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These are links to articles that were mentioned in class, and articles related to issues mentioned in class.
UN: Biofuel Production 'Criminal Path' to Global Food Crisis
Multinationals Make Billions In Profit Out of Growing Global Food Crisis
Food price rises are "mass murder": U.N. envoy
Major Arctic sea ice melt is expected this summer
Excellent sample of paper 1 by Marina Johnson
From the very beginning of America it was a grand dream to live in the land of opportunity. 400 years ago people came to escape from oppression. As the years passed, more and more people came from far and wide looking for that "American Dream." It was thought by some that in America the streets were paved with gold. Anybody, no matter their race, age, or sex, could come to America and find work, become successful, buy a home, and save for retirement. What happened to that dream? What happened to America?
Here is a brief piece from Reuters regarding the current food crisis.
Food price rises are "mass murder": U.N. envoy. Reuters. 4/20/2008.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Global food price rises are leading to "silent mass murder" and commodities markets have brought "horror" to the world, the United Nations' food envoy told an Austrian newspaper on Sunday.
This article was mentioned in class. Here is a link to it.
Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon's Hidden Hand. David Barstow. NY Times. 4/20/2008.
Other sites of possible interest:
Corporate Boards and power : They Rule. Provides networks of interlocking directorates and corporate leadership.
Business and Political Leaders, Social network analysis: Namebase.org.
Senator Robert Byrd on the Constitution. This is part of a speech he gave September 16, 2005 at a Constitution Day celebration.
This video is from the Internet Archive. It provides scales to determine where societies lies on the democracy to despotism scale. It was produced in 1946 by the Encyclopedia Britainnica.
Michael Albert and Parecon:
at YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMIDo42fvhs
As mentioned in class, here is the link to the BBC America Newsnight special report on the fight for employment rights among migrant workers in China.
By: Rowan Wolf
Food riots turn deadly in Haiti. Food riots fear after rice price hits a high. And so it starts. Globally there has been roughly a 25% increase in food prices. In some areas - such as Haiti - food prices have increased almost 50% in the last year. The poor of the planet who always live on the razor's edge of survival, are getting hit by multiple blows aimed directly at the food supply.
Continue reading "Recipe for Catastrophe: Climate, Fuel, and Food" »
Due to printing problems with the syllabus, and an error regarding attendance, I have updated the syllabus. I will be providing you with another print copy. None of the dates or assignments have changed.
Hi Class!
Welcome to Sociology 205 and to the class website. I am looking forward to meeting you all and having an exceptional term. You can access the syllabus from the syllabus link in the right panel of this page. That will tell you the required text for the class, and give you an idea of the flow and workload.
See you all soon!
Sample student paper By: Samantha Steerman
So here we are. It's 2007. The cold war has ended. There are technological advances every day. The world is connected by the Internet. Previously sheltered countries are now able to see what is going on in the rest of the world. People in India, Pakistan, Israel, Germany, etc. know what movie stars and fashions are popular in America, Great Britain, France, and Japan.
Sample student paper by Jeff Shelton
The means by which a group of human beings choose to sustain their lives is a basic corner stone to the doctrines of survival. The methods or methods used play a major role and some would argue the main role in the making and passing of culture. If we look at culture as the ways and means by which a group of people survive and grow as a society we can easily see that the economic system that is used is a key block in the social structure. What happens when a society changes its economic base or when the economic model is changed for them by force or coercion?
Sample student paper
By: Noah
"Capitalism
is not a success. It is not intelligent, it is not beautiful, it is not true,
it is not virtuous and it doesn't deliver the goods. In short we dislike it and
we are beginning to despise it. But when we wonder what to put in its place we
are extremely perplexed." John Maynard Keynes (Albert, Judging Economics)
Contemporary alternatives such as centrally planned socialism as well as market
socialism have both been attempted with the later possibly being the more
successful of the two. Even though their goals were more equitable distribution
neither provides a totally egalitarian society. In the centrally planned systems
there was clear division between the planners and the workers, which
immediately created class conflict. In the market socialist economies private
ownership of the means to production were eliminated but the force of markets
still exists as well as a division of labor between the coordinator class and
the working class. (Albert, Market Socialism) So if we decide that either of
the latter options are not the answers to overcome the capitalistic machine and
that the capitalistic system is not successful in providing equity among all
its citizens where can we turn for hope?
The answer could possibly be found in what is known as Parecon (participatory
economics), which is an economic system that is based on the democratic
participation of every citizen in both their working life and their life as a
consumer.