Competition | The Socjournal

As a sociologist I often get heartburn listening to others talk about evolution. As every sociology student knows, from the time Herbert Spencer first coined his “survival of the fittest,” Darwin’s thoughts have been used, misused, and exploited in service of the status quo. You beat somebody down? You dominate another in business? You accumulate obscene wealth? You create a thousand losers for every winner? That’s the natural order of things. Like Darwin NEVER said, survival of the fittest. But times they are a changin. From over due behavioral corrections, fresh air research onthe stupidity of competition (ya I said it), to this provocative article that suggests that having “big winners” is bad for our general survivability, we scientists are starting to reclaim our truths from the social classes that have exploited it. Yay team!

Avi Schroeder | Jan 30, 2011 | Comments 0 Dr. Michael Sosteric | Jun 10, 2010 | Comments 0

Higher education faces challenges. From the competitive ethic of commercialism to the increasing demands for accessible and flexible education, colleges and universities face pressure to change. But is the solution to our educational woes to be found in even stronger alignment of business models with educational models?

Timothy McGettigan | Jun 07, 2010 | Comments 0

This article was printed in the spring 2007 issue of “Our Schools / Our Selves,” published quarterly by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives www.policyalternatives.ca. David F. Noble (guest blogger) Critical pedagogy has long condemned grading as an impediment to genuine education, but critical pedagogues continue to grade, as a presumed condition of employment. “I […]

Dr. Michael Sosteric | Mar 17, 2010 | Comments 2

Through the medium of kinship, early humans developed cooperative arrangements that, according to Marshal Sahlins, were apparently mandated by virtue of the conditions of life. In his words, “The emerging human primate, in a life-and-death-struggle economic struggle with nature, could not afford the luxury of a social struggle. Co-operation, not competition, was essential…. Hobbe’s famous […]

Dr. Michael Sosteric | Mar 17, 2010 | Comments 5