start racing and our stomach gets whoozy/Cuz for y'all this is just a show, but we live in this movie."

In the next two weeks, Frontline is showing two specials on soldiers and war. The first one on February 22 at 9pm, A Company of Soldiers, is about soldiers in Iraq after the Bush re-election. The second one on March 1 at 9pm, The Soldier's Heart, is about how soldiers deal with Iraq after they've come home and the services they are provided, or not provided, to help them.

Away from the War Zone: Experiencing War

2005-02-17T16:40:00.000-06:00

My brother is finally on his way home, and I can breathe easier. Right now he is being outprocessed. Experiencing this war so personally has given me insight into war, which I would never wish on anyone. Too many people think of this war in abstract terms of policy, politicians, and the soundbytes of punditry. It's easier to comprehend and emotionally handle, which makes it easier to support or oppose the war uncritically.

I was opposed to this war before the US invaded Iraq, was opposed when my brother was "called up," and have been opposed to it ever since. I honestly thought Americans felt they had been betrayed by the current President Bush enough to vote him out, even if they didn't think his policies immoral. I'm not hesitant to disabuse the usage of morality, especially when the poor thing has been so abused. But I digress.

At times, even those in opposition to the war don't think critically about what's really going on. Even though I sympathize with their political inclinations, it is frustrating when the actual Iraqis and Americans dying are taken out of the picture - quite literally with regard to the media - and the war is reduced to lies (even though the war was predicated on lies). I don't have the luxury of overlooking the dying. It's been the lens through which every policy has been seen for me.

I'm writing about this because one thing blogs can provide are autoethnographic bits of knowledge. This is one attribute of blogging I didn't anticipate when we started this project. As Palabris noted in Brayden's post, on Academics Taking a Stand, and Brayden and Tina noted in their comments on Tina's Post on Group Blogs vs UniBlogs at Pub Sociology, experience is an important part of knowledge, for sociologists too, who are part of "the public" we are trying to reach (no?). The idea of public sociology (which I have clearly supported) has often been applied in a dichotomous separation between sociologists and the public (i.e. like we go study "the public," but we are people too!). It impacts our own ways of knowing and our scholarship, down to the topics we choose to research. Thus, self-reflexivity is crucial. Through each other's experiences, we have a better understanding not only of what it is s/he is going through, but also, if we use our sociological imagination we can get a fuller sociological understanding of the way social structures/institutions (whatever our theoretical leanings) we discuss abstractly impact individual lives concretely. So, blogging, for me has become somewhat about autoethnography as a tool for learning/teaching. Of course, this isn't all blogging is, but it is one of the more interesting sociological aspects that keeps people coming back I think.

An article on Common Dreams, Iraq Vets Say Services, Compassion Lacking, goes over some issues that are a big concern for members of military families (against and supportive of the war), not to mention the veterans. And as these women and men come home from a war zone, after having lost 5 of their own, and try to reintegrate themselves with questionable support for veterans, new challenges will come before us. Those of us personally involved more intimate issues. The rest of you more political ones.

I have a unique position here to document the experiences of these rural, working-class, citizen-soldiers. So, I want to try my hand at making a documentary on the experiences of myself, my family, and my friends and anyone else who wants to testify to these times they've endured that are coming to an end, and the new ones about to begin. Does anyone know of any resources I could use to help me think through the issues of making a documentary? I'm interested in making this collaborative with the people involved and making sure the socio-historical context of the homecoming is captured.

The people of my small hometown have taken care of these citizen-soldiers, economically and emotionally, even though support for the war has waned. It's a story of exceptionalism because of the loss of life and because of the way the town has rallied around them as part of their own identity. It's a story worth telling as an intervention in the abstractions of lies, terror, freedom, and liberty.

On 15 February 2003, millions of people across the globe protested pre-emptive war on Iraq. It's two years later, and the US is still there without an exit strategy.

Community and Music (II)

2005-02-12T15:09:00.000-06:00

To follow up on the billboard saga. It was, in fact, staged by none other than a hip hop record company. Brilliant strategy that they've used in other towns from the looks of the searches that have led to that post.

Canada or Bust...

2005-02-12T15:08:00.000-06:00

The NY Times just had an article about people who are actually moving to Canada. Bitch Magazine (a magazine that does a feminist critique of media) also just had a story about some of the contributors friends and loved ones who moved north. As the Times article pointed out, this is not an easy process, the Canadian government does not just say "come on up". So, people who are actually moving to Canada...I salute you. You have more guts than I do.

Extra Credit (II): Wilco Lesson

2005-02-11T18:01:00.000-06:00

The second encore of the Wilco concert:

song by Dick Cheney ("Drop the Big One"? about dropping the big one),

Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult:

Valentine is done
Here but now they're gone
Romeo and Juliet
Are together in eternity (Romeo and Juliet)
40,000 men and women everyday (like Romeo and Juliet)
40,000 men and women everyday (redefine happiness)
Another 40,000 coming everyday (we can be like they are)
Come on baby (don't fear the reaper)
Baby take my hand (don't fear the reaper)
We'll be able to fly (don't fear the reaper)
Baby I'm your man
La-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la-la

Something in the Air by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers:

Hand out the arms and ammo
We’re going to blast our way through here
We’ve got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right
And you know that it’s right

We have got to get it together
We have got to get it together

Hmmm...What's the lesson?

Extra Credit!

2005-02-09T22:57:00.000-06:00

What kind of an attack did I witness last night?

A. Peace Attack
B. Panic Attack
C. Heart Attack
D. Attack with Love
E. None of the Above

Drum roll please.....(thanks Glenn)

If you guessed, D you are correct. I saw Wilco play at Foellinger auditorium, and it was the finest performance I've EVER seen live. (Note: I have never seen Paul McCartney in person live).

If you've wondered why things have been so quiet at PS, I've been to the archives and back. Since I'm back, you clever kids can surmise I survived. However, a particular grant proposal has put me close to the edge. It will take a while to pull myself back to solid ground.

Michael Jackson Case

2005-02-01T22:47:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to see what everyone thought of the circus surrounding the Michael Jackson case. I caught some of the coverage at the gym today, and I can't remember such a commotion about a court case since OJ. I'm trying to work through the sociological aspects of it, but I can't seem to find my way out of a massive pile of data currently.... once I find my way out, I'll post a comment. For now: thoughts/comments?

The dangers of exporting democracy

2005-01-24T21:22:00.000-06:00

Guardian Unlimited | Guardian daily comment | The dangers of exporting democracy by Eric Hobsbawm. Courtesy of Jan.

Informal Professionalization

2005-01-24T13:19:00.000-06:00

Informal Training In Grad Schoolis a new blog mentioned in the last edition of Footnotes. It is promoting discussions on the ways in which we graduate students are supposed to be trained to behave in a professional environment.

I can't help but laugh about their chosen milieu for discussing this issue, because blogging so totally transgresses the professionalization rules and practices. Hence, many people (including myself often times - I can't tell you how many posts I've written and never posted) aren't always comfortable with the medium.

While I initially disliked the use of anonymous pseudonyms, I now see George Eliot's genius. There are so many things you can't get away with saying as someone on the lower portion of an extremely hierarchical institution (i.e. academia). C.Wright Mill's also, as a freshman at one of those TX school's (A & M?), wrote to the upper classmen as an anonymous freshman. He probably would have been literally beaten up otherwise.

In the blogging milieu, graduate students, anonymously or not, and professors anonymously or not, are in many ways transgressing the predetermined hierarchical relations between the conferred and the trainees. Granted, some departments are more hierarchical, and some professors for that matter, than others. But there is comparative equality (of access) in the blogosphere. No one here is a captive audience. You may read or leave. You may comment or not (mostly not). You may post or not (mostly not). But, more or less secretly, we can all watch the previously accepted practices of professionalization dismantling at certain points in a blog during certain conversations.

So I wonder, how does blogging fit into informal graduate student training? Has it affected some of the top down dynamics by giving some of those with less influence a forum? Has it created more of a community between the bloggers within an academic department? or academic disciplines?

It seems those on the lower tiers of academic hierarchies are less vested in the hierarchy themselves and therefore are more willing, or less professionalized, to discuss issues critically about the hierarchy itself than those already more professionalized. Additionally, it seems those less professionalized are also more willing to partake in the off-the-cuff, less serious and less professional milieu of blogging. So once again, how does academic blogging fit into this picture of informal professionalization?

[Update: I see this post needs editing as usual, but for the sake of keeping it off-the-cuff, I'll leave the errors alone (cringe).]

"Columbia Unbecoming"

2005-01-18T22:05:00.001-06:00

Today I came across a NYTimes article about the controversy going on at Columbia University, involving allegations of intimidation of Jewish students by professors in the Middle East and Asian Languages department. The professors in question all hold pro-Palestinian viewpoints. The controversy began when 14 students and a Rabbi at the university filmed "Columbia Unbecoming" , a documentary about the intimidation of the Jewish students, funded by The David Project.

As I read the article, a few questions came to mind. They are the same questions which are now facing a panel at the university whose job it is to get to the bottom of these allegations. Of the three professors who are being accused, one incident in particular left me a bit uneasy. Two of the professors are accused of making anti-Israel or anti-Jewish comments. However, Professor Hamid Dabashi was mentioned for having cancelled class to do his "moral duty" to attend a pro-Palestinian rally, but as the article mentions, he is chiefly being accused due to his published political viewpoints. As an academic, the idea that my published political views could cost me my job because I am intimidating students (possibly without even having any form of verbal communication with them) is frightening. Where does academic freedom end and intimidation begin?

