Dr. Sheldon Ekland-Olson: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?: Abortion, Neonatal Care, Assisted Dying, and Capital Punishment

Issues of life and death such as abortion, assisted suicide, capital punishment and others are among the most contentious in many societies. Whose rights are protected? How do these rights and protections change over time, and who makes those decisions?

Based on Professor Sheldon Ekland-Olson’s award-winning and hugely popular undergraduate course at The University of Texas, Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?: Abortion, Neonatal Care, Assisted Dying, and Capital Punishment explores these questions and the fundamentally sociological processes which underlie the quest for morality and justice in human societies. Ekland-Olson’s goal is not to advocate any particular moral “high ground,” but to shed light on the social movements and social processes which are at the root of these seemingly personal moral questions.

Dr. Sheldon Ekland-Olson is the Audre and Bernard Centennial Professor at The University of Texas at Austin, where he served as the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Executive Vice President and Provost. He is the winner of numerous teaching awards, and one of his classes was once listed among the 10 Hottest Courses in the Nation. His previous publications include The Rope, The Chair and the Needle, Texas Prisons, and Justice Under Pressure.

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?: Abortion, Neonatal Care, Assisted Dying, and Capital Punishment is available on October 24, 2011 by Routledge.

The tables are turned: Chinese foreign economic policy in comparative perspective

A recent blog article by Nasos Mihalakas, entitled China’s Efforts to Internationalize its Currency resonated strongly with the recent course readings I have been doing for Mounira Maya Charrad’s course on Comparative Historical Sociology. In this class we have been working our way through Barrington Moore’s magnum opus, Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World.

Moore’s central argument builds on a Marxist class analysis framework, arguing however that there are no foregone conclusions when it comes to the origins of political regimes and that the particular material economic and political conditions of a country at a crucial historical moment will largely determine whether the outcome is something akin to democracy, fascism or communism.

Although the foreign meddling of Europe in China’s politics and economy is not a central feature of the more domestically oriented argument in his chapter on China, he does remind us of how quickly the Chinese Imperial system crumbled in just a century and how the margin for manoeuvre of the rulers at that time was severely restrained by onerous treaties imposed by the British, which basically placed Chinese foreign economic and trade policy in the hands of foreign capitalists.

The current situation is somewhat ironic then, in that China has full control over their economic and fiscal policy and Europe and the United States have been complaining for some time about its policies to keep China’s currency (the “Renminbi”) artificially low by pegging it to the dollar and tightly controlling currency circulation within China.

While this has served China well for export-led growth, it seems China’s government believes this reliance on the dollar has led to some of the recent instabilities in the world economy, and we may be entering a new era in which Chinese currency is becoming increasingly internationalized as a possible counter-balance or alternative currency to the dollar.

This has major implications for the world economy in the current globalized context, but its dimensions could not possibly be fully understood without some reference to the historical context of the past two centuries and how China’s economic and trade policy was run at that time, something which Barrington Moore makes abundantly clear.

This short post isn’t a sufficient space to flesh out these ideas further, but this brief excerpt below gives an idea of the main thrust of Mihalakas’ article, and I thoroughly recommend a look at Barrington Moore’s Chapter IV: “The Decay of Imperialist China and the Origins of the Communist Variant.”

The Chinese government pegs the RMB to the dollar so the powerful and wealthy export sector can continue selling in Europe and America (and thus employment stays high).  The government also maintains strict capital controls in order to prevent inflation from hurting the vast lower and middle class.  China’s currency has become a modern-day opium, and the authorities have been searching for a way out of their current economic model which relies on growth from an undervalued currency and capital controls.  Internationalizing the RMB offers one such exit.

Eventually, wider use of the RMB outside China could redefine the balance of power in global currency markets, as the rest of the world begins trading more RMB-based assets and settling its bills with China in RMB instead of the U.S. dollar.  Beijing gets to keep its currency system, while gaining economic leverage and diplomatic legitimacy around the world.

