Contexts

sociology for the public

Archive: Jul 2008

Low-Calorie Feminism

In Full Frontal Feminism, author Jessica Valenti presents an updated, white- middle-class-hetero-friendly, do-it-yourself version of feminism for young women. Hays and Butler argue that this … Read More

Enlightened Teenage Masculinity

While Superbad continues the crude and sophomoric story of nerdy, horny, and virginal teenage boys desperately eager to have sex with girls, it also presents … Read More

Heat Wave

ross macmillan: Tales of the Heat At least three sociological accounts attempt to explain why such massive heat-related death took place in Chicago during the … Read More

The Great Helmsman's Cultural Death

Outside of Mao Zedong’s mausoleum in Tiananmen Square, Chinese entrepreneurs sell cigarette lighters, watches, and other trinkets that bear the former leader’s image. Mao’s transformation … Read More

middle (aged) kingdom

China’s “one-child policy” is hailed as the world’s most effective overpopulation control policy. It has been so effective, in fact, Chinese population officials now fear … Read More

The Movement and the Party

One thing I know is that political bents consist of two distinct elements—the movement and the party—and the relation between them. The movement consists … Read More

About Contexts

Contexts is a quarterly magazine that makes cutting-edge social research accessible to general readers. We're the public face of sociology.

It is a publication of the American Sociological Association, edited by David Grazian with managing editor Elena G. van Stee, both at the University of Pennsylvania.