Archive for June 2012
Some quick thoughts about sociological realism and digital life
What do we do online? This is an issue I’ve pondered in a variety of guises but I’ve been thinking about it today as a result of running a fun (though badly attended) workshop about ‘demystifying social media’. As someone who runs… Read More ›
“We all know bankers are greedy bastards!” Ideological dimensions to the financial crisis
Think back to 2007. Did you believe the end of neoliberalism was nigh? I must admit I did. It seems rather naive in retrospect. Yet fast forward five years and consider the political terrain: we have witnessed a massive consolidation within… Read More ›
The Permeation of Technology in Everyday Life
Sarah Kember’s research covers many aspects of the relation between technology and life, from the centrality of new media in everyday life to scientific projects such as Artificial Life which redefines life as information and seeks to both simulate life-as-we-know-it… Read More ›
The Consumer Experience of Higher Education, The Rise of Capsule Education
The Consumer Experience of Higher Education, The Rise of Capsule Education by Deirdre McArdle-Clinton, Continuum (pbk), £27.99 I read this book as a treat after two week’s marking. At this point I should stop because the state of higher… Read More ›
Happy international seafarers’ day!
Today the world celebrates the incredibly important, yet often overlooked, contribution of seafarers to our daily lives. This address by the president of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) reminds us that our modern lives without seafarers’ labour would be unthinkable… Read More ›
Warning: statistical inaccuracies in Microsoft Excel 2007
Thanks to mathematician-friends and social networking sites, today I encountered this 2008 article by McCullough and Heiser on the statistical inaccuracies of Microsoft’s package Excel. What is so striking about the article is not merely the angry tone in which… Read More ›
Call for Contributions: what does the Sociological Imagination mean today?
It has been over 50 years since C. Wright Mills wrote the Sociological Imagination. In that time the world has changed beyond recognition: the Cold War ended, the Keynesian consensus broke down, a globalizing neoliberalism rose to the ascendancy and… Read More ›
Sociology is a Martial Art
SOCIOLOGY IS A MARTIAL ART, a new documentary about Bourdieu’s life, became an unexpected hit in France just prior to his death. Filmed over three years, director Pierre Carles’ camera follows Bourdieu as he lectures, attends political rallies, travels, meets… Read More ›
Princeton University Online Sociology Course
Introduction to Sociology by Mitchell Duneier In this class we will cover the essentials of sociology, to help you better understand your own life and situations far from your experience. Click here
Is Capitalism Always Good for Democracy?
If you found this video interesting you might want to check out Robert Reich’s blog or his book Supercapitalism.
Just not that into you
New Faculty Majority Board Member Jack Longmate, writing in the NFM blog this week, thinks that there are fresh signs of “potential for traction in public policy thinking” in relation to the conditions faced by academics working off the career track… Read More ›
Who will recognize Humanity 2.0 and will it recognize us?
SEA 2011 – Professor Steve Fuller from Virtual Futures on Vimeo. If ‘Humanity 1.0’ is the proverbial ‘normal human being’ that our laws have been traditionally designed to empower and protect, then who is ‘Humanity 2.0’? For the most part,… Read More ›
The Conspiracy Conspiracy?
Away from the gaze of mainstream media and politics, there is a vibrant subculture which holds these very institutions responsible for the most heinous acts of brutality and deceit. It is political movement that, in size, likely dwarfs anything that… Read More ›
Follow SI on Facebook and Twitter
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 ›
John Holmwood on Markets, Expertise and the Public University, 28 June at the OU
Markets, Expertise and the Public University: A crisis in knowledge for democracy? Wednesday 28 June 2012, Open University, Milton Keynes, Library Seminar Rooms, 1&2 The Creating Publics project was launched in March 2012 with the aim of innovating new ways of engaging… Read More ›
The Postgraduate Workers Association
The Postgraduate Workers Association is a campaign and network that aims to work with the UCU and NUS to ensure fair conditions for research students employed by universities. HE institutions, faced with a funding crisis, are attacking the conditions established academics and PG… Read More ›
No nation now, but the imagination
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of C. Wright Mills’ death, Sociological Imagination pays a respectful and moving tribute to the man who gave this forum its name through the legacy of his classic 1959 book, The Sociological Imagination, a veritable manifesto for… Read More ›
News from Salford University – please circulate
Dear colleagues, fellow students and friends, I don’t know if you are aware of the looming redundancies in the University of Salford, and the process for weeding out staff. People in most schools and departments (including sociology and politics) are… Read More ›
C. Wright Mills at work
By permission of the estate of C. W. Mills. Photo by Yaroslava.
The Financial Crisis: A Way Out for Irish Youth?
David Cairns, MYPLACE Project team member at Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia, Lisbon, Portugal and Work Package Leader on his recently published paper on youth in Ireland in the economic crisis. This was originally posted on the MYPLACE blog…. Read More ›
Call for Contributions: what does the Sociological Imagination mean today?
It has been over 50 years since C. Wright Mills wrote the Sociological Imagination. In that time the world has changed beyond recognition: the Cold War ended, the Keynesian consensus broke down, a globalizing neoliberalism rose to the ascendancy and… Read More ›
The Crisis of the Red Square
The present crisis is the result of a long fermentation of a set of complex and multiple ideas. These are derived from the inter- connection of the life-experiences of two generations – over a period of almost twenty years –… Read More ›
They call the students ‘terrorists’ ‘thugs’ ‘criminals’ — but they are themselves the criminals
The thing is, you must remember how the newspapers are demonizing the students; there have been known incidents of agents provocateurs from the police who are stirring up violence, as well as a disaffected fringe element using the strike to cause trouble… Read More ›
The Quebec Student Strike
A lone bagpiper plays traditional tunes during the Québec students strike protest march that took place on Monday May 7th, 2012 First of all, I wish to thank you for the interest that you are taking in our movement. In… Read More ›
Double disadvantage: Black graduates face difficulties in finding jobs and lower pay
A report by the Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) has revealed that just four out of ten black students are in full time employment six months after leaving university. The HERA report concludes that black students do not face a… Read More ›