Tagged: Neo-Liberalism

‘Is There Anything Else I Can Help You With?’ Call Centres, and Christmas on Minimum Wage

  Casual work and debt According to a recent report by TUC, one in twelve people in Britain are in precarious employment with figures rising by 61.8% for men and 35.6% for women since 2008. That means that 1 in 12 people are living a life of economic insecurity, and, at this time of year, it also means that thousands of parents or grandparents will be uncertain if they can afford to buy gifts for their families at Christmas. Yet...

The Legitimation of Deviance: Examining the Role of the State

Knee deep in studying for comprehensive exams, the literature has drawn my attention toward (1) how an illegal activity can have a legal counterpart, and (2) how a deviant activity becomes socially acceptable and celebrated within mainstream culture. As examples, there is skydiving and its illegal counterpart of base jumping; wall murals and their illicit sibling of extravagant graffiti; or the ‘world’s fastest growing sport’ of MMA versus the back-yard-brawls caught on tape. While the actual activity performed for each...

Iran's Purchase Power

by christinablunt Iran will elect its next president on June 12 and while the rest of the world may be watching to see how the result might impact human rights within Iran as well as Iran’s aggressive foreign policy and nuclear program, Iranians, like most other global citizens, have the economy on the top of their agenda. A great debate has ensnared the candidates, including current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Though the dispute continues, the divisions are clear; Ahmadinejad and his...

"Gender Solidarity"

by socanonymous Nobel-prize winner, Dr. Harald zur Hausen, who discovered the link between the human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer recently gave a talk to researchers and health specialists in Toronto about the dangers of non-vaccination. He discounted the view that only females need to be vaccinated and stressed the importance of female and male inclusion in HPV vaccination efforts. Even though almost all cervical cancers are caused by HPV, it also plays a large role in penile and anal...