Another issue to consider with this issue is the status of both the accused professors and the students. I think we can all agree that professors are usually seen as the power-holders in a student and teacher relationship. A detail worth noting is that none of the students are accusing the professors of capricious grading. I think we also must consider that students are not completely powerless, especially before a professor has tenure. In this case, one of three professors does not have tenure, and this controversy could cost him his job. I don't think Columbia is at a loss for new job applicants, so his position could easily be filled with someone less controversial. My question is: Could these students be using their victim status to their advantage? Also, if universities begin to go after less "controveresial" professors to fill jobs, what will the university community as a whole lose? What happens if political debates in academia stop or are deemed unacceptable?

After reading the article, I tried to see the issue from both sides. No student should have to feel intimidated or uncomfortable in a classroom due to their racial or ethnic background. And a professor certainly should not make racist or prejudiced comments about any group. However, from a professor's perspective, they should be allowed to have political views, even if they are at odds with their students views. As a TA, I can certainly understand that when discussing a hot button issue, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or even the last election, my political views will not always match the views of my students. I may not bring up my views during class, but I certainly will express them outside of class, and attend rallies supporting causes I believe in. The world is full of people with differing opinions, and I believe its naive to think the classroom should be void of debate.

I am really interested to see what other people know about this controversy, and what other opinions are on the topic. As I said above, I can see a case for both sides. Discuss...

PS - Thanks to Erin for helping me work through this one.

MLK Jr.

2005-01-17T13:03:00.000-06:00

PBS aired an episode of American Experience, Citizen King,* last week. It focused on the later years of King's activism in which he became more radical as far as the relationship between economics and social change, rather than the major emphasis on creating change through the state. Only recently has King's opposition to Vietnam War and support for a "poor people's movement" been a point of focus. I highly recommend it if it is replayed.

An Alternet article MLK Jr. In His Own Words highlights some of King's sentiments on violence, war, American values, and American foreign policy. King still has lessons for us today, especially with regard to the discourse on values.

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. ... A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: 'This is not just.' It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America and say: 'This is not just.' The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just. A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: 'This way of settling differences is not just.' This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of people normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood.

*If you go to this site, you can see video of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and a personal hero of mine, James Baldwin**
**"We are responsible for the world in which we find ourselves, if only because we are the only sentient force which can change it."--James Baldwin

Du Bois Review

2005-01-10T16:44:00.000-06:00

My laptop has returned. So back to work. Here is some sociology for those who study issues of race. A new journal, the Du Bois Review, has the first issue available online for free. It has contributions from Lawrence Bobo, Eduardo Bonillo-Silva, Henry Louis Gates, Douglas Massey, and more. Check it out.

Community and Music

2005-01-10T11:10:00.000-06:00

Since my laptop has been in the shop, I’ve rediscovered radio in the community. I already knew we had a really interesting community radio station, WEFT, run by volunteers and not-for-profit. But another not-for-profit, WPGU, which used to be great (like I could hear The Pretenders, Cowboy Junkies, PJ Harvey, Midnight Oil, etc.) when I was in high school, is again on the road to greatness if you like alternative rock inspired by the 80s Punk scene. I’ve heard Cat Power, Wilco, The Lemonheads, The New Pornographers...need I go on? Then, they’ve also played the classics The Cure, The Talking Heads, The Ramones, The Clash, RadioHead. They take requests, so I’ve given them a few names, like Rachel Yamagata, Patty Griffin (Grammy nominee for her album this year), Ozomatli, Sam Phillips, Sonic Youth, and last night I heard Bright Eyes (with My Morning Jacket) on Austin City Limits. I will soon be suggesting Bright Eyes. You can stream the station, which is why I’m blogging about their “no rules radio” programming, and give them your suggestions. I know Brayden likes good music.

Also, there is a new saga going on in the community (the old being the chief mascot controversy, over which there is now a boycott of book stores selling chief paraphernalia – nothing like a racist mascot to taint a #1 ranked team), also related to music. There is a billboard going into campus town that reads, “HIP HOP ROTS YOUR BRAIN, Sponsored by the Coalition of Responsible Attentive Parents” – CRAP. The billboard has been (apparently) vandalized, crossing out “HIP HOP” and underneath adding “STEREOTYPES, RACISM, IGNORANCE.” So it now reads “STEREOTYPES, RACISM, IGNORANCE ROTS YOUR BRAIN.” So this billboard will continue to have changing messages, which appear to be staged. This story was covered in a weekly paper, but there is nothing on their site for me to link to, unfortunately. The billboard saga has sucked us in. I wonder what's next.

Making Budgets and Avoiding Debt

2005-01-04T11:34:00.000-06:00

I have a personal relationship with my laptop, as we spend quite a bit of time together. So I’m going through withdraws (but will stay out of debt since I have Apple Care) with it away at the repair center. I now realize how reliant I am on my laptop to get work done. I can’t (or don't want to) do research or writing without the laptop. I also can’t go do the archival research I planned on doing this week, without my laptop.

So I’m left to do things that don’t require my little friend, laptop – alas, also keeper of music - like a budget for a grant application. Doing a personal budget is probably good for the cleansing and planning that some attempt at the New Year. But if you are a graduate student, what’s the point? Certainly, it’s good to be careful about incurring incomprehensible amounts of debt. But, for a savings plan...that’s funny.

Even if graduate students don’t do a personal budget it’s likely, if we want grants, we’ll have to do a research budget. It’s a useful exercise to think about the cost of hotel rooms, plane tickets, copier costs (how do you estimate this?), etc. But what is interesting for me, at these beginning stages of applying for grants, is the arbitrariness, at worst, and educated guess, at best, of making a budget. When dealing with money, I prefer precision, but an educated guess will have to suffice.

Like I said, I do think it’s important to have some educated idea about the costs of research, of living, or say, running a government – once again, especially when it comes to incurring incomprehensible amounts of debt. In my “Introduction to Sociology” course as a first semester freshman, one of the assignments was a cost of living budget for a single mother, with two kids, making $17000/yr. We had to figure out how to make ends meet, without an extended network of support, because our friends and families were struggling as well (so the assignment went). I know Heather does a similar assignment in her class on social stratification. It’s a great assignment for debunking the meritocracy myth, as well as illustrating a host of other issues (i.e. feminization of poverty). Whether it’s personal, for research, or for a class assignment, making budgets is useful, even if painful.

South Asia: Earthquake And Tsunami

2004-12-27T23:49:00.000-06:00

Here is a link to Reliefweb that is compiling the latest information on the relief efforts for South Asia and Africa. You have many choices if you'd like to aid in relieving some of this terrible devastation.

Happy Holidays!

2004-12-22T18:55:00.000-06:00

and Happy New Year!!

A Gathering Swarm by Todd Gitlin

2004-12-21T13:44:00.000-06:00

Another sociologist has continued to lend his voice to the public. Todd Gitlin contributes, A Gathering Swarm, to Mother Jones in which he gives us his take on the rejuvenated energy from the political left. After the despair and depression (which can defuse the fire and stunt the growth of a movement) that followed the election, Gitlin's article is a welcome reprieve from doomsday prophecies. He puts the recent leftist movement in a more positive, yet realistic, perspective.

The rising was, in an immediate sense, kindled by George W. Bush. The same Republican juggernaut that shocked (but did not awe) most of the world in the course of a disastrous war succeeded in convincing many millions of Americans, at least for a while, that politics was not a specialized enthusiasm or a peculiar hobby but a necessity -- and not a necessity for somebody else but a necessity for them.

In this, Bush accomplished something remarkable: He coaxed the two divergent strands of the left, or liberalism, or progressivism, or whatever you want to call it, into the same insurgent republic and opened up the prospect of a historic resurrection. He convinced old-school Democratic wheelhorses and newly inspired activists, old pros and young amateurs, union faithful and vote mobbers, that if they did not hang together they would most assuredly hang separately.

Call these two forces the machine and the movement. Since the 1960s, the enfeebled Democratic machine and the marginal movement left had encountered each other -- if at all -- with acrid suspicion. They cracked apart 40 years ago, when college students who distrusted power went south to join blacks in overturning white supremacy while Chicago's Mayor Daley, a believer in power if nothing else, led his white, working-class base in fighting against Martin Luther King, and, later, against those same students as they revolted against the war in Vietnam. Because the Democratic Party didn't manage to amalgamate old and new politics -- cut to footage of Mayor Daley's gleeful cops smashing away at long-haired demonstrators -- it was crushed by the law-and-order alliance of old Republicans and resentful segregationists.

We're back to alliances. It seems some leftists, not unlike many conservatives, are so staunchly rooted in their convictions there is no room for alliances, or alternatives that make compromises. It's revolution or nothing. But inspite of ourselves, we made alliances out of necessity - of course with others on the left.

Gitlin asks:

What is the future of this sort of hybrid politics? If the rising of 2004 was the best that the American left-of-center could put up against George Bush's radical provocation, what to conclude from the eventual defeat? That September 11 unleashed an invincible force in favor of Bush? That it was a near-miraculous feat to make such a race even close? That the gay marriage initiatives that the right got on the ballot and passed in 11 states boosted their mobilization more than any equivalent ploy, had there been any, could have helped the left? That the left doesn't think about wedge issues the way Republicans do, but it's time to start? That the right's lock on the old Confederacy, the prairie, and the mountains is insuperable unless the Democrats nominate a candidate with a twang?

While he won't give any definitive answers to these questions, he points us in the direction he thinks the answers may lie.

In the tangle and promise ahead, much will depend on activist networks like MoveOn and America Coming Together, but also on lesser-known movement-party hybrids like Wellstone Action. A national effort to train political candidates, teach activists how to campaign, and turn out the vote, Wellstone Action is driven by the fierce desire to harness movement spirit to organizational force. Its director of education and advocacy, Pam Costain, knew Paul Wellstone for 30 years, starting as his student at Carleton College. She spoke to me of "the Wellstone triangle: base-building, electoral politics, and public policy. You have to work at the intersection." Wellstone Action trained 7,000 citizen-activists in 21 states in 2004.