See the link to Mihalakas’ article above.

Of course, more recent scholarship is also necessary to bridge the gap between the pre-communist and the current hyper-capitalist phases of China’s history. Still, the historical comparison seems an interesting one.

Sociology for whom? For what?

Back in 2004, then-president of the American Sociological Association Michael Burawoy sparked intense debate with his call for a renewed public sociology. In his introduction to the Italian translation (Sociologica 2007) of his published remarks to the ASA conference (“For Public Sociology”), he notes that in other parts of the world (he cites South Africa but this is also historically true in Latin America) that the common division made in the U.S. between “professional,” “policy,” “critical” and “public sociology” is often blurred or even non-existent.  In an increasingly globalized world, does it make it sense to approach the sociological discipline (and “division of labor”) from a more international perspective, as Burawoy suggests? Furthermore, is the role of our academic labor to “defend…human society from market tyranny and state despotism” (Burawoy 2007: 12) or, should we be content with more modest aims–the production of reliable data, for example (see Tittle 2004)?

These are some of the complex questions that–like so many scholars before us–my peers and I are grappling with as the fall semester begins. I suspect the answers will defy discovery, but in the meantime, this is a conversation that is worth continuing.


	

Stratification and the Multiplicity of Sociologies

Isaac Sasson

Introductory courses on stratification, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, typically include a discussion of the classic correspondence between Kingsley Davis & Wilbert Moore and Melvin Tumin that took place over the pages of ASR between 1945 and 1953. I was originally exposed to this theoretical debate, which may well be one of the most famous in the history of sociology, in an Introduction to Sociology class during my freshman year in college. I distinctly remember the underlying subtext demarcating Tumin’s conflictual arguments as superior to the functionalist approach of his contemporary peers. Structural-functionalism was dead to us before we even realized what it was.

Several years later I came across the same correspondence during a graduate seminar on stratification here at UT. The second time was only slightly different, as this time I read not only the two original articles but also Davis’ response to Tumin. This happened by pure coincidence – unintended by me or the professor who taught the seminar – as Davis’ response simply followed Tumin’s seminal paper in the very same issue of ASR. Intrigued by the continuing correspondence I went on reading the extra few pages, only a couple of mouse clicks away on JSTOR.

In any case, the slight difference of reading the response to the response transformed it, at least for me, from an almost “evolutionary” sequence of theories to a living, breathing, and contested correspondence. I have to admit, I found Davis’ response to be quite dull – except for one major argument. According to Davis, the disagreement with Tumin stems from a misinterpretation (or an alternative definition) of the concept of stratification. While Davis & Moore’s original article focuses on the question of stratification of social positions, Tumin’s article focuses on the stratification of individuals in society. Read More

Inside Higher Ed reports on Sociologists in Sin City

Inside Higher Ed found the juxtaposition of Las Vegas and Sociology irresistible:

Sociologists in Sin City

There is something both jarring and perfectly apropos about bringing thousands of sociologists to Sin City. As the ASA press release delicately observed, “Las Vegas [is] vibrant and fascinating from a sociological perspective” – but it’s not difficult to conjecture why the conference had never been held here before. The very aspects of Las Vegas that might make it fascinating to a sociologist — the emphasis on consumerism and decadence; the unapologetic obsession with (and exploitation of) female flesh; and the city’s most celebrated pastime gambling, whose appeal is particularly mystifying to some with a background in statistics — are also the sorts of things that tend to be off-putting to academics, especially (or at least) in the presence of their colleagues. Little wonder that ol’ Lost Wages is one of the least-educated cities in the country. (As David Dickens, professor of sociology at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, likes to say: “Thank god for Fresno.”) And little wonder, too, that even those who have dedicated their careers to studying human society weren’t wholly enthused about being thrust into the heart of this particular society, however fascinating it might be.

