Books
Sociological takes on recent news and research.
What are College Students Really Learning
Two books, Academically Adrift and Degrees of Inequality, are compared and reviewed as in-roads to understanding the college experience. The books both offer an investigation of the question “what are college students really learning?” Read MoreThe Library of Affecting Social Science
A “list” of social science texts that move us and continually captivate our minds and emotions. Read MoreCrisis Talk: Finance Under Scrutiny
Two books, Crisis Economics and Reckless Endangerment, are compared and reviewed to shed light on economic crises and financial scrutiny. The books both look at regulatory mechanisms and the problem of getting regulations right. Read MoreThe Store—and the Nail Salon—in the Hood
Two recent books, The Store in the Hood and The Managed Hand, are compared and reviewed as sociological in-roads to diverse, inner-city economies. The books both show how the conditions under which ethnic entrepreneurs and their customers meet are shaped by forces beyond the control of either group. Read MoreSocialism and Neoliberalism in Chavez’s Venezuela
Since 2004, Hugo Chavez’s government has put resources into creating citizen support through cooperatives, councils, community media, and other participatory initiatives. But, as Sujatha Fernandes writes in Who Can Stop the Drums?, this support comes with strings attached. Read MoreWelfare-to-Work Doesn’t Really Work
Two analyses of welfare policy as it has played out for over a decade shows how welfare-to-work programs fail to meet the basic needs of their participants and their communities. Read MoreMy Hollywood and the Nanny Book Phenomenon
By and large, the recent crop of nanny-tales ignores the realities of childcare workers (and their employers), relying instead on messages of racial and cultural superiority and assurances that money cannot buy happiness. Read MoreThe World Without Us?
The future of higher education is up for grabs. Diane Pike finds, in two recent books, a call to action for social scientists and academics in the liberal arts. Read MoreGender Norms in the Twilight Series
The hit series Twilight replicates gender stereotypes that sociologists have been debunking for decades. Rebecca Hayes-Smith highlights the gravity of making light of harmful gender messages. Read MoreRoad Warriors and Water Hogs
While globalization has expanded the flow of goods, environmental movements have worked to constrain these flows by constructing local-based networks. Ted Conover's The Routes of Man traces four routes of globalization, while Kate A. Berry and Eric Mollard shed light on the environmental challenges these routes create in Social Participation in Water Governance and Management. Read More