The article is definitely worth reading, especially if you are still blue[/red] over the election. I read it while working out, and it energized me to stay on the elliptical machine a lot longer.

Bill Moyer Send-Off

2004-12-17T11:24:00.000-06:00

Bill's retirement party is tonight. I'll be there with tissues [sniff].

Theorizing Size

2004-12-16T13:27:00.000-06:00

Hummers drive me mad* (bad pun intended). My most violent fantasies (involving a sledgehammer and busted glass) have occurred when being accosted on the road in my little car by a massive Hummer even though I typically don’t have a problem with road rage, and try to be a non-aggressive driver. My husband’s Hummer fantasy includes a magic wand and the massive Hummer turning into a Micro Machine. His is funnier and more relevant because it gets at the entire point of the Hummer; it’s enormous size.

It owns the road, disregards inconvenient yellow lines, sits above the average driver, and intimidates with its size and ability to literally run you over. The size, build, and need to drive one on the plains of Illinois are domineering and aggressive. It fulfills some peculiar masculine obsession with size. I’m going to keep this “clean,” as my grandma would say, but it doesn't take much for your mind to wander through the need some men have for adjectives regarding bigness to be associated with them - in a variety of ways, not just the most obvious.

So here’s my theory. A particular type of masculinity obsessed with power, control, and (in)security is pacified (however not satisfied) through extensions of enormous size - i.e. Hummer. Insecurities subside within the giant vestige that can crush the little cars and pedestrians around him. He owns the road. He can control the entire flow of traffic if he so chooses. He is a massive man in his giant Hummer. Fantasy fulfilled.

Didn’t Hanna Arendt have a theory about bigness in her Origins of Totalitarianism? I don’t think she had “big daddy” or "big papa" fantasies in mind, but maybe she should have.

*I don't really like SUVs in general, but I have a particular revulsion for Hummers.

Why Not? A Case for Legalization of Medical Marijuana

2004-12-14T01:20:00.000-06:00

I was browsing the New York Times tonight when I came across another article on research for medical marijuana. And like so many other articles I've read, it was about the government turning down a university's, in this case UMASS's, request to do research on the plant. I've posted on this issue before, but I think its time to visit it anew.

I spent five years working as a pharmacy technician, both in retail and at a short-term rehabilitation (not substance-abuse) facility. There are plenty of drugs on the market that can be harmful to patients, and I'm not just talking about when they are taken in excessive amounts. While I'm not claiming to be a doctor, or even a pharmacist, I witnessed patients having to be kept sitting up for half and hour after certain medications were given to keep the drug from burning holes in their esophagus. And how about the heart risks associated with Viagra use, I don't see the FDA ripping that off of the market. So, my question is why aren't the benefits of marijuana being studied and the drug widely prescribed to those who could really use it for pain management? I have a hard time believing that marijuana is somehow more toxic than Percocet, Hydrocodone, or Morphine.

I have a couple of hypotheses on this subject. First, marijuana has a social history, connected to the peace movement of the sixties and "hippies". The government may have an issue endorsing a drug that was associated with a movement so anti-government. Second, how does the government overturn years of condemning marijuana as a "gateway drug" and educating people on its evils to turn it into something that is prescribed for cancer patients. We all know how easily the current administration admits to its mistakes.

Medical discoveries often come with risks. I do not want to endorse haphazard testing of drugs on people in the name of science. But I think its time for the FDA to get over the stigma they've placed on marijuana. If I was suffering from cancer, I would want to have every option for pain management available, regardless of its social history.

Behrooz Ghamari: Lost Muslim Voices of Dissent

2004-12-09T09:26:00.000-06:00

This article comes courtesy of Zsuzsa. Behrooz Ghamari is professor of sociology at Georgia State University.

Behrooz Ghamari: Lost Muslim Voices of Dissent

Rumsfeld Gets Earful From Troops (washingtonpost.com)

2004-12-09T09:23:00.000-06:00

What do you make of this?

Rumsfeld Gets Earful From Troops (washingtonpost.com)

Formation of Single-Issue Alliances: Blue Dogs and Red Herrings

2004-12-06T14:22:00.000-06:00

An article in the NYTimes this morning covers the story of some currently active soldiers suing the federal government over the newly implemented "stop-loss" policy. What's clear is that people from various ideological points of departure are coming together to protest this policy.

The lawyers, from the Center for Constitutional Rights, representing the soldiers are unabashedly anti-war. The soldiers aren't necessarily, and one is explicitly not, anti-war. For one of the soldiers, Mr.Qualls, it's simply an issue of honor and fairness, and the government isn't holding up its end of the deal.

Asked whether antiwar forces were instigating this lawsuit, Mr. Lobel, who like his co-counsel describes himself as openly opposed to the war in Iraq, laughed and said no. The soldiers and their families came on their own, he said.

"They were desperately looking for some way to solve their situations, and it looks like most of the people they found who were trying to counsel or represent people in their situation were antiwar people," Mr. Lobel said. "But to me, the most interesting aspect of this whole thing is that it's not a question of antiwar or pro-war. It's not a question of red states or blue states. This stop-loss question is just about fairness."

Mr. Qualls may have to go back to his post. He is the only plaintiff who has revealed his identity, which obviously could be very dangerous in an already dangerous environment.

"The other thing," Mr. Qualls said, "is you've got thousands of people over there in the same situation as me and somebody's got to do something. Why not have it be me? I can't worry about what people will say."

Mr. Qualls is due back at his radio post on a base north of Baghdad this coming weekend. He said he hoped a judge would issue a temporary restraining order and allow him to stay home. But if he loses, he said, he will get on that plane.

I've been thinking about coalitions and alliances between individuals and groups with fundamentally different ideological points of departure, who 1) come to similar conclusions about policy and 2) create alliances based on these conclusions. Indeed, this is how many social movements gain momentum and win more popularity. One example, the first organized anti-war movement in the United States against the Philippine-American War, was bipartisan. It contained some progressives and some extremely conservative elements who simply agreed imperialism was bad for various reasons.

But today, I'm thinking about the red/blue division. First, I personally think it's bogus, too handy of an explanation for too much. Overall, I don't find it useful, except to note what we already knew: there are geopolitical differences that are also cultural. Most of the more populated blue states were fairly split in their votes. Most of the more populated red state votes were also closely split. In fact, I think focusing on divisions in cultural/moral values is a red herring thwarting potential coalitions and alliances that could bring people together to resist the asinine policies already passed and that are surely still to be proposed.

My point is that the red/blue division obfuscates similarities such as that many people are disgruntled with the current situation. All that it shows us are some of the reasons they may disagree with the much more enlightened blue dogs (I jest). But racists and anti-racists sometimes agree on policy, such as the anti-imperialists, and liberals often support policies and divisions, unwittingly, reinscribing that which they would change. It just doesn't do to rest explanations about ideological divisions on electoral politics, or even cultural values, especially when there are alliances to be made over stop-loss, exit plans, tax plans, deficits, poverty, job creation, wal-mart, public funding for education etc.

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, of public sociology?

2004-12-02T15:00:00.000-06:00

The other night I was watching late night tv and I happened across a new version of "Gilligan's Island". This updated version is a cross between the syndicated television show and "Survivor" where two teams of Minnow castaways must compete for a spot as the REAL Skipper, Gilligan or Mary Ann. I was just about to turn the channel, because I've never liked "Survivor", when I saw one of the two competing Professors was named Professor Eric. Now here is the kicker: HE IS A SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR!
Holy moley, one of our own AND he is in a heated discussion with one of the Mrs. Howell's (a real life millionaire with a net worth under 3 million) about the nature of meritocracy in the United States. That's right Professor Eric, represent! Finally a sociologist on tv in a mainstream show, sorry I don't consider "Book TV" mainstream. Mrs. Howell comes off as really ignorant in her discussion but Professor Eric is kind to her. Later we find out that Professor Eric is gay and has a life partner. He shows the other castaways a picture of his partner and Mrs. Howell remarks that she doesn't understand why gay people have to "flaunt that they have sex". This doesn't make her very popular with the other castaways.
So now I'm addicted and I am looking forward to a season of Professor Eric espousing his sociological imagination on mainstream television. He comes off as a very likable character, as evidenced by one evening when the female castaways, minus the mean Mrs. Howell, decide to dress him in drag and he totally hams it up for the men and women of the camp. All in all, things were looking good for Professor Eric and my dream of seeing sociology on the small screen.
And then tragedy strikes as a physical challenge in the form of making a boat from some spare parts and rowing it against the other team in a race. While Professor Eric seems physically fit and it looked like the team built a durable boat, it turns out the all his sociological knowledge couldn't help in constructing a fast boat. Alas, the weather wasn't getting rough but the tiny ship was tossed. Even with the courage of the fearless crew, the professor lost. Yes, he was the first survivor kicked off of the island.
So my challenge to all of you sociologists is to start thinking of what reality show you want to be a part of because it is time to get our message to the masses! Just make sure to read up on your structural engineering before you go.

More On Casualties: Paris, IL

2004-11-30T10:44:00.000-06:00

My hometown made the CBS Evening News for the same reason it's been making news other places, citizen-soldiers dying. Here is the internet version of the story.

The clips they showed on CBS presented the "quaint" little downtown. But they failed to show the downtown shops--they only showed the signs above--out of business, vacated, or the 24-hour Super(!)Walmart that helped put them out of business.

Why would they tell the story of how half of all the deaths for Illinois have come from the Paris National Guard unit, the 1544th Transportation Company, and not show the struggling economy of the community, in fact specifically obscure it. Why does being "quaint" trump economic hardship? Is it easier to sympathize with a "quaint" "all-American" town, than a struggling small community? I guess. I doubt most of them want sympathy. They want their kids and partners home, or they are the "superpatriots" who whill sacrifice everything willingly.