Tuesday, August 23rd at ASA

Presenting UT SOC research:

Browne, Simone
Thematic Session. Towards a New Racial Studies
Scheduled Time: Tue, Aug 23 – 10:30am – 12:10pm
Presenter: “Flying While Black: Border Control, DNA and the Case of the Lips”

Cabrera, Sergio Antonio
Table 09. Culture as an Educational Tool
Section on Sociology of Culture / Section on Sociology of Culture Refereed Roundtable.
Scheduled Time: Tue, Aug 23 – 8:30am – 10:10am
Presenter on individual submission: “Neoliberal Consumer Citizenship and Relationship Management Marketing: A sociological analysis of marketing textbooks”

Section on Children and Youth Invited Session. Sociological Perspectives in Federally Funded Research on Children Unit: Section Invited
Scheduled Time: Tue, Aug 23 – 10:30am – 12:10pm
Session Submission Role: Panelist
Section on Children and Youth Paper Session. Social Context, Public Policy, and Child and Adolescent Well-being
Unit / Sub Unit: Social Context, Public Policy, and Child and Adolescent Well-being.
Scheduled Time: Tue, Aug 23 – 2:30pm – 4:10pm
Non-Presenter: “Child Care and Common Illness Among Preschoolers”

Kendig, Sarah M
Table 10. Family and Adolescence Section on Social Psychology Roundtable. (co-sponsored with the Sociology of Emotions)
Scheduled Time: Tue, Aug 23 – 10:30am – 12:10pm
Presenter: “Race/Ethnic and Class Differences in the Timing of First Sex and Adolescent Pregnancy: Considering Girls’ Mattering?

Minagawa, Yuka
Table 10. Comparative and Historical Criminology
Sub Unit: Section on Crime, Law, & Deviance Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Tue, Aug 23 – 8:30am – 10:10am
Presenter: “The Social Consequences of Post-Communist Structural Change: An Analysis of Suicide Trends in Eastern Europe”

Section on Sociology of Education Paper Session. New Perspectives on Gender Inequality in Education
Unit: Open Topic on Sociology of Education (4 Sessions).
Scheduled Time: Tue, Aug 23 – 10:30am – 12:10pm
Session Submission Role: Presider
Table 08. International and Comparative Perspectives on Educational Outcomes
Unit: Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable.

Perez, Marcos Emilio
Table 10. Income Inequality – Empirical Evidence
Unit: Section on Economic Sociology / Section on Economic Sociology Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Tue, Aug 23 – 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Presenter: “Opportunities for a Few: Pro-market Economic Policies and the Regressive Redistribution of Income”

Reczek, Corinne E.
Section on Medical Sociology Paper Session. Mechanisms of Health: Qualitative and Quantitative Perspectives
Scheduled Time: Tue, Aug 23 – 12:30pm – 2:10pm
Presenter: “The Promotion of Unhealthy Habits in Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Intimate Partnerships”

Shifrer, Dara
Section on Sociology of Education Paper Session. Exploring Racial-Ethnic Inequalities from Kindergarten to College
Open Topic on Sociology of Education (4 Sessions).
Scheduled Time: Tue, Aug 23 – 8:30am – 10:10am
Session Submission Role: Presider

Williams, Christine L.
Thematic Session. Gender Disparities in Careers across the Occupational Hierarchy
Scheduled Time: Tue, Aug 23 – 12:30pm – 2:10pm
Presenter: “Gender and the Neoliberal Career”

Monday ASA Events

Monday, August 22th UT SOC presentations:

Adut, Ari – Thematic Session: Scandal Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 2:30pm – 4:10pm
Session Organizer – Presenter on individual submission: Scandal and the Public Sphere

Bhatt, Wasudha
Table 06. Roundtables: Immigrants from a Race, Gender, and Class Perspective
Unit / Sub Unit: Section on Race, Gender, and Class / Section on Race, Gender, and Class
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Presenter on individual submission: Racist Medicine: Indian physicians’ experiences with racism, and sexism in U.S. medical workplaces

Julie Beicken
Table 03. Impacts and Outcomes
Unit: Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 10:30am – 11:30am
Presenter: “The Impact of Eugenics on U.S. Coercive Sterilization Legislation in the Early 20th Century”

