There is a growing accumulation of evidence suggesting that individuals' performance in a wide range of activities is powerfully and insidiously affected by the expectations that are subtly conveyed to them by the people around them. If the people around a child or adult believe the individual will have particular difficulty with an upcoming task, …
Self-selection and “liberal” professions
Neil Gross stirred up a quite a storm a few years ago when he released a body of research findings on the political complexion of university professors. Conservative organizations and pundits have made hay by denouncing the supposed liberal bias of universities. Gross opens his most recent book, Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do …
Social Science History Association Call for Proposals
SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORY ASSOCIATION CALL FOR PAPERS Macrohistorical Dynamics Network 40th Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association Baltimore MD 12-15 November 2015 Submission Deadline: 14 February 2015 "Pluralism and Community" We invite you to take part in Macrohistorical Dynamics (MHD) panels of the 40th annual meeting of the Social Science History Association, November …
Continue reading "Social Science History Association Call for Proposals"
The mode of production as society’s structure
Figure: Althusser's conception of the CMP (RP Resch, Althusser and the Renewal of Marxist Social Theory) Sociologists study social structure and the effects that structures have on individual behavior and life outcomes. But what do they have in mind when they refer to "structure"? It turns out that there are important ambiguities in the idea of …
Continue reading "The mode of production as society’s structure"
Was the Civil Rights movement a revolution?
photo: African-American newsman attacked by mob in Little Rock, 1957 (link) I think of the results of the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States as the second American revolution, though a slow-moving one. And it is tempting to think of MLK as one of the founding fathers of this …
Continue reading "Was the Civil Rights movement a revolution?"
Elitism?
There are a variety of ways of valorizing individuals and institutions in our society. We can value contribution and productivity; effectiveness; talent and merit; honesty and integrity; and "elite status". Just watch the credits for Masterpiece Theater, including the promotions for a luxury cruise line and a luxury fashion house, and you will get a …
Philosophy of social science and the graduate student
Is there any reason to think that a course in philosophy of social science can be helpful for a graduate student in sociology or political science (or education, public health, or public policy)? Is this part of philosophy a useful contribution to a PhD education in the social sciences? I think there are several reasons …
Continue reading "Philosophy of social science and the graduate student"
Hip hop, the boardroom, and the street
What are some of the factors that influence the ideas, values, and models of life of young inner-city African-American men today? There are the everyday conditions of life in the neighborhoods of segregated American cities, which Elijah Anderson considers in Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City (link). …
What is a European?
One of the great achievements of the establishment of the European Union was the beginnings of a broader transnational identity from Spain to Finland — or so it seemed for a decade or so. But is this even a coherent idea? Is it credible to imagine that the citizens of Spain, Greece, Latvia, France, and …
A more inclusive university
The challenge of creating a truly inclusive university is a difficult one. Inclusiveness is more than diversity. It is an institution and culture in which people from all social groups -- race, nationality, gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity -- are fully embraced and respected. It is an environment in which every individual is afforded the opportunity …
Understanding Society 