Sure, it is the enthusiasm for something new, but it seems that I’m starting to like this `Sociology Today’ section. Since this would mean some change for this blog (more quick, short posts) I don’t intend to stop writing the more complex ‘blogs on peer reviewed research’. Please drop a comment to let me know whether you think this is a development that betters this blog.
In contrast with the news from newspapers in the previous two contributions, I tried to do the Sociology Today on the saturday magazine that comes with the NRC Handelsblad. Not the direct news, but focused more on the background.
Today’s Source: NRC Handelsblad (Zaterdag & cetera)
Rationalization: Early Adapters? ((En ze leefden nog lang en gelukkig, NRC Handelsblad Zaterdag & Cetera, 07-06-2008, pp. 22-23))
An artist project caught my eye regarding the way homosexual couples can have long lasting relationships. Paul Koeleman felt the need to show this and did so by photography. The photographed people were couples for multiple decennia. It reminded me how it wasn’t regarded to be as ‘normal’ as it is today. This surely has something to do with the waning influence of religion. Were these the people that were the first to adapt to the new, secularized society? If these people were able to hold on to each other in that gay-unfriendly times, I’m not surprised that they are still couples today. Lovely photos, by the way.
Inequality: Is it all that bad? ((Zo arm is Africa nu ook weer niet, NRC Handelsblad Zaterdag & Cetera, 07-06-2008, p. 8))
Perhaps the most interesting inequality issue in the ‘Sociology Today’ was found in an advertisement. We hear all too often that it is globalization and the free market that caused the present-day unequal economic position of, amongst other continents, Africa. Perhaps true, but given that situation we might best take an optimistic perspective on solutions. The advertisement argues basically that Africa is rich in its resources and that development should take place by economic investments enabling the African people to delve these resources.
Cohesion: Who bullies whom? ((Kwesties@NRC.nl, NRC Handelsblad Zaterdag & Cetera, 07-06-2008, pp. 32-33))
The Genco-family, second generation Turkish migrants, living in Amsterdam, recently withdrew its two children from primary school, for they were discriminated. Today, several parents and experts are writing on why children bully each other. Unfortunately, bullying children is a common phenomenon, which at times takes ugly forms. It would be interesting to investigate who bullies whom most often, and whether or not ethnic divisions in this bullying-ratio are to be found.