Although Paris is rural, the mayor was quoted as saying it was time for the 1544th, noncombat unit, to come home. They are transportation.

Update: To find the actual story you have to search for Paris at CBS News

Sociologist and Blogger in the Washington Post

2004-11-29T10:35:00.000-06:00

Brian G., ASA dissertation award winner and blogger for Pub Sociology, is now also a public sociologist extraordinaire. He has an opinion piece today in the Washington Post in which he puts the casualties and injuries in Iraq into social and historical context.

In Brian's own words:

More than 1,200 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq so far. In the face of rising casualties, polls taken throughout the election season revealed the public's discomfort with our progress in Iraq but gave little indication of weakening support for the mission. This ambivalence about the war's human costs reflects perhaps both a belief in the cause for which our troops are fighting and a perception that in the aggregate their sacrifices -- while always tragic on an individual level -- are historically light. A glance at earlier wars seemingly confirms this latter sentiment. Compared with the more than 405,000 American personnel killed in World War II and the 58,000 killed in Vietnam, Iraq hardly seems like a war at all.

But focusing on how few military deaths we've suffered conceals the difficulty of the mission and the determination of the forces arrayed against the American presence in Iraq. A closer look at these deaths -- 1,232 as I write -- reveals a real rate of manpower attrition that raises questions about our ability to sustain our presence there in the long run.

Seriously, read the article. This is an example of what good sociological analysis can add to a public debate.

Update: Brayden has a good follow-up post regarding exit strategies.

Grant Proposal Writing

2004-11-23T14:50:00.000-06:00

I'm new to grant proposal writing. I've written my outline, and I'm ready to try to convince them as to why they should fund my research. Any good advice seasoned fellowship writers?

In honor of World Peace Day: Arundhati Roy Speech

2004-11-17T13:14:00.000-06:00

Here is Arundhati Roy's Sydney Peace prize speech.

Excerpt:

For those who are materially well-off, but morally uncomfortable, the first question you must ask yourself is do you really want to climb out of it? How far are you prepared to go? Has the crevasse become too comfortable?

If you really want to climb out, there's good news and bad news.

The good news is that the advance party began the climb some time ago. They're already half way up. Thousands of activists across the world have been hard at work preparing footholds and securing the ropes to make it easier for the rest of us. There isn't only one path up. There are hundreds of ways of doing it. There are hundreds of battles being fought around the world that need your skills, your minds, your resources. No battle is irrelevant. No victory is too small.

The bad news is that colorful demonstrations, weekend marches and annual trips to the World Social Forum are not enough. There have to be targeted acts of real civil disobedience with real consequences. Maybe we can't flip a switch and conjure up a revolution. But there are several things we could do. For example, you could make a list of those corporations who have profited from the invasion of Iraq and have offices here in Australia. You could name them, boycott them, occupy their offices and force them out of business. If it can happen in Bolivia, it can happen in India. It can happen in Australia. Why not?

That's only a small suggestion. But remember that if the struggle were to resort to violence, it will lose vision, beauty and imagination. Most dangerous of all, it will marginalize and eventually victimize women. And a political struggle that does not have women at the heart of it, above it, below it, and within it is no struggle at all.

The point is that the battle must be joined. As the wonderful American historian Howard Zinn put it: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train.

Sorry Everybody

2004-11-15T22:59:00.000-06:00

Sorry Everybody. I know this is how many sincerely feel - very heartfelt. In that sense, this site is nice example of a growing international consciousness; other ways it's weird (see for yourself-people in MA claiming to be the same as the rest of the world with a picture of their white Cape Cod and well manicured yard). Either way it's interesting.

Common Dreams has an article on this phenomenon.

Hail, Instructors!

2004-11-12T10:11:00.000-06:00

I have a new found respect for instructors who come up with their own lectures for multiple classes a week. I guess lectured for the first time, coming up with my own lecture notes anyway, yesterday. It was a good experience and fun, but it took me many hours to come up with a 1 hour lecture! How do you people do it and get anything else done? I've been in my comfortable teaching assistant role, where I just explain everything the second time. Lecturing from your own notes is a whole different story. My respects to you instructors.

The class I lectured for was sociological theory. I covered Anna Julia Cooper and Ida B. Wells-Barnett, two of the more inspiring sociological analysts for me. Here is a quote from Cooper I shared with the class.

“Progressive peace in a nation is the result of conflict; and conflict, such as is healthy, stimulating, and progressive, is produced through the co-existence of radically opposing or radically different elements” (Cooper 1892).

I take solace from her words given the apparent cultural and political divides we're experiencing today.

Union Shaking things up with the AFL-CIO

2004-11-10T10:02:00.000-06:00

Anyone remember sociologists at the ASA this past summer in the Hilton chanting slogans for the hotel workers' rights?

It appears that service workers are the largest and fastest growing workers to unionize. The president of the service workers union is demanding the AFL-CIO get some new innovative strategies to increase union membership. Let the hellraising begin.
The New York Times > National > Largest Union Issues Call for Major Changes

Stateline.org: 50-state rundown on gay marriage laws..

2004-11-08T19:15:00.000-06:00

Here is an article on the variation between the 50 states' laws on gay marriage. It seems the federal constitutional amendment is going to come up again. This may be the first big issue. I need to read up on my queer studies to be better equipped with the research as the backlash becomes more and more exigent. Any suggestions?
Stateline.org: 50-state rundown on gay marriage laws..

Perspective

2004-11-03T08:27:00.000-06:00

Breathe out the panic. Now, breathe in calm. Repeat…over and over until the shallow, hard-to-breathe feeling resembling a panic attack is over.

We all deserve hand wringing and some panic. The bleakness of what appears to be a GOP takeover will be hard for people to take, especially when they start making policy. But after we have sufficiently indulged ourselves in despair, we have to get some perspective. If we all move to Canada who is going to clean up this mess? Are we just going to leave it for the most vulnerable populations to take?

We're going to have to make sure they (the people apparently still in control) can't shut us up in the name of falsely "uniting the country." I think the best course of action is a stance where we start defining the debates based on our critiques of the facts of bigoted policies that hinder the rights of our fellow citizens, policies that increasingly make the most vulnerable even worse off, and try to stay focused (as hard as it will be for me) leaving Bush's personal idiocy aside.

It’s time to raise hell (i.e. help people think critically by looking at facts). Maybe we can seriously mobilize those who still see hypocrisy as problematic and those who will be most affected by this election (especially those who voted against their own economic interests). This is still our government, governing in our name. Our voices have to be heard. Voter turnout was in record numbers (conservatives apparently came out in droves). The student vote was way up, which is encouraging; our students were taking a stand. We have Obama (a classic Weberian charismatic leader and force to be reckoned with) from IL and Salazar from CO.

I still am open to more suggestions on novels whose reality to which I can periodically escape. We have to remember to breathe, and help each other through these next four years.

Escapism and Election Day

2004-10-31T21:19:00.000-06:00

Let's hope the spurious correlation between the Redskins losing and the incumbent losing holds true. If not, many of us will need to partake in some escapism. I'm open to any suggestions for some good novels to take me out of more Bush reality, since I can't afford to just move out of the country. Don't forget to vote - especially anyone in a battleground state!

Here is some more Bush reality in a Times article that discusses the National Guard Unit to which my brother belongs and their lack of standard armor even though convoys are the frontlines. It's ironic because these Guard convoys, who make maybe $80/day for a Specialist and have to stay for 12-18 months, escort civilian contractors, who make maybe $1200/day and get to go home about every 3 months, and are paid out of the same budget - and yes they do talk about this to each other.

Let's hope this Bush nightmare is over soon. I'm optimistic. Way to go Packers!!

Alejandro Escovedo Has His Day : Benefit for uninsured Musician

2004-10-25T09:48:00.000-05:00

Paste Magazine :: News :: Alejandro Escovedo Has His Day (Page 1).

Here is another face of an uninsured person. For those of you who aren't familiar with Escovedo, he's wonderful. He has Hepatitis C and is struggling to meet his medical bills; he also happens to be a critically acclaimed musician.

It's nice to have musician friends when you are uninsured. It's even better to have health insurance in the first place.

Public Sociology and Empowerment

2004-10-23T10:54:00.000-05:00

My interest in public sociology (henceforth referred to as PS) is not as some missionary call as I'm sure some critics of PS fear of its proponents. Rather, my interest is simply in the aspect of getting sociological ways of thinking (relating personal experiences to social structures) to be more available to people outside of academia. Also, sociologists often have insightful analyses of social structures; this being most socioligists' goal. Therefore, it lends their research to be relevant for the public should they want to relate personal experiences to social structures.

This is the first important aspect of PS as I see it. However, my engagement with PS has also had some more selfish elements. For me it has also been therapeutic. It has been a way to do something with the skills I've spent 6 years of my life learning that addressed the very structures I'd learned to analyze. As the political situation encroached upon my personal life, I saw PS as a way of doing sociology empowering me to do something to resist those social structures. So I don't see myself as so different from the people I want to have the option of using sociological ways of thinking.

Because of this, I dipped my toe into a little PS this past summer. Here is an interview I did that was put in Counterpunch.org this summer with Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match

2004-10-20T18:11:00.000-05:00

Find me a find,
Catch me a catch,
Matchmaker matchmaker
Look through your book
and make me a perfect match!

Aahhh...public sociology. Helping people find love, and not just any love...your soul mate.

I joke, but this is some public sociology by Professor Pepper Schwartz. She has developed a personality matching quiz that helps people determine their compatability and thus increasing their chances at love.* An aside, as an undergrad I saw her referenced in a magazine article on sex and relationships. I also had some awesome professors as an undergraduate, so I thought there were many interesting sociologists. I won't give her credit for me going into sociology, but she didn't hurt, either. It was nice to know there was vast array of topics available for study in sociology.

