conference summary part 2: the internet as playground and factory
on Nov 16, 2009 in Uncategorized alienation capitalism exploitation facebook fun Google ipf09 labor marx monopsony nathan jurgenson new media open-source page rank pj.rey playbor prosumer prosumption social media social networking sites twitter web 2.0 YouTube by nathan jurgenson Following PJ Rey’s excellent summary of the Internet as Playground and Factory yesterday, I offer a few additional observations from the conference this past weekend, focusing on Web 2.0 capitalism, and Google as the primary tar...

Conference Summary Part I: The Internet as Playground and Factory
on Nov 15, 2009 in Communication and Media Culture Organisations and Work Political, Economic and Urban Sociology Science and Medicine Video Resources capitalism consumption exploitation Frankfurt School fun hobbies Homo Ludens implosion Johan Huzinga Marshall McLuhan Martin Roberts New School pj.rey play playbor production productivity prosumption real sociology Stephanie Rothenberg The Internet as Playground and Factory Tiziana Terranova virtual work by pj.rey The New School held a conference last week that may be of interest to many Sociology Lens readers, so I have decided to devote this week’s entry to sharing some notes from the conference. The implosion of work and play was the most re...

The Clothes Make the (Heterosexual) Man
on Nov 13, 2009 in Culture Gender Social Psychology and Lifecourse clothing dress codes heterosexuality Homosexuality identity Judith Butler sexuality Dress codes in schools have long been a source of intergenerational conflict, control, and increasingly obvious, a way to police gender norms and sexuality.  In an article that interrogates these instances of specific gender and sexuality “vio...

Sociology Lens featured on Online Courses.org’s top 100 blogs
on Nov 12, 2009 in Uncategorized OnlineCourses.org See http://www.onlinecourses.org/2009/11/09/100-best-blogs-for-the-literati/...

Smuggling Tunnels in Gaza Strip
on Nov 8, 2009 in Organisations and Work Political, Economic and Urban Sociology Social Stratification Egypt Gaza Strip Israeli Blockade Money Palestinians poverty Rafah Smuggling Tunnel Unemployment by smteixeirapoit Palestinians have created hundreds of tunnels under the Gaza Strip-Egypt border to circumvent the Israeli blockade. In the border town of Rafah, Palestinians secure employment in these tunnels, smuggling goods such as food, livestoc...

‘Carnage’ at the War Memorial
on Nov 6, 2009 in Communication and Media Crime and Deviance Culture Armistice Day army binge drinking Birmingham University Carnage UK District Judge Anthony Browne drinking games drinking marathon Ian Conway King’s School outraging public decency Paul Bahia Philip Laing poppy wreath prison Probation Service pub crawl Remembrance Sunday Royal British Legion rugby sacred Second World War Sheffield Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Magistrates’ Court sports technology Tim Hughes urinating war memorial whisky by paulabowles Philip Laing, the 19 year old student from Sheffield Hallam University has become the latest focus for the media. Recently photographed urinating upon a poppy wreath at a Second World War Memorial, Laing has attracted an enormous amoun...

Gender discrimination, law and the fight for tenure at DePaul University
on Nov 4, 2009 in Culture Gender Organisations and Work academy DePaul University gender discrimination tenure By Rachael Liberman Academia has never been immune to charges of elitism, sexism, or racism. From the use of socially questionable theories as “objective truth” to the absorption of meritocracy, academia does not necessarily evoke thoughts of “...

election day and attributing blame
on Nov 3, 2009 in Political, Economic and Urban Sociology Social Psychology and Lifecourse attribution blame elections politics social psychology voting By Dena T. Smith In elections, we determine who to vote for via a number of factors: party affiliation, the economy, the character of the candidate, advertising, etc. It’s a complicated process. One key force in determining the outcome of elect...

Augmented Reality: Going the Way of the Dildo
on Nov 2, 2009 in Crime and Deviance Culture Gender Science and Medicine Video Resources augmented reality beer goggles consumption Demolition Man digital digitality internet Jonathan Coopersmith material nathan jurgenson NPR pj.rey porn pornography production prosumer prosumption prosumptive Sandra Bullock sex Sylvester Stallone technology teledildonics virtual hole virtual stick wild mambo by pj.rey While the term “augmented reality” uttered in a sexual context might immediately conjure the perennial problematic of the boozed, buzzed, and befuddled (commonly referred to as “beer goggles”), more nuanced analysis...

The Conference Ends without Closing…
on Nov 1, 2009 in Uncategorized battle of the bands Blackwell Compass Compass Conference Conference Papers Conference Registration entertainment goodbye interdisciplinarity iTunes keynote Keynote Addresses Opinion Survey podcasts Profiles publishing workshop Publishing Workshops review paper Schedule Announcements Second Life thank you Vimeo Virtual Book Exhibit winning comment Categories : Book Exhibit Winning Comments Now that we’ve come to the end, the Compass team would like to say a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to everyone who has participated and made our first virtual conference an overwhelming success. The authors and presenters have been, without excepti...