Wiley InterScience : Sociology Compasshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2F17519020John Wiley & Sons, IncenJournal Compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd2009-11-201751-90201751-9020http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1751-9020.2009.00253.xLinda M. Waldron2009-10-22T11:52:00Z10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00253.xJournal Compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing LtdJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.Although criminologists have long dominated the field of school violence research, there has been a growing body of research by cultural sociologists in this area as well. In many ways, a cultural approach to understanding school violence has taken school violence beyond the realm of just criminal and physical acts of violence. These scholars have begun to examine verbal, emotional, sexual, and racial expressions violence, as well as violence that is perpetuated by institutions, what Bourdieu has called symbolic violence. Courses that take this perspective explore how cultural concepts, or what Swidler calls a 'cultural toolkit', can be used as a lens for analyzing the experiences and practices of school violence. This can include, for example, an examination of how the dominant American ideology of meritocracy and competition can foster fights between middle school students, or how a feminine identity might push girls to be relationally aggressive towards each other rather than physically aggressive. In this regard, cultural sociology broadens our understanding of what constitutes school violence to uncover a wide spectrum of behaviors, attitudes and beliefs that may indeed lead to more overt expressions of violence. In doing so, a cultural approach can also help educators rethink discipline policies that have been created to resolve this social problem. Swidler, Ann 1986. 'Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies.'American Sociological Review51: 273[ndash]86. Swidler's concept of a cultural toolkit provides a strong foundation for any cultural sociology course. Swidler defines a cultural toolkit as the symbols, stories, rituals, beliefs, ideologies and practices of daily life through which people use to shape their behavior. This paper presents a broad understanding of culture, which Swidler argues is not a unified system, but rather a set of complex and changing concepts from which we select different pieces from in order to construct different strategies of actions. When considering cultural approaches to school violence, it is useful to consider this broad definition of culture. Henry, Stuart 2000. 'What is School Violence? An Integrated Definition.'Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science567: 16[ndash]30. Henry provides a definition of school violence that transcends physical violence and interpersonal violence between students to include psychological, emotional, ethical and moral violence that occurs not only between students, but also includes harm committed by teachers and organizations against students. This latter form of harm can include tracking, school security, sexual harassment, or essentially anything that hinders the creativity, learning and academic success of a student. Henry argues that school violence must include symbolic violence, which he defines as the use of authority, power, and coercion to dominate an individual or group of people. Ferguson, Ann Arnett 2000. Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Ferguson builds on Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence and Foucault's theory of disciplinary power to examine an intervention program for 'at-risk' students, which was comprised of mainly 5th and 6th grade African-American males. Her ethnography provides a great example of the benefit of using a cultural approach to studying violence, discipline and punishment in schools. For example, Ferguson argues that fighting among boys should be seen as a symbolic expression of masculinity and a space for boys to do emotional work, as well as a site for the production of power and a form of resistance to authority. Her work also explores how teachers and administrators can enact a form of symbolic violence onto students. She observed how the cultural behaviors of African-American boys, for example, their use of Black English, was often translated by the teachers as 'problem behavior' and resulted in their label of 'Troublemaker'. Such labels often condemned the boys to the bottom rung of the social order and negatively impacted their academic success. Spina, Stephanie Urso, ed. 2000. Smoke and Mirrors: The Hidden Context of Violence in Schools and Society. New York, NY: Rowan and Littlefield. This edited collection examines school violence as a complicated and multi-faceted phenomenon, exploring how political, economic, ideological and discursive practices contribute to school violence. This interdisciplinary book includes chapters from Donna Gaines, Henry Giroux, Peter McLaren, Stanley Aronowitz, and Paulo Freire and Donald