Can sociology help people find their best mate, if the stars don't do it for them? Ohhhhh the power.

*I wonder if she can statistically measure the correlation between love and making matches on her plan relative to the general dating population.

Bill Moyers on the "leave no lobbyist behind" Tax Bill

2004-10-17T13:09:00.000-05:00

In A Little Patriotic Sacrifice Bill Moyers expresses the distressing problems with the way the government is being run by both the Democrats and the Republicans in Congress.

Bill is invoking patriotism for his main point of their hypocrisy. While this highlights the disheartening hypocrisy and logical contradictions of legislators when they invoke patriotism, it just leaves patriotism as a tool, not as anything really meaningful (because the meaning is purely political and therefore changes in any given context - it has more outfits than Carrie in Sex in the City).

I think patriotism needs to start being interrogated more critically*. It's been attempted to be reclaimed from the left, but I'm not sure how successful this strategy has been. To argue that someone is or isn't patriotic is a discursive wielding of power and obfuscates the practices that can be spun as patriotic and therefore legitimated.

This may be a touchy subject, but analytically, what is the usefulness of "patriotism" as a framing device besides pointing out contradictions? If that is the extent of its usefulness, then aren't we shooting out own feet by reifying patriotism as a legitimating discourse? I'm just trying to think "outside the box" here.**

* Please, don't question my "patriotism" because of my questioning the analytics of patriotism.

**Notice I basically have to apologize for even bringing this up!

Soldiers Against Iraq War

2004-10-17T13:05:00.000-05:00

If you are interested in what soldiers against the Iraq War are saying and going through, read this article from Mother Jones.

Italian Woman is Fined for Veiling

2004-10-15T01:50:00.000-05:00

Tonight, while browsing the New York Times webpage, I came across an article about an Italian woman who was fined for wearing a veil in public. While I know this is not the first country to create a fuss about veiling, Italy caught my attention due to my own knowledge and interest in the country.

The Italian woman was fined after she refused to remove her veil in a state building. She was given the fine under two older laws, one of which dated back to the Fascists in regards to a specific dress code, and another that was created during the time of the Red Brigade, which stated that masks were illegal. Members of the Red Brigade often used masks to conceal their identity. The official who imposed the fine stated that the woman's failure to remove her veil was a matter of security.

I believe this brings up three major issues, almost of all which stem from the notion of identity. First, the woman who was fined is Italian-born. She married a Tunisian about 10 years ago, and converted to Islam after that. For the officials in her town, her status as an Italian is not as important as her status as a follower of Islam. Without the veil, she would not be identified as an outsider at all. However, in this post 9/11 world, which is dominated by fear, now she is seen as a threat to security. Second, this brings up issues of immigration that may be observed throughout western Europe. For most of the last century, Italy was a country of emigration. The population that remained in Italy was homogeneous: Italian, white, Catholic, etc. Increasingly, Italy has been receiving immigrants from Albania and North Africa. During the time that I spent studying in Florence, I routinely saw lines in front of the police station of immigrants, waiting to be permitted to remain in the country. ( A side note: those of us who were American students waiting for permission were ushered in the back door of the very same police station with a much shorter line). Unfortunately, these immigrants are seen as trouble-makers and thieves, and I was told by more than one Italian to "watch out for the Albanians". As more immigrants enter the country with different beliefs and different skin colors, the Italian population will have to become more tolerant, or we are going to see many more instances of discrimination based on appearance. And finally, I have to ask what this incident has to do with gender. Obviously, only Muslim women veil. Men do not have similar religious markers in their attire. Is this an example of men exerting power over women by trying to control their attire? Why is this woman being denied her rights to self-expression, as well as the right to practice her religion? Why is this woman somehow more dangerous with her veil than without? The truth is, without the veil, the city officials would not have seen her as any different from themselves.

The Ghost of Mark Twain

2004-10-11T21:34:00.000-05:00

Mark Twain was a converted anti-imperialist during the Philippine-American war. His satirical wit was invoked for anti-imperialist messages in poems and short stories. Here is one passage from The Mysterious Stranger published in Harper's Monthly November 1916, after the U.S.'s involvement in WWI, although Twain wrote it during the Philippine-American war. Many of his writings on war weren't published until after his death, at his request (although publishers had already rejected some of his more critical submissions).

The loud little handful--as usual--will shout for the war. The pulpit will--warily and cautiously--object--at first; the great, big dull bulk of the nation will rub its sleepy eyes and try to make out why there should be a war, and will say, earnestly and indignantly, 'It is unjust and dishonorable, and there is no necessity for it.'

Then the handfull will shout louder. A few fair men and the other side will argue and reason against the war with speech and pen, and at first will have a hearing and be applauded; but it will not last long; those others will outshout them, and presently the anti-war audience will thin out and lose popularity.

Before long you will see this curious thing: the speakers stoned from the platform, and free speech strangled by hordes of furious men who in their secret hearts are still at one with those stoned speakers--as earlier--but do not dare to say so. And now the whole nation--pulpit and all--will take up the war-cry, and shout itself hoarse, and mob any honest man who ventures to open his mouth; and presently such mouths will cease to open.

Next the statemen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception"(pp. 293-294).*

I quote the "Ghost of Twain" not because there are so many similarities or differences from anti-war/pro-war sentiments today. But simply to highlight that he requested this and "The War Prayer" to be published after his death.

"'I have told the truth in that,' Twain said in adding 'The War Prayer' to the pile of manuscripts that were not to be submitted for publication, 'and only dead men can tell the truth in this world. It can be published after I am dead'" (p. 295).* He thought the Philippine-American war was a war of avarice and went against the ideals of "Americanism," and worse because the war started with the cry of bringing liberty to peoples under the rule of Spain, which is what he initially supported. He compared critically the Philippines (who fought for their own independence from Spain and then the U.S.) with the Boer War in South Africa and the Boxer Rebellion in China, understanding them as imperialistic wars of greed.

I didn't know the level of resistance to the Philippine-American war before I started researching for my dissertation. I also didn't know Mark Twain was an activist until my first year of graduate school. The Spanish-American war was known as the "Splendid Little War" from which the imperialist president Theodore Roosevelt rose as the prototypical strong, gruff and manliest of men. He was after all the leader of the "Rough Riders." I do remember learning this in middle school. Other lesser known things came of that time, such as the "water cure" which is a type of torture mechanism (I may post on this in detail another time) used on Filipino prisoners to gain information and from which many died.

My main point of this anecdote is to point to the role of history in producing political knowledge of a nation and the people making that nation. I knew about Rough Riders, but I didn't know about anti-imperialists. Coincidence, conspiracy? I don't think so. Underlying orders of society that filter and produce educational institutions (and knowledge)? Of course.

* As quoted in Foner, Philip. 1958. Mark Twain: Social Critic. New York: International Publishers Co., Inc

Demographics of Death--Soldiers Killed in Iraq

2004-10-08T07:45:00.000-05:00

Some food for thought...

After a little bit of searching here are the statistics I was able to find on the demographics of the casualties in the war in Iraq and the war on terror. The link takes you to the stats put out by the military and I have uploaded the pdf files for casualties during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (the stats for this are in two parts, one is pre-May1 and one is post-May 1). The numbers reflect totals for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. I'm not sure that this reflects the deaths of those in the national guard.

Interestingly the deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom reflect the racial composition of the U.S. population in 2000, with the exception of the Asian category (n=1048)::
Whites -- 731 (70%)
Black or African American -- 132 (13%)
Hispanic or Latino -- (12%)
Asian -- 22 (2%)
Other categories were 1% or less

Deaths from Operation Enduring Freedom are a bit more concentrated in the white category:
Whites -- 116 (83%)
Black or African American -- 9 (6%)
Hispanic or Latino -- 12 (9%)
Asian -- 1 (0.7%)
Other categories were 1% or less

Op. Iraqi Freedom pre-May1
Op. Iraqi Freedom post-May1
Op. Enduring Freedom

The Kobe Bryant Case: Why is sexual deviance okay for celebrities?

2004-10-07T13:45:00.000-05:00

I was at the gym being exposed to both Fox News and CNN, when I heard that a judge moved to identify Kobe Bryant's accuser in the civil case against him. When I got home I searched the New York Times, and found the article, which outlined the judges reasoning for releasing her identity. The article mentions that the woman has already received death threats because her identity was leaked during the criminal trial. The criminal charges were dropped after the defendant said she no longer wanted to participate in the trial. The civil case is seeking damages for "ridicule, pain and suffering" since the alleged rape.

Will this discourage other rape victims from coming forward, especially if the person they are accusing is high profile? If this woman was raped, she has had to endure threats and unwanted publicity as "punishment" for trying to bring her rapist to justice. On the other side of the coin, if Kobe Bryant did not rape this woman, he had no protection against having his name plastered all over the newspapers and TV.

Which brings me to the title of this post: I suppose what is most disturbing is not the actions of Kobe Bryant or the defendant, but the actions of people who would threaten this woman, without getting any facts or hearing a verdict. Has Kobe Bryant received any death threats? I doubt it. What message is this sending? This also brings to mind when various male celebrities are caught with prostitutes (I'm thinking of Hugh Grant, but there are others). It makes the news for a day, these men are seen as "playboys", and everyone moves on. The public deems what society would categorize as "deviant" sexual behavior for themselves and their peers as somehow "okay" for celebrities. Why is this? And, what are the gender differentials for the acceptance and endorsement of celebrity deviant sexual behavior? I am trying to think of an A-list actress or female celebrity who has experience with deviant sexual behavior in the media, but I can't think of a counter-example. Except for Madonna, who used her sexuality to define herself for a period of her career, which is not quite what I mean. If anyone has any female examples of deviant celebrities, please post them. To wrap this up, I guess my point is that male celebrities are seen as being more macho or masculine by having experiences with deviant sexual behavior, but female celebrities do not experience the same pay-offs. Kobe's career will be just fine.

