Tagged: public sphere

Social Movements / Social Change

Apocalypse in Central London?

by kiddingthecity Lovely sunny day in London for April 1, Financial Fools Day. Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are leading, as I type, carnival parades from four cardinal points to the Bank of England, in the City of London. They are Red (War), Green (Climate Chaos), Silver (Money Crimes), and Black (Land-grabbers). On Facebook it has also appeared an invitation to flash-mobbing the City Exchange with tents and sleeping bags for an Eco-camp, but the “secret” was leaked by this...

Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication / Video Resources

Of the People, By the People, For the People — Linux for Human Beings

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFacRsGWZqQ&feature=related] “Are we creating world peace or fundamentally changing the world? No,” he (Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu and Canonical) said. “But we could shift what people expect and the amount of innovation per dollar they expect.” — New York Times Most people’s impression on Linux is something mythical which only computer geeks are involved with, if they have even heard of the operating system before. In recent years, volunteers and tech professionals had devoted major effort in developing...

Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication

Who says what's news?

by dsantore   It seems like only yesterday that O.J. Simpson’s murder trial whipped up the country into a frenzy over crime, celebrities, race, and justice.  In the years since, we’ve had several chances (aided by mass media, of course) to revisit these themes: American football star Michael Vick and his dog-fighting ring, Michael Jackson’s bedroom, and several other high-profile instances come to mind.  This past week brings us a new case, involving New York Giants football player Plaxico Burress. ...

Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

The Hannity &…Hannity Program?

by ishein1 The ubiquity of news programs on contemporary American television is palpable.  The four major network stations all have their own sister news station.  It can be said, without many cavils, that the Fox news station, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, oscillates at varying degrees along the right side of the American political spectrum.  Fox News’ longest running and second highest rated program, only behind the O’Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes, at the end of the year...

Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Fashion and the public consumer

by nmccoy1 Fashion has pitched itself as an ‘art,’ as a reflection of society and current issues (see article below).  But fashion, like other centers of commerce, is planned in advance for the purpose of profit.  This spring’s fashion collections do not, or rather, could not be symbolic of the current financial crisis simply because they were envisioned months if not years ago.  Habermas illustrates the ways in which this use of fashion is problematic.  First, conceived of as an...