The Lightning Strike | The Socjournal – Part 2

‘Too often progressives demonise or just ignore the political right. This new collection redresses this deficit with a series of extremely well informed snapshots of the right in action across Latin America.

Dr. Michael Sosteric | Oct 03, 2011 | Comments 0

Ah springtime. The gentle feel of the breeze, the light touch of government cutting, the horrible pain and suffering that results. There’s lots of money out there, trillions in fact, just not in the hands of the people who need it the most. Hey, gotta fund the government bailouts of the rich bankers somehow. Or not. We do live in a democracy after all and protest is an important feature. Here’s a sociological take on a growing world wide phenomenon.

Dr. Michael Sosteric | Aug 22, 2011 | Comments 0

Who is interested in Sociology? Why, everybody! We’ve got men, women, undecideds, elementary school students, university students, professors and professionals. Discerning individuals from the natural sciences read us as do mathematicians, rocket scientists, and family managers. Sociology really does have something for everyone.

Dr. Michael Sosteric | May 02, 2011 | Comments 0

Implausible as it may seem, as the Fukushima Daiichi disaster has grown ever more cataclysmic, nuclear energy advocates have come out of the woodwork to tout the virtues of nuclear as a “safe” form of energy. Safe? Are you kidding me? Last night, rain containing measurable levels of radiation from Fukushima Daiichi fell on the […]

Timothy McGettigan | Apr 07, 2011 | Comments 25

Now here’s a kick in the head. They know where you are. And by “they” I mean everybody. Anybody with even a minimum online presence in today’s surveillance/social networks leaves a global footprint that anybody can trace. Sounds reasonable if you are thinking about the police I suppose. Why worry if you don’t have anything to hide right? But what about organized criminals? Far more useful it is for them to know when you are out on your own, away from home, vulnerable, and alone. Don’t have any enemies? No exes looking to beat you down? Don’t know anybody that wants to take things from you? Then you have nothing to fear! Tweet away but just be aware, “they” are watching you.

Dr. Michael Sosteric | Apr 05, 2011 | Comments 0

As a rule academics are not trained to write well. You might even say academics are trained to confuse, hiding their thoughts behind walls of pretentious gobbledygook. It is not our fault. It is part of our training. From the moment we step into our first 100 level class to the the time when we finally hand in our dissertation and head out for a celebratory libation, our only goal is to impress somebody else and make ourselves look smart. It is the nature of the academic beast I suppose but it does not contribute to communication, connection, or education. If we want to change that we have to intend a different result and practice a different approach.

Dr. Michael Sosteric | Feb 28, 2011 | Comments 2

“In stunning readings of culture, politics, identity, gender and ethnicity, Bannerji exposes the grave dangers lurking in demographic politics of blood, soil and ethnic fundamentalism. But in the interstices of this lifeworld, Bannerji also locates alternative ways of seeing and becoming that suggest new projects of democracy—radical, popular, and socialist—that might take us beyond oppression […]

Dr. Michael Sosteric | Feb 23, 2011 | Comments 1

Sociology mourns the passing of one of its own. Daniel Bell died in January after a long life of passionate engagement with many of the most important political and cultural issues of the 20th century.

Dr. Michael Sosteric | Feb 15, 2011 | Comments 2

A review of currently available social problems textbooks by Lutz Kaelber, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.

lutzkaelber | Feb 15, 2011 | Comments 0

David Franklin Noble died of a sudden illness in Toronto on December 27, 2010. Noble was an internationally acclaimed scholar and courageous activist, most recently on the faculty of York University in Toronto. Born in New York City, he held positions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Smithsonian Institution and Drexel University, as well as […]

Dr. Michael Sosteric | Feb 02, 2011 | Comments 0