Tagged: history

Gender & Sexuality / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Identity / Sociology of Culture

Homosexuality and Anti-Colonialism: How Homosexual Frenchmen Are Actually Colonialists

(Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_history_in_France#/media/File:Miklos_Vadasz_-_L%27Assiettte_au_Beurre_-_Les_p%27tits_jeun%27_hommes_02.jpg)   Before the conquest of the colonies many non-Western, indigenous, societies did not believe in a heterosexual/homosexual binary. In lieu of this binary, many indigenous societies had some notion of a third category for a person’s sex: a man, or woman, who would dress as the opposite sex but sustained same-sex relationships. The indigenous populations viewed these same-sex relationships as something natural, not perverse. Conversely in Europe, the production of the homosexual was well underway with the coinage of...

Opinion

Students protest in Puerto Rico, but where's the news coverage?

Two weeks ago, my post, the 40th Anniversary of Kent State: a gap in our historical knowledge?, addressed the reasons why we remember certain events and not others. As a current example of the way in which history is created, I offer the example of the protests that are taking place at the University of Puerto Rico and the lack of media coverage of said event. When the violence at Kent State broke out,  there were no online news outlets,...

Opinion

The 40th Anniversary of the Violence at Kent State – a gap in our historical memory?

Today is the 40th anniversary of the Kent State shootings. Not long ago,  I looked out at my large section of a social problems course and asked if anyone could explain the events that took place at Kent State on May 4th, 1970. I wondered, in the silence following, how a lack of knowledge about this tragedy could exist. I rephrased my question…to no avail. This event is part of American History and is taught as such. And yet, when...

Opinion

Virtual Conference Report: Day Seven (27 Oct, 2009)

The seventh day of the conference has continued with the key themes of ‘breaking down boundaries’ and interdisciplinarity. Roy Baumeister (Florida State University) began the day with his keynote lecture entitled ‘Human Nature and Culture: What is the Human Mind Designed for?’ By utilising the concepts of evolutionary and cultural psychology, Buameister is able to explore the intrinsic significance culture holds for humanity. Two other papers were also presented today. ‘Text as It Happens: Literary Geography’ by Sheila Hones (University...

Opinion

Virtual Conference – 6 days to go

For anyone who has not registered, you can do so for free at https://compassconference.wordpress.com/ and enjoy. – Virtual Delegates Pack – 20% conference discount on EVERY Wiley book! – 60 days free access to over 200 Wiley-Blackwell journals – Win a year’s subscription to a Compass Journal of your choice with post-conference feedback!

Political & Economic Sociology

The Ghost of Mussolini

by kiddingthecity The ex-fascist mayor of Rome Mr. Alemanno made the headlines lately, when while visiting Israel refused to call on Fascism ‘as absolute evil’ and labeled it as ‘a complex phenomenon’. The outcry of condemnation  from the Italian Center-Left and the Jewish community at this latest ‘slippage’ is highly justified, but in my view missed the point: they are in fact rehearsing a view of Fascism (with capital letter) as ‘historical norm’ (Walter Benjamin’s Thesis VIII). Mr. Alemanno, on...