It is incredible how much an octagenarian piece of animation can tell you. I’ll only give away a snippet of its background: This is the first Soviet animation film ever made. It was produced in February 1924, by director Dziga… Read More ›
Archive for December 2010
Engaged Academia Online
The Really Open University The Really Open University exists everywhere, it will not be a one-off event, but an ongoing process. It will be non-hierarchical, making a start at breaking down traditional student-teacher dichotomies. We wish to engage with other… Read More ›
Promoting events or projects on the Sociological Imagination
If you have an event or project that you would like to promote via the Sociological Imagination then please don’t hesitate to get in contact by e-mail or through facebook. We’re happy to post up calls for papers, requests for participants and… Read More ›
Joining the Advisory Board
In order to help the Sociological Imagination expand we’re hoping to add two more members to our advisory board. At least over the next year or so, it would mainly involve discussing ideas and building a strategy for the long… Read More ›
Happy Christmas!
Happy Christmas!
A Mexican, a Kiwi and a Nigerian walk into a bar… a dose of (sociological) Xmas humour
You are not seriously checking out SI on Christmas Eve! Well, if you are – we have to make you laugh. And yes, this is sociological: if knowing about Others makes them less other, more human, there is no better… Read More ›
Evolutionary psychology: are we still haunted by the spectre of eugenics?
You can invariably trust the Idle Ethnographer to come up with a refreshing pre-Christmas read. So, it is the beginning of the XXI century? So, we’ve had the Holocaust in Europe, the Apartheid in South Africa, and racial segregation in… Read More ›
Student protests: support letter from Bulgarian students
Below is a public letter of support written by Bulgarian students on 19 December 2010 (reposted from http://studentskiglas.org/?p=328 ) To the British students, fighting against tuition fees raises: Dear friends, We have been following the current situation in the UK… Read More ›
The inverse power of praise
Nathaniel Branden’s 1969 book The Psychology of Self-Esteem paved the way for the overpraising which characterises both contemporary education and parenting: …the belief that one must do whatever he can to achieve positive self-esteem has become a movement with broad… Read More ›
Review of `Exploring Disability’ by Colin Barnes and Geof Mercer
Colin Barnes and Geof Mercer (2010) Exploring Disability – Second Edition. Cambridge: Polity Press. Kayleigh A. Garthwaite is a postgraduate researcher at the Department of Geography at Durham University. Just over a decade after the first edition of ‘Exploring Disability’… Read More ›
A reminder about our two Calls for Papers
Social Research in an Age of Austerity A new coalition government pledges an unparalleled age of fiscal austerity and a new universities minister promises radical ‘reform’ of higher education: what does the future hold for the British university in an… Read More ›
Why the cuts are the wrong cure
Why cuts are the wrong cure from False Economy on Vimeo.
Call for book reviews
Sociological Imagination is looking for more book reviewers. If there’s a book that you would like to review then please contact the editor and we will try and arrange a review copy for you.
Suggest links, resources and features
We are trying to build a collection of general links, campaign links and resources. However the internet is a rather large place so if you have any suggestions at all please do get in contact. Likewise we welcome any suggestions… Read More ›
Sociology and the cuts: blog by the BSA
“Sociology and the Cuts” is a new blog by the British Sociological Association. Read it here: http://sociologyandthecuts.wordpress.com/posts/
Wikileaks and the Nightmare of History
“History… is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake” says Stephen Dedalus in Joyce’s Ulysses. Power is central to the nightmare of history. That has always been the case except where land was communally owned and women were… Read More ›
The antagonistic university? A conversation on cuts, conviviality and capitalism.
Anja: Let me begin by posing three questions. Firstly, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that modes of labour are appropriating cognitive, communicational and affective skills. What does this mean to you for the political potential of academic and collaborative work? Secondly,… Read More ›
A reminder about our two Calls for Papers
Social Research in an Age of Austerity A new coalition government pledges an unparalleled age of fiscal austerity and a new universities minister promises radical ‘reform’ of higher education: what does the future hold for the British university in an… Read More ›
Call for interviews
Plans are currently in motion to bring a number of interviews to the Sociological Imagination over the next few months. However we’d like you to help us bring an ever wider selection of interviews to the website. If there’s anyone you’d… Read More ›
Judith Butler: Philosopher of Gender
“I have to say that in my view gender is always a failure. Everyone fails. And it is a very good thing that we fail. Because I think that stereotypes are not just images we have of gender, but they… Read More ›
Humanities and Social Sciences Matter!
si SUPPORTS THIS INITIATIVE: Humanities and Social Sciences Matter Campaign for the Humanities and Social Sciences in UK Universities: “Without a serious commitment to the Humanities and Social Sciences, our society will lack a serious commitment to democracy at home… Read More ›
Wikileaks… Wikichina? Wikiamerica…
A humorous and rather insightful article by Thomas L.Friedman in the New York Times: what if China had its equivalent of Wikileaks? read here
Introducing: the Campaign for the Public University
The UK Campaign for the Public University is open to all. It is a broad-based campaign with no party or other political affiliation. It has been initiated by a group of university teachers and graduate students seeking to defend and promote… Read More ›
University reform – assessing the potential for changes from within
In the aftermath of the recent students protest and the consequent wave of occupations in University campuses across the country, it is interesting to assess what could be done to change and ameliorate the UK higher education system from within,… Read More ›
Deferred gratification: key to success?
The ability for delayed or deferred gratification is the ability to control impulses and postpone the fulfilment of a desire – the opposite of instant gratification. This short talk by Joachim de Posada revisits the famous “Stanford Marshmallow Experiment” (originally… Read More ›
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
This is a reminder that the Sociological Imagination has a presence on facebook. Please do add us as a friend and feel free to get in contact. We’re always open to ideas and suggestions so please don’t hesitate if there’s… Read More ›