Sex and Madness

2004-10-03T11:32:00.000-05:00

This is the title of the course for which I am teaching assistant this semester. The title is the instructor, Judith Pintar's, sexy way of naming a course really on gender and mental illness. The class is unique and interesting in that it looks at mental illness as a social issue and in the process must critique many Psychological interpretations and classification schemes of mental illness (such as the DSM). Sociological thinkers such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Goffman, Foucault, E. Franklin Frazier, Kutchins and Kirk, among others have been discussed so far to help explain representations of mental illness in films ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to obscure documentaries as well as in the our everyday language, and the formation and role of total institutions like mental hospitals.

Dystopian novels like the familiar 1984, Catch 22 will be looked at to understand society as insane while the protaganist is purported to be sane. This leads me to the reason for this post, the trafficking of girls and young women. The Guardian has a story on the current trafficking network. Mentioned in the article are references to the demise of the postsocialist economies of Moldova and Albania and orphans left to fend for themselves. But then in part 2 of the story is discussion of the girls trying to reintegrate into society after being violently stripped away, abused physically and emotionally, and forced to survive in a girl/woman trafficking society. In this society it could be your cousin selling you when you think he is trying to help you find a job for you to sustain yourself.

One girl's experience:

Viorica, a child of 17 from southern Moldova, cannot finish her story. She wanted, she says, to go to music school and improve her singing voice, 'to learn to sing and play'. But life had other plans for her. Instead, she was lured from her village by a distant cousin, to Turkey, with a promise of work. When she arrived at the coastal resort of Antalya, she 'was told to put on some clothes and get ready. "It's time for you to work," they said. I asked what work? They said I was going to a hotel to be with men. When I objected,' she continues, 'they said I would have to do this thing if I ever wanted to see Moldova again. They threatened me with a gun and made me get into a car. We got to the hotel. The thing is, I'd never been with a man before. I was a virgin, and that night, they made me go with 11 men.' At this point, Viorica stops in the tracks of her tears and her words. It is a terrible moment.

The psychologist treating Viorica, Ana Chirsanov, tells me that the girl has tried to commit suicide. 'Her soul was destroyed that first night, with those 11 men,' explains Dr Chirsanov. 'She used to resist, spitting and pulling the clients' hair, but they thought it was all part of some erotic game. She was crying out, "I don't want to do this", and they just laughed at her, amusing themselves. After which she got into thinking that she was the one who was insane and that this was what the world is like. That the people doing this to her were normal and she was insane to be unhappy about it.' Most of the girls, when they return, says Dr Chirsanov, 'speak of their desire to die. We had a case of one minor who had jumped from a sixth-floor window... she survived, after six surgical operations.'

There is a glaring problem in calling what happened to Viorica, or any trafficked woman or girl, 'prostitution', since the word can imply a degree of consent. 'Here, there is absolutely no meaningful consent at all,' says Sian Jones, co-ordinator for the Balkans at Amnesty International. 'It is clear that if you knowingly have sex with a woman who has been trafficked, that is rape.'

So, while it is rational for men trying to literally capitalize on these girls' bodies, and the rest of the world more or less sits back and ignores these girls' plight because their gender, class, and ethnic backgrounds render them fairly inconsequential on a global scheme, some of these girls feel they are crazy because they see something is clearly wrong with what they experience/d. And for an even more rational explanation, these girls serve a function for Western men looking for a nice young docile body to use. Sex and madness indeed.

Debate in pictures

2004-10-01T14:21:00.000-05:00

Presidential Debate in Pictures, courtesy of Rising Hegemon. One of the contributors is "DeDurkheim," I figure using a father of the discipline's name in your blogger profile is sociological enough to post on this oh-so-sociological blog.

The online CNN poll had Kerry as "winner" 85% with Bush "winner" at 12%, the rest as tie, when I voted.

In honor of the prairie...errr...Wetlands

2004-09-27T18:54:00.000-05:00

For those who have never been to central Illinois (you know, part of the state south of Chicago), the landscape consists of more than corn fields. Currently, there are prairie restoration projects going on all over the area. I find a lot of beauty in the native landscape of the prairie.

According to this article in the New York Times by Stephen Kinzer, there were also Wetlands here at one time (before farmers drained the land for farming). Now there is going to be a restoration of the Wetlands too, which is expected to be a fairly quick process. So before I graduate, I'll be able to go canoe on the restored Wetlands that are also contributing to cleaning up some of the chemical runoff from the fields. Cool.

Britain on the way to forgiveness? The eradication of Third World Debt

2004-09-25T11:55:00.000-05:00

As reported in today's New York Times, Britain is apparently offering to pay off 10% of the Third World's debt, which is mostly owed to the IMF, World Bank, and African Development Bank. Britain has also challenged other wealthy, first world nations to pay their share. The article does note that Kerry has already promised to forgive some of the debt during his campaigning. As I was reading this, I thought, "What a lovely idea, lets see if it really happens".

While I already knew that the Third World is facing horrible debt, and that this is keeping many poor nations, particularly in Africa, from serving their own poor populations, one particular point in this article caught me off guard: The IMF has devalued its own gold reserves, saying that its worth $40 an ounce, while the market price is $400 an ounce. The IMF has more than enough gold to sell some off and forgive the debts. What confuses me about this debt is why the First World is so set on keeping Africa and other impoverished nations in poverty. In the long run, if Africa is able to improve its economy, and the standard of living of its population, the First World will benefit from having another area to produce goods, to trade with, etc. Or from an exploitive capitalist standpoint, more sweatshop laborers. I understand there are few more hurdles for African to jump, including overcoming corruption in government, and slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, boosting the economy could help with both of these hurdles too. Since I have actually done research on the AIDS epidemic, I can make the connection there: the standard of living in Africa gets better after the debt is forgiven because the government is spending more money on healthcare. People have more resources available for them, and can get treatment extending their life span if they are already infected with HIV, and obtain condoms and be advised how to avoid the virus by healthcare providers if they are not. Africans have longer, healthier lives, with fewer sick family members to care for. (Note: in countries where HIV prevalence rates are extremely high, HIV infected adults have to care for sick elderly parents, and their children, some of which are infected with HIV themselves. They don't have as much help from siblings because each sibling may be facing a similar dire situation.) Healthy workers are much more productive than sick workers, giving another boost to the economy.

In any case, I am interested to see what happens with Britain's promise, as well as if Kerry gets elected. Also, if anyone has more insight on the IMF and what their rational is for valuing their gold at only 10% of market value, please enlighten me.

American Indian people and representations of them

2004-09-21T20:48:00.000-05:00

During the DNC I felt really horrible when they had the American Indians sing the "Star Spangled Banner" in their native language from their reservation. All I could see was colonization. I was already jaded, and this made it worse. What percent of American Indians are in poverty again? To me it was the wrong to use them as a symbol of wonderful multiculturalism. Then later, I was able to breathe easier after hearing Obama.

On our own campus the mascot is "Chief Illiniwek," which is a divisive issue that ultimately caused our campus to lose a great Chancellor, who still hasn't been replaced. The mascot is a white man (undergraduate) dressed up like a Lakota Souix Chief, who dances at half-times to a song written by a U of I band director. This is our dirty laundry.

There is a new museum in Washington D.C. for American Indian history. Only a generation ago it was common practice for American Indian children to go to boarding schools where they were forbidden to speak their language.

The problem I have is with the various representations of American Indians as symbols, mascots, nostalgic peoples of long ago who occupied this land. Alongside of these representations is a huge abyss, the violent history associated with the building of the United States and removing the people in the way through whatever means necessary. This is too often never part of the discussion, which is why AIM was none too impressed with this new museum as that history is still not told. Not only missing is this history, but discussions of actual living breathing American Indians; they did not all get exterminated, nor are they a timeless relic of the "west".

This museum was partly to commemorate people who have been excluded from the nation's capitol and given a selective and partial history with regard to the nation. It serves as recognition for their cultures and the people still here today. But it doesn't erase the history it refuses to tell. This (along with poverty and self-serving uses of their representations) is why I was uncomfortable with the singing of the "Star Spangled Banner" and why the "Chief" is offensive, and why the museum is good, but shouldn't get too many people patting each other's backs. There's a lot of other work left to be done.

Soldier Demography

2004-09-19T09:35:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting some statistics on the soldiers in Iraq. Since I'm working on my dissertation proposal, I don't have time to search for the data.

So, somebody looking for a paper to write for stats, or an op-ed to write (maybe if you get some really interesting results a paper to publish), I'm interested in the soldiers over there. What percent are career? What percent are citizen-soldiers, like National Guard? What's the racial, gender, socio-economic breakdowns? What are their ages? What percent are from rural, suburban, urban areas? Here's what I'm especially interested in knowing: What's the demographic profile of those dying? Who's getting injured? Is there a significant pattern? Then, all these same statistics run for the one's doing the war-making decisions, for a nice juxtaposition. My hypothesis is that there is a disproportionate number of rural Guardspersons dying. The juxtaposition would just highlight the obvious class issues. Also, I'd venture that there is a disproportionate number of persons of color represented the deaths compared to the entire population.

I would have a lot more questions to throw out if I had some numbers to look at. I'd be happy to share them if anyone would like to take this up. If I was teaching a stats class, I'd make this the class project, if the data was available and doesn't it have to be somewhere?

Colorblind Racism: Blocking the Vote

2004-09-13T09:30:00.000-05:00

Bob Herbert has a column today on John Pappageorge's statement that the Detroit vote needs suppressed.

More than 80 percent of the population of Detroit is black. This is very well understood by John Pappageorge, who is white and a Republican state legislator in Michigan. "If we do not suppress the Detroit vote," said Mr. Pappageorge, "we're going to have a tough time in this election."