Blanchard, Sarah
Table 08. International and Comparative Perspectives on Educational Outcomes
Unit: Section on Sociology of Education Roundtables.
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Session Submission Role: Table Presider
Presenter: “Scholars without Borders: The Graduate School Trajectories of International Students at a Major Research University”

Brown, Letisha
Table 05. Democracy and Social Organization
Unit / Sub Unit: Theory Section / Section on Theory Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 8:30am – 9:30am
Presenter: “The Black Panther Party for Self Defense: A Marxist, Maoist, Black Nationalist Organization”

Charrad, Mounira Maya
Section on Comparative/Historical Sociology Paper Session. Islam and the Modern World
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 8:30am – 10:10am
Presenter on individual submission: “Patrimonial Politics: Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq”

Crosnoe, Robert
Section on Sociology of Education Council and Business Meeting
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 2:30pm – 4:10pm
Session Submission Role: Participant

Cuvi, Jacinto
Regular Session. Historical Sociology/Processes II: States, Societies, & Symbolic Power
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 10:30am – 12:10pm
Presenter: “Blowing the institutional gridlock: informal institutions and symbolic action in the reform of Sunat”

Danielle Dirks (PhD 2011, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Occidental College)
Student Forum Workshop. Different Types of Publication Opportunities for Students
Unit: Student Forum Sessions
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 2:30pm – 4:10pm
Session Submission Role: Panelist

Ha, Hyun Jeong, Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Paper Session.
Open Topic on Collective Behavior and Social Movements.
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 8:30am – 10:10am
Presenter on individual submission: “Islamic Feminism, A New Paradigm to Crack out Patriarchy in Egypt”

Paul Stanley Kasun
Table 10. Public Opinion on Immigration
Unit: Section on International Migration Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 10:30am – 11:30am
Presenter: “Immigration Perspectives Structured Racism and Religion; Attitudes of Welcoming, Economic Threat, Illegal Immigration Toward Immigrants”

Lodge, Amy
Section on Aging and the Life Course Paper Session. Age and Sociological Imagination: Individual and Micro-level Dynamics
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 8:30am – 10:10am
Presenter: “Age and Embodied Masculinities: Mid-Life Gay and Heterosexual Men Talk about their Bodies”

McFarland, Michael
Table 23. Religion and Health
Unit: Section on Medical Sociology Refereed Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Presenter: “Does a Cancer Diagnosis Influence Religiosity? Integrating a Life Course Perspective”

Mueller, Anna Strassmann
Table 08. International and Comparative Perspectives on Educational Outcomes
Unit: Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable.
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Non-Presenter: “Scholars without Borders: The Graduate School Trajectories of International Students at a Major Research University”
Table 18. Friends and Peer Networks in Schools
Unit: Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable.
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Non-Presenter: “Adolescent Society and the Social Dynamics of Friendship Formation in American High Schools”

Muller, Chandra

Section on Sociology of Education Council and Business Meeting
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 2:30pm – 4:10pm
Session Submission Role: Chair
Section on Sociology of Education Paper Session. Transitions, Adjustment, and Mobility in Educational Attainment
Unit: Open Topic on Sociology of Education (4 Sessions).
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 10:30am – 12:10pm
Non-Presenter: ” The Shape of the River from Middle through High School: Race, Gender, and Grade Trajectories”
Table 07. Academic and Social Determinants of College Attainment
Unit: Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable – Presider
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Table 08. International and Comparative Perspectives on Educational Outcomes
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Non-Presenter: “Scholars without Borders: The Graduate School Trajectories of International Students at a Major Research University”
Table 18. Friends and Peer Networks in Schools
Unit: Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable.
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Non-Presenter: “Adolescent Society and the Social Dynamics of Friendship Formation in American High Schools”