Macedo. The authors expand the definition of violence by arguing that youth violence, adult violence and societal violence are all intricately connected, and therefore prevention of school violence would requires educators to move beyond reform that only takes place in the school system. Instead, violence prevention needs to implore a broader strategy for change that includes schools, families, communities, and beyond. Brown, Lyn Mikel 2003. Girlfighting: Betrayal and Rejection among Girls. New York, NY: New York University Press. Mikel Brown conducted qualitative interviews with more than 400 girls from first grade through high school who were from different economic, racial and geographic backgrounds. She begins the book by analyzing the cultural messages that girls receive in the media; messages and images that she argues provide girls with a context for fighting among their peers. She draws on Paulo Freire's notion of horizontal violence to look at how girls' meanness to other girls is a result of their struggle to make sense of gender-saturated images of beauty and heterosexuality that often reinforce their subordinate status in the world. Girlfighting then becomes an avenue to power for young girls in a culture that is rife with sexism. Unlike many other recent books on relational aggression among girls, Mikel Brown interrogates the complicated intersections of race, ethnicity, and class as it relates to girlfighting. Casella, Ronnie 2001. 'Being Down': Challenging Violence in Urban Schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Casella's ethnography of Brandon High School, a small city school in a diverse neighborhood in upstate New York, takes a cultural-ecological approach to school violence, capturing systemic, interpersonal and hidden forms of violence. He provides a thoughtful critique of intervention strategies that have been created to deal with school violence, such as peer mediation programs, the use of police officers in the hallways, and D.A.R.E. programs, because these programs only address individual acts of violence and do not account for the realities of urban environments, prejudice, economic injustice and poverty that underlie and contribute to school violence. Merten, Don E. 1994. 'The Cultural Context of Aggression: The Transition to Junior High School.'Anthropology and Education Quarterly25(1): 29[ndash]43. Don Merten has published several articles that provide a useful framework for examining aggressive behavior from a cultural standpoint. The data from this article come from a larger ethnographic project of predominantly middle class students in a suburban area who recently transitioned from elementary to junior high school. Merten argues that middle class culture promotes and celebrates individualism, success and hierarchy, which in turn creates a culture that promotes aggressive behavior among students, because students learn that meanness can be an easy avenue for gaining power and status in the hierarchy of cliques in schools. Morris, Edward 2005. '"Tuck in that Shirt!" Race, Class, Gender and Discipline in an Urban School.'Sociological Perspectives48(1): 25[ndash]48. Morris draws on Bourdieu's classic reproduction theory to look at the relationship between cultural capital and bodily discipline as it relates specifically to clothing styles and manners. This article is based on an ethnographic study of an urban middle school in Texas that recently enlisted a 'Standard Mode of Dress' uniform policy. The regulation of dress became a constant source of conflict between the students and staff at the school, but had the most punitive effect on poor and racially ethnic minority students, whose cultural styles tended to be negatively stereotyped by the teachers. These students were more likely to punished for violating the policy, even though all social class and racial groups, to some degree, violated the policy. This harsher punishment engendered resistance and alienation among the minority students, which Morris argues had the potential of pushing these students away from school, further reproducing the very inequalities that the school was trying to change. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crimeindicators/crimeindicators2008/ The National Center for Education Statistics puts out an annual report on indicators of School Crime and Safety. The indicators in this report are based on information drawn from a variety of data sources, including national surveys of students, teachers, and principals. The report covers not just overt forms of school violence, such as bringing a weapon to school, fighting, and teacher injuries, but also covers bullying, victimization, student perceptions of school safety, and availability and use of drugs and alcohol. http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/index.htm The Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System is a school-based survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey is conducted every 2 years and provides a representative sample of 9th through 12th graders in public and private