Oops! Republicans aren't supposed to actually say they want to suppress black votes. That's so retro. It's so Jim Crow. This is the 21st century, and the thing now is to do the dastardly deed, but never ever acknowledge it.

He's still not acknowledging outright that race has anything to do with the acceptability of forming a plan to suppress the Black Detroit vote. So even if this is racism, he's not a racist.* It's just political strate(r)gy right?

Herbert has a number for the Election Protection Coalition: 1-866-OUR-VOTE, in case we see vote blocking going on.

*Eduardo Bonilla-Silva has a book called Racism Without Racists: Colorblind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States that seems pretty relevant here.

Open Letter to Bush by Brooke Campbell

2004-09-12T15:41:00.000-05:00

"To Whom it May Concern,

I found out that my brother, Sergeant Ryan M. Campbell, was dead during a graduate seminar at Emory University on April 29, 2004. Immediately after a uniformed officer knocked at my mother's door to deliver the message that broke her heart, she called me on my cell phone. She could say nothing but "He's gone." I could say nothing but "No." Over and over again we chanted this refrain to each other over the phone as I made my way across the country to hold her as she wept.

I had made the very same trip in February, cutting classes to spend my brother's two weeks' leave from Baghdad with him. Little did I know then that the next time I saw him would be at Arlington National Cemetery. During those days in February, my brother shared with me his fear, his disillusionment, and his anger. "We had all been led to believe that Iraq posed a serious threat to America as well as its surrounding nations," he said. "We invaded expecting to find weapons of mass destruction and a much more prepared and well-trained Republican Guard waiting for us. It is now a year later, and alas, no weapons of mass destruction or any other real threat, for that matter."

Ryan was scheduled to complete his one-year assignment to Iraq on April 25. But on April 11, he emailed me to let me know not to expect him in Atlanta for a May visit, because his tour of duty had been involuntarily extended. "Just do me one big favor, ok?" he wrote. "Don't vote for Bush. No. Just don't do it. I would not be happy with you."

Last night, I listened to George W. Bush's live, televised speech at the Republican National Convention. He spoke to me and my family when he announced, "I have met with parents and wives and husbands who have received a folded flag, and said a final goodbye to a soldier they loved. I am awed that so many have used those meetings to say that I am in their prayers and to offer encouragement to me. Where does strength like that come from? How can people so burdened with sorrow also feel such pride? It is because they know their loved one was last seen doing good. Because they know that liberty was precious to the one they lost. And in those military families, I have seen the character of a great nation: decent, and idealistic, and strong."

This is my reply: Mr. President, I know that you probably still "don't do body counts," so you may not know that almost one thousand U.S. troops have died doing what you told them they had to do to protect America. Ryan was Number 832. Liberty was, indeed, precious to the one I lost-- so precious that he would rather have gone to prison than back to Iraq in February. Like you, I don't know where the strength for "such pride" on the part of people "so burdened with sorrow" comes from; maybe I spent it all holding my mother as she wept. I last saw my loved one at the Kansas City airport, staring after me as I walked away. I could see April 29 written on his sad, sand-chapped and sunburned face. I could see that he desperately wanted to believe that if he died, it would be while "doing good," as you put it. He wanted us to be able to be proud of him. Mr. President, you gave me and my mother a folded flag instead of the beautiful boy who called us "Moms" and "Brookster." But worse than that, you sold my little brother a bill of goods. Not only did you cheat him of a long meaningful life, but you cheated him of a meaningful death. You are in my prayers, Mr. President, because I think that you need them more than anyone on the face of the planet. But you will never get my vote.

So to whom it may concern: Don't vote for Bush. No. Just don't do it. I would not be happy with you.

Sincerely,
Brooke M. Campbell
Atlanta, GA "

For more information click here.

There's nothing to fear...

2004-09-09T23:53:00.000-05:00

I was surprised to hear Dick Cheney's comments that Americans should be afraid of another terrorist attack if John Kerry gets elected. I don't like the idea that Cheney is using threats and fear to profer votes from people. Let me remind you that this is the administration that already has one terrorist attack on their record and there is evidence that Bush knew about the possibility of a terrorist attack days before 9/11 (and perhaps could have prevented it). And now I'm supposed to "fear" what will happen if George W Bush doesn't get elected again. Thanks, but no thanks Dick Cheney. I think that I will take my chances.
As we come upon the anniversary of a tragic event in our history I have to ask, how has the Bush administration fought the war on terror? We heard about duct tape and the need for bottled water, we have a terror alert color system (which from what I understand doesn't actually change how people live their lives but just acts as a constant reminder of the "threat" of a terrorist attack), "advanced" airport security and an unrelated war in another country. Yes, I feel so much safer now. Need I remind Dick Cheney what his running mate said a week earlier? GW believes that the war on terror will never end. So what am I supposed to fear? If the war on terror is ongoing, then why not see what will happen if we elect someone else?
One of the famous quotes from the Great Depression is FDR's statement that "There is nothing to fear but fear itself" and I believe that Americans are a group of people who do not want to be led by fear. I hope that they take a stand this November and prove the truth in this statement.

More on the Futility of the Corporate Media: Not Stating the Obvious

2004-09-09T22:52:00.000-05:00

This article discusses the same issue I've been having with the media, the double standards in their treatment of Bush and Kerry. While the Bush administration has fed the media the "flip flopper" lines, and they have swallowed them whole, they haven't looked at those same assertions when it comes to Bush. And all they would have to do is state the obvious: Enemy #1 moves from Osama bin Laden to Sadam Hussein, focus on War on Terror becomes War on Iraq, reasons for said war moves from weapons of mass destruction to "he killed his own people" (ahem, while the U.S. looked the other way). Further, they also don't hone in on the biggest issue of comparison, which is what's worse, changing one's mind, or flat out policies of misinformation to lead the public into going along with them. Misinformation about potential of nuclear weapons development, misinformation about how much was known prior to 9/11 about potential terror attacks, and finally even more misinformation on Abu Ghraib.

Why can't we call a liar a liar?

UPDATE:I have to give Paul Krugman credit. He has been speaking out all along. In today's op-ed he supports my argument that W is liar (or a non-truth-teller) even more.

Over 1,000 Soldiers Killed in Iraq

2004-09-08T01:28:00.000-05:00

First, take a look at Brian's post at Pub Sociology about these deaths.

After “Mission Accomplished” was announced by President Bush, more soldiers have died in Iraq than prior to the utterance of those words. Over 1000 soldiers have died in Iraq. Two from around my hometown yesterday. The same company to which my brother is returning today after his two-week leave. Estimates of Iraqi deaths, mostly civilian, are around 13,000.

I am a member of Military Families Speak Out. These soldiers dying are real people with real families. So as Brian says, sometimes I do have an inclination to grab someone (in spite of my own nonviolent aspirations) who speaks about the war flippantly. I don't have a sense of humor about any of this. Bush’s indefinite wars, and the one consistency in his administration, misinformation, has to be voted out in November. Anything else will be read as a mandate on his policies and it has already cost us too many lives all around. The media characterization of Kerry as a “flip flopper” is telling of the mainstream media’s futility at conducting thoughtful analysis given the lack of comparison with Bush's own prevarications and hedging of the facts.

I have no earth shattering analysis to make sense of these losses. There is no sense to be made. But I do hope that you vote.

A Path for Transsexual Marriages in Japan?

2004-09-07T01:16:00.000-05:00

On July 16, 2004, the Japanese government has enacted a new law entitled "Sei Doitsu Shogaisha no Seibetsu Toriatukai no Tokurei ni Kansuru Horitu [the law regarding the issue of GID (Gender Identity Disorder) patients' sex ]". Basically, this law allows GID patients to change the description of their biological sex on the family registry form (Koseki Tohon). The law only includes singles with no childern and who have undergone medical and mental treatment in the past, meaning that the person has had "mental disorder" because of being transgender and had a surgery to change his/her original biological sex to the other. OK, I have a lot of things to say about this law, but I'll skip that part. Otherwise, it's going to be too long. Anyhow, Okinawa, Hiroshima and Tokyo Katei Saibansho (a domestic court -- one type of lower court that deals with divorces, juvenile deviance, etc., it is a place for negotiation and not for accusation) approved some applicants' allegation to change the description of their biological sex in the family registry form.
Well, what's so important about this? To file a marriage in Japan, you need to submit family registry forms (1 from each person) along wit the marriage form to the municipal office. A family registry form shows the track of your family members, such as name, age, the place of birth, relation to the head of household, and sex (the submission of this form is still very controversial, because one can easily detect his/her national origin, social class, etc.). Technically speaking, as long as the sex on the family registry form is the opposite sex, i.e. one is from a male and the other is from a female, there is no legal barrier for transsexuals to gain a legally sanctioned marriage. I haven't seen such cases yet, but I think we'll see them in the near future.

Why are we launching pre-emptive strikes against Americans?

2004-09-02T10:58:00.000-05:00

After reading article after article about the arrests of protestors in NYC, I have to ask myself, "Why are we launching pre-emptive strikes on Americans?". In a front page New
York Times' article, writers noted how police have been trying to stop protests before they even start. As if W.'s pre-emptive strike in Iraq was not enough, now it seems to be okay for those in power to launch an offensive before an event happens on the streets on New York. While I think we all agree that the NYPD must keep the city secure and in working order, are the 1,000 arrests that have been made since the RNC began necessary? Are the unsanitary and inhumane conditions which people are being detained in necessary? I highly doubt it. Last I checked we lived in a country where peaceful protests were not a threat to national security. Thank you George W. Bush for taking away some of the freedom that you are allegedly trying to bring to other areas of the world.

"Let Freedom Reign"(?)

2004-09-02T10:16:00.000-05:00

I watched Dick Cheney's speech last night. While, I wasn't surprised by anything he said, I was surprised by some of the signs in crowd reading "Let Freedom Reign". Reign? Even Sean Hannity's book is titled, Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism. After a google search, I found that "let freedom reign" was the phrase penned by Bush after the "transfer of power"* in Iraq occured. This occurred around a time when I could viscerally take only so much of the Bush rhetoric, so it makes sense that I missed it.

So I'm going to deconstruct this phrase a bit now. I'll just use dictionary definitions to make my points.

Reign:

\Reign\ (r[=a]n), n. [OE. regne, OF. reigne, regne, F. r[`e]gne, fr. L. regnum, fr. rex, regis, a king, fr. regere to guide, rule. See Regal, Regimen.] 1. Royal authority; supreme power; sovereignty; rule; dominion...

2. The territory or sphere which is reigned over; kingdom; empire; realm; dominion. [Obs.] --Spenser...

3. The time during which a king, queen, or emperor possesses the supreme authority; as, it happened in the reign of Elizabeth...

[Free Trial - Merriam-Webster Unabridged.

reign

\Reign\ (r?n), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Reigned (r?nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Reigning.] [OE. regnen, reinen, OF. regner, F. r['e]gner, fr. L. regnare, fr. regnum. See Reign, n.] 1. To possess or exercise sovereign power or authority; to exercise government, as a king or emperor;; to hold supreme power; to rule. --Chaucer...

2. Hence, to be predominant; to prevail. ``Pestilent diseases which commonly reign in summer.'' --Bacon.

3. To have superior or uncontrolled dominion; to rule.

Syn: To rule; govern; direct; control; prevail.

[Free Trial - Merriam-Webster Unabridged.]

reign

n 1: a period during which something or somebody is dominant or powerful; "he was helpless under the reign of his egotism" 2: the period during which a monarch is sovereign; "during the reign of Henry VIII" 3: royal authority; the dominion of a monarch [syn: sovereignty] v 1: have sovereign power; "Henry VIII reigned for a long time" 2: be larger in number, quantity, power, status or importance; "Money reigns supreme here"; "Hispanics predominate in this neighborhood" [syn: predominate, dominate, rule, prevail]

O.k. now for freedom:

freedom

\Free"dom\ (fr[=e]"d[u^]m), n. [AS. fre['o]d[=o]m; fre['o]free + -dom. See Free, and -dom.] 1. The state of being free; exemption from the power and control of another; liberty; independence...

2. Privileges; franchises; immunities...

3. Exemption from necessity, in choise and action; as, the freedom of the will.

4. Ease; facility; as, he speaks or acts with freedom.

5. Frankness; openness; unreservedness...

6. Improper familiarity; violation of the rules of decorum; license.

7. Generosity; liberality. [Obs.] --Chaucer...

Syn: See Liberty.

[Free Trial - Merriam-Webster Unabridged.]

freedom

n 1: the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints 2: immunity from an obligation or duty [syn: exemption]

Clearly, these terms are diametrically opposed. Freedom does not reign by definition, and any reign defies freedom. So what is reigning if not freedom? Well, this question opens a huge can of worms, but one word could encapsulate most of it, imperialism. And while I'm at it,

imperialism

n 1: a policy of extending your rule over foreign countries 2: a political orientation that advocates imperial interests 3: any instance of aggressive extension of authority

Even Sean Hannity didn't conflate freedom with some sort of reign directly. He inserted a colon. So Bush decided, no colons necessary; let freedom reign. I try to stay away from Orwellian comparisons, but come on? Doublespeak?

And the most disturbing part of it all was that there were many people holding these signs and cheering the empty rhetoric and attacks spouted by Cheney. For about a half hour last night, I wished I'd never read 1984.

*yes, these are scare quotes.

RNC Protests: Local Coverage

2004-08-31T23:07:00.000-05:00

Here is some coverage on the RNC protest activities going on this week from some local activists. Has anyone heard of any use of tasers against the protesters, such as I mentioned in a previous post involving an instance of a branch of the government's use of sociological analysis?

The Annual Meeting of APSA is in Chicago

2004-08-28T16:56:00.000-05:00

Some of you may know this already, but the American Political Science Association holds the 100th Annual Meeting in Hilton Chicago between 9/2(Thu) and 9/5(Sun). I posted a link to the on-line program. The thesis is "Global Inequalities".

Drek's Debate on the Politicization of Professional Sociology

2004-08-26T12:09:00.000-05:00

Drek has really good critical (even with his distaste for us critical sociologists) discussion on the politicization of professional sociology.

Rock (or mock) the Vote

2004-08-26T07:53:00.000-05:00

Does voting really matter? Should people who have the right to vote exercise that right? If they don't exercise their voting rights, should they exercise their right to complain about and criticize the government and its leadership? I'm inclined to say yes to all these questions. Perhaps the magnitude of the impact of voting can be debated but tell that to the (many civilian) soldiers in Iraq and Iraqis.

So here is one (I think compelling) reason I'll be exercising my right to vote from an editorial by Dahlia Lithwick in today's NYtimes:

This week's report by the James Schlesinger panel offers the closest thing we'll get to a smoking gun. Connect the dots and it's all there: the sadism at Abu Ghraib stemmed from "confusion." Confusion sounds accidental - like maybe it just blew in off the Atlantic - but the report is clear that this confusion resulted from systemic failures at the highest levels. The report faults ambiguous interrogation mandates, an inadequate postwar plan, poor training and a lack of oversight. It notes that much of this confusion stemmed from the Bush administration's posture that the Geneva Conventions applied only where the president saw fit, and that the definition of "interrogation" was up for grabs at Guantánamo Bay, thus possibly at Abu Ghraib.

Or you can put your ear right up to the horse's mouth, where - even before the Schlesinger report - Mr. Rumsfeld owned the blame. "These events occurred on my watch. As secretary of defense, I am accountable for them and I take full responsibility," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee last May. But we live in an era when such words are intended to signify simultaneous culpability and absolution. [my italics]

Or if you are inclined to think voting a ho hum activity, here is Chuck D's take in the latest issue of Mother Jone's:

CD: Of course voting is useful. But then again, I don’t put a big glow to it. Voting is about as essential as washing yourself. It’s something you’re supposed to do. Now, you can’t go around bragging, expecting to get props because you voted. That’s stupid. You don’t see people running around trying to get props because they washed up. “I washed today! I took a shower today!”

But if you don’t vote, you can’t go around if something goes wrong saying, “Aw man, stuff just stinks!” Well yeah, something stinks because you ain’t smelled yourself. You supposed to take a shower, dude, or you gon’ stink! The hip-hop nation is supposed to vote, because if they don’t, something’s gonna stink: The draft gets voted in, cats get pulled off to war, the average person is gonna get shot up.

In case you haven't registered to vote, you still have time.

A Somber Commemoration

2004-08-23T12:23:00.000-05:00

An article in the BBC online covers the UN designated day for the remembrance of slavery as a global system.

The UN's cultural organisation, Unesco, proclaimed 23 August as International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.

Not too far from Illinois in Ohio, a museum is going up to remember the Underground railroad as well as other relics of the U.S. slave system.

Learning of this day of commemoration reminds me of an experience I had as a kid. My family went on a weekend trip to Cave-In-Rock when I was 10. On our way there we stopped at the Old Slave House, also known as Hickory Hill. Yes, Illinois was supposed to be a free state. However, in southern Illinois a man named Crenshaw had a reverse Underground Railroad operation in which he captured free "black"* persons to enslave and captured persons escaping slavery to sell back into the system. This is the story most often told along with the haunted house stories of the estate.

What I remember as the most horrific part of the story (because it was something I had never heard of or conceived of before), aside from seeing the quarters in which enslaved persons were kept, was that Crenshaw kept some of them to "breed" more persons to sell. I was forced to imagined little babies being born specifically for slavery. Apparently, this place has been closed down since 1996, but it left quite an impression on me and my understanding of the horrible details of the system that kept people in slavery. These kinds of details are to be remembered about the system of slavery.

At the same time, there are those that should also be remembered and understood in today's labor system, even as we remember the past.
*I use quotes to reiterate the social construction of "race".

ASA Impressions

2004-08-20T11:46:00.000-05:00

This was my first ASA. My first impression was an incredulous, "wow, I'm around so many sociologists," followed by a creeped out, "wow. I'm around so many sociologists." I had been told to expect the overwhelming size, which was both nice to blend into the anonymity and limiting as far as some panel discussions went. But overall, I was very pleased. The substance of all of the sessions I attended were very good and some were even excellent.

However, I did expect to learn more about the professionalization of sociologists from this experience. What I did learn was that some sociologists couldn't hold an argument through to its logical conclusion. Yes, for some reason it did surprise me. In the most glaring instance I witnessed, it wasn't because he wasn't prepared or a good speaker because he was both, sort of. He was just so convinced of his conclusion regardless of his ability to support it with a cohesive connected argument. This was a good lesson for me; don't EVER do this. Some still supported him, simply because they supported his conclusion, public sociology is bad for sociologists as sociologists and sociology as a discipline. Anyway, it was nice to discover Deflem wasn't a monster, just a scientistic ideologue with an unmethodical analysis to protect the scientist's agenda.

The more inspiring/interesting speakers I saw included Frances Fox Piven, Barrie Thorne, Judith Blau, Barbara Ehrenreich, Robert Connell, Jeff Goodwin, Julia Adams, Michael Omi (on an especially interesting panel on the categorization of "race" and "ethnicity"), Patricia Hill Collins, Aldon Morris, Manning Marable, and Burawoy. I had hoped to see Evelyn Nakano Glenn and Lisa Lowe. Maybe they will present next year...

San Francisco was as wonderful as I remembered it. And to top it off, I was able to meet my cobloggers, which was a lot of fun. Not bad for a first ASA.