Pattison, Evangeleen
Table 02. Classical Theory and Contemporary Sociology
Unit: Section on Theory Roundtables
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 8:30am – 9:30am
Presenter: “Education and Stratification: The Role of Class and Status in Structuring Educational Opportunities”
Table 20. Extracurricular Influences on Equity in Academic Outcomes
Unit: Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable.
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Session Submission Role: Table Presider
Presenter: “The Role of Sports Participation on Advanced Math Course-taking for Black and White Males”

Pudrovska, Tetyana
Table 16. Mental Health
Unit: Section on Medical Sociology Refereed Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Non-Presenter on individual submission: “Spousal Mental Health Concordance”
Table 23. Religion and Health
Unit: Section on Medical Sociology Refereed Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Non-Presenter: “Does a Cancer Diagnosis Influence Religiosity? Integrating a Life Course Perspective”

Reid, Megan
Table 09. Race, Gender, Class & Policy
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 2:30pm – 3:30pm Roundtable
Presenter on individual submission: “Deservingness” and Waiting for Help After Hurricane Katrina”

Rodriguez, Nestor P.
Table 06. Immigrants from a Race, Gender, and Class Perspective – Roundtables
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Presenter: “Racist Medicine: Indian physicians’ experiences with racism, and sexism in U.S. medical workplaces”

Ryan, Tricia
Table 03. Comparative Health Policy
Unit: Section on Medical Sociology Refereed Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Presenter: “Unintended Consequences to Health Reform: Patient Responses to Family Medicine and Village Health Committees in Kyrgyzstan”

Sakamoto, Arthur
C. Table 03. Migration
Unit: Open Refereed Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 10:30am – 12:10pm
Non-Presenter: “Revisiting Malthus for Developed Nations? Non-Poor Population Growth as a Population Characteristic”

Sasson, Isaac

C. Table 03. Migration (3)
Unit: Open Refereed Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 10:30am – 12:10pm
Presenter: “Revisiting Malthus for Developed Nations? Non-Poor Population Growth as a Population” Characteristic

Shafeek Amin, Neveen Fawzy

Table 03. Immigrant Education
Section on International Migration Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 10:30am – 11:30am
Presenter: “Religiosity and Academic Achievement among Immigrant Adolescents in the U.S”

Shifrer, Dara
Section on Sociology of Religion Paper Session. Religious Movements and Institutions
Unit:Religious Movements and Institutions.
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 10:30am – 12:10pm
Presenter: “Education and Religion: Compromises toward the Preservation of a Separatist Community”

Sutton, April M
Section on Sociology of Education Paper Session. Transitions, Adjustment, and Mobility in Educational Attainment
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 10:30am – 12:10pm
Presenter: “The Shape of the River from Middle through High School: Race, Gender, and Grade Trajectories”
Table 22. Exploring the Influence of Cultural Capital Across Diverse Settings
Unit: Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Session Submission Role: Table Presider

Thomeer, Mieke
Table 16. Mental Health
Unit: Section on Medical Sociology Refereed Roundtables
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 4:30pm – 6:10pm
Presenter on individual submission: “Spousal Mental Health Concordance”

Umberson, Deb
Section on Aging and the Life Course Paper Session. Age and Sociological Imagination: Individual and Micro-level Dynamics
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 8:30am – 10:10am
Non-Presenter: “Age and Embodied Masculinities: Mid-Life Gay and Heterosexual Men Talk about their Bodies”

Wheatley, M. Christine
Table 06. Legal Status and Deportation
Unit: Section on International Migration Roundtable
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 10:30am – 11:30am
Presenter: “Push Back: U.S. Immigration Policy, Deportations, and the Reincorporation of Involuntary Return Migrants in Mexico”

Williams, Christine L.
Special Session. Postindustrial Culture and the Flexible Self: Beyond the Cubicle
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 10:30am – 12:10pm
Session Submission Role: Discussant

Young, Michael
Thematic Session. Scandal
Scheduled Time: Mon, Aug 22 – 2:30pm – 4:10pm
Session Submission Role: Discussant

Graduate Sociology Blog