Contexts

sociology for the public

Winter 2013

Volume: 12 | Number: 1

This issue covers violence in everyday Buenos Aires, movements to end deadly war in Central Africa, and young men’s masculinity in affluent societies. Also, an interview with a founding father of the Occupy movement and an analysis of public mourning practices from Steve Jobs to Kim Jong Il.

The White Girl’s Burden

Sociologist Amy C. Finnegan provides a critical analysis of the movement behind the Kony 2012 campaign and how this unique form of activism coalesces with the biographies of the activists, who are notably white, privileged, Christian, adolescent females. Read More

The Maquiladora Syndrome

Sociologist Gloria González-López offers her reflections about one of the most important lessons she learned about conducting sociological research inspired in feminism and intellectual activism in a Mexico-USA-Mexico transnational context. Read More

Digging for Mutual Cooperation

Kody Steffy presents a portrait of elderly Buddhist monk Bak Him, a resettled refugee living in rural Maine. Steffy’s photographs of Bak Him’s arduous labor highlight the refugee community’s ongoing struggle for understanding and integration. Read More

Borders and Margins

Photographer Emmanuel Maillard and sociologist Maryann Bylander document the lives of Cambodian migrants in Thailand. Through photographs taken for their Borders & Margins project at border crossings, work sites, and living spaces, they highlight the ambivalence many migrants express about their experiences abroad. Read More

Punk Politics

Photo by Maïté AbramLast February, police escorted Russian punk band Pussy Riot out of a Moscow church after they performed a “punk prayer” that … Read More