Contexts Blog

A Chat with Dr. Laura Nelson

About Contexts and its trends section, Dr. Laura Nelson (University of British Columbia) enthuses, “This is what we [sociologists] do: We take data and … Read More

A Chat with Dr. Ethan Raker

As UBC welcomes Contexts (or, should we say, CANtexts?), we’re speaking with sociology faculty to learn what they love about the magazine and its public-facing mission. First up, … Read More

Work and the Transgender Employee

Can I tell my employer about my gender identity? Many transpeople worry about the range of possible answers to this question. At first, the question … Read More

wishing you a restful new year!

The Freedom Revolution, Awakened Ancestral Roots of a New Generation, and a Population Moving as One

In many ways, Gen Z Iranians are a combination of the very best and the most important learning experiences of their previous generations. They are marked by their perseverance and their refusal to use old modes of protective denial in order to navigate the impact of the paradoxes of life in, as their parents and grandparents did before them. They will continue to form a collective self through their agentic, adversarial approach to effecting change. For all these reasons, “The Women of Iran” are the right choice for Time Magazine’s 2022 Heroes of The Year. Read More

Facial Difference, Social Disability (Or, Why I Didn’t Mind Masking)

Finalizing my divorce, searching for a new place to live, re-evaluating the possibility of a family—I was stressed out in November of 2009. Then my … Read More

“Woman, Life, Freedom” and the Progressive Academe

On September 13, 2022, a 22-two-year-old Kurdish woman named Jina (Mahsa) Amini was arrested by “Morality Police” in Tehran, Iran, with the charge of defying … Read More

Another mass killing in a gay bar

Journalists don’t contact me when new bars open, when they set new fundraising records, or when their events send queer joy spilling into the streets. Read More

Teaching Exercises: Our Hard Days’ Nights

Thanksgiving is almost upon our U.S. readers, and whether it’s the long drives, visiting a childhood home, couch dozing after a winter walk, or getting … Read More

Climate Change, Redlining, and Our Institutions’ Blue Roofs

Dilapidated homes, unoccupied with boarded windows. Overgrown patches of land, acres of empty parking lots with vines slowly reclaiming the space. Big box … Read More