I’ve just started on my sociology today ‘project’ and already I’m running late. At least one week of daily posts should be do-able, wouldn’t you think?

Well, today for the blogs. I often read some blogs on planeetgroenlinks.nl, so today a selection of what I read on June 11.

Today’s Source: Planeet Groenlinks”

Rationalization: How do we educate?

How do we prepare our children for our increasingly complex society? We send them to school. And when society changes, we change our educational system. That this has not always went very well, is widely known and part of public debate in the Netherlands. That the change is often pushed through too fast, is once again illustrated by Gerben Kappert.

Inequality: Double lucky?

Inequality is often thought of as an unequal distribution of opportunities. And, of course, many things can be interpreted from that perspective. But today I read the blog of Han van Schendel: she writes on winning prizes two times in a row (congratulations!!), once for herself, once for her mother. She described how her mother checked whether her price was accessible for people in a wheelchair. It was, so Han could come along.

This made absolutely clear to me, that people with a disadvantage on some account have to be double lucky to arrive at the same level that people all to often arrive at after being lucky just once. In other words, we often need resources to be able to enjoy the opportunities we perceive.

Cohesion: Who helps whom?

Within the groenlinks political party is discussion is going on between people who generally focus on their own individuality, and people who focus on solidarity. Often, these are seen as clear and mutual exclusive opposites of each other. That this is not necessarily so, is made clear by a post written by Simon Otjes. Solidarity can mean to focus on the individuality people are able to express.