schools in the United States. The YRBSS asks a wide variety of questions, but most relevant to school violence include self-reported responses about behaviors that might lead to unintentional injuries and violence, such as carrying a weapon to school, being threatened by a weapon or being in a fight on school grounds. These data serve a useful comparison between student self-reporting of violent behavior and school reporting of incidents of school violence. http://www.sshs.samhsa.gov/default.aspx The Safe Schools/Healthy Students website is a federal initiative by the U.S. Departments of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services. It provides many useful resources, including links federal reports on school safety, a list of related websites, and video podcast discussions of school violence that can be used in the classroom. http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/2001/uslgbt/toc.htm 'Hatred in the Hallways: Violence and Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students in U.S. Schools' is a report conducted by the Human Rights Watch. Data consists of interviews with 140 students, ages 12[ndash]21, and 130 parents, teachers, administrators and counselors across seven states, in every region of the U.S. The findings discuss a broad spectrum of violent behavior, including verbal harassment, homophobia, and physical violence. It can be useful for classroom discussion because each finding section of the report includes a 'case study' of one of the participants with direct quotes from their interview. http://www.aauw.org/research/hostile.cfm 'Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing and Sexual Harassment in School' is a national report conducted by American Association of University Women on 8th to 11th grade students. The study found that 8 in 10 students experienced some form of harassment during their time in school. Both the executive summary and entire report are available to download on the website. Defining Culture Swidler, Ann 1986. 'Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies.'American Sociological Review 51: 273[ndash]86. Jepperson, Ronald and Ann Swidler 1994. 'What Properties of Culture Should We Measure?'Poetics 22: 359[ndash]71. Cultural Capital and Symbolic Violence Bourdieu, Pierre and Jean-Claude Passeron 1977. Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. London: Sage. Lareau, Annette, and Elliott B. Weininger 2003. 'Cultural Capital in Educational Research: A Critical Assessment.'Theory and Society 32: 567[ndash]606. Reproduction Theory MacLeod, Jay 1987. Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low Income Neighborhood. Oxford: Westview Press. Read Chapter 2, 'Social Reproduction in Theoretical Perspective.' Pp. 11[ndash]24 and Chapter 8, 'Reproduction Theory Reconsidered,' pp. 135[ndash]54. Cultural Pedagogy Giroux, Henry 2000. 'Representations of Violence, Popular Culture and Demonization of Youth.' Pp. 93[ndash]105 in Smoke and Mirrors: The Hidden Context of Violence in Schools and Society. Edited by Stephanie Urso Spina. New York, NY: Rowan and Littlefield. Henry, Stuart 2000. 'What is School Violence? An Integrated Definition.' Annals of the American Academy of Political and social Science 567: 16[ndash]30. Watkinson, Ailsa 1997. 'Administrative Complicity and Systemic Violence in Education.' Pp. 3[ndash]24 in Systemic Violence in Education: Promise Broken. Edited by Juanita Ross Epp and Ailsa M. Watkinson. Albany, NY: State University of NY Press. Urso Spina, Stephanie 2000. 'Violence in Schools: Expanding the Dialogue.' Pp. 1[ndash]40 in Smoke and Mirrors: The Hidden Context of Violence in Schools and Society. New York, NY: Rowan and Littlefield Casella, Ronnie 2001. 'What is Violent about School Violence? The Nature of Violence in a City School.' Pp. 15[ndash]46 in Preventing Violence in Schools: A Challenge to American Democracy. Edited by Joan Burstyn. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Elliott, Delbert S., Beatrix Hamburg, and Kirk R. Williams 1998. 'Violence in American Schools: An Overview.' Pp. 3[ndash]30 in Violence in American Schools. Edited by Delbert S. Elliott, Beatrix A. Hamburg, and Kirk R. Williams. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Newman, Katherine 2004. Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings. NY: Basic Books. Read Part I, Chapters 1[ndash]3, pp. 3[ndash]76. Merten, Don 1994. 'The Cultural Context of Aggression: The Transition to Junior High School.'Anthropology and Education Quarterly, v. 25 (1): 29[ndash]43. Willis, Paul 1977. Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. Farnborough, England: Saxon House. Newman, Katherine 2004. Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings. NY: Basic Books. Read Part II, Chapters 4[ndash]7, pp. 77[ndash]178. MacLeod, Jay 1987. Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low Income Neighborhood. Oxford: Westview Press. Read Chapter 6, 'School: Preparing for Competition,' pp. 83[ndash]111. Devine, John 1997. Maximum Security: The Culture of Violence in Inner-City Schools. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Read Chapter 1, 'Schools or 'Schools'? Competing Discourses on Violence,' pp. 19[ndash]46. Kimmel, Michael S. and Matthew Mahler 2003. 'Adolescent Masculinity, Homophobia, and Violence.'The American Behavioral Scientist 46(10): 1439[ndash]58. Ferguson, Ann Arnett 2000. Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Read Chapter 4, 'Naughty by Nature,' pp. 77[ndash]99 and Chapter 6, 'Getting into Trouble,' pp. 163[ndash]96. Bender, Geoff 2001. 'Resisting Dominance? The Study of a Marginalized Masculinity and its Construction within High School Walls.' Pp. 61[ndash]78 in Preventing Violence in Schools: A Challenge to American Democracy. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Klein, Jessi and Lynn S. Chancer 2000. 'Masculinity Matters: The Omission of Gender from High-Profile School Violence Cases.' Pp. 129[ndash]62 in Smoke and Mirrors: The Hidden Context of Violence in Schools and Society. New York, NY: Rowan and Littlefield. Eder, Donna 1985. 'The Cycle of Popularity: Interpersonal Relations among Female Adolescents.'Sociology of Education 58(3): 154[ndash]65. Merten, Don 1997. 'The Meaning of Meanness: Popularity, Competition, and Conflict Among Junior High School Girls.'Sociology of Education 70(3): 175[ndash]91. Merten, Don 2005. 'Transitions and 'Trouble': Rites of Passage for Suburban Girls.'Anthropology and Education Quarterly 36(2): 132[ndash]48. Artz, Sibylle 2004. 'Violence in the Schoolyard: School Girls' Use of Violence.' Pp. 167[ndash]90 in Girls' Violence: Myths and Realities, edited by Christine Alder and Anne Worrall. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Morris, Edward W. 2007. ''Ladies' or 'Loudies'? Perceptions and Experiences of Black Girls in Classrooms.'Youth & Society 38: 490[ndash]515. Mikel Brown, Lyn 2003. Girlfighting: Betrayal and Rejection among Girls. NY: New York University Press. Language and Symbolic Violence Ferguson, Ann Arnett 2000. Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Read Chapter 7, 'Unreasonable Circumstances,' pp. 197[ndash]226. Youth Talk about Violence Diket, Read M. and Linda G. Mucha 2002. 'Talking about Violent Images.'Art Education March: 11[ndash]7. Morrill, Calvin, Christine Yalds, Madelaine Adelman, Michael Musheno, and Cindy Bejarano 2000. 'Telling Tales in School: Youth Culture and Conflict Narratives.'Law & Society Review 34(3): 521[ndash]65. Burman, Michele 2004. 'Turbulent Talk: Girls Making Sense of Violence.' Pp. 81[ndash]103 in Girls' Violence: Myths and Realities. Edited by Christine Alder and Anne Worrall. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Obidah, Jennifer 2000. 'On Living (and Dying) with Violence: Entering Young Voices in the Discourse.' Pp. 49[ndash]66 in Smoke and Mirrors: The Hidden Context of Violence in Schools and Society. New York, NY: Rowan and Littlefield. Clothing and School Safety Debates Holloman, Lillian and Velma LaPoint, Sylvan I. Alleyne, Ruth J. Palmer, and Kathy Sanders-Phillips 1996. 'Dress-Related Behavioral Problems and Violence in Public School Settings: Prevention, Intervention, and Policy[mdash]A Holistic Approach.'The Journal of Negro Education 65(3): 267[ndash]281. Stanley, M. Sue 1996. 'School Uniforms and Safety.'Education and Urban Society 28(4): 424[ndash]35. Gereluk, Dianne 2008. 'Limiting Free Speech in the United States.' Pp. 41[ndash]64 in Symbolic Clothing in Schools: What Should Be Worn and Why. New York, NY: Continuum. Brunsma, David L., ed. 2006. Uniforms in Public Schools: A Decade of Research and Debate. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education. Clothing, School Policies and Symbolic Violence Horvat, Erin McNamara 1999. '"Hey, Those Shoes are Out of Uniform": African American Girls in an Elite High School and the Importance of Habitus.'Anthropology and Education Quarterly 30(3): 317[ndash]42. Morris, Edward 2005. '"Tuck in that Shirt!" Race, Class, Gender and Discipline in an Urban School.'Sociological Perspectives 48(1): 25[ndash]48. Ferguson, Ann Arnett 2000. Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Read Chapter 3, 'School Rules,' pp. 49[ndash]73. This Media Education Foundation film explores the relationship between popular culture and the construction of violent masculinity. Of particular relevance to this class, the film examines how the construction of masculinity relates to school shootings. The film is directed by Sut Jhally and narrated by Jackson Katz. This film could be used in the section Cultural Scripts [ndash] Masculinity. This Media Education Foundation film, written and directed by Sut Jhally, examines the relationship between professional wrestling and the construction of masculinity. The film looks at how wrestling contributes to homophobia, violence against women and bullying in school. This film could be used in the section Cultural Scripts [ndash] Masculinity. This film originally aired on PBS''In the Mix,' a television series created by and for teens. The film examines stereotyping and conflict in schools through the eyes and voices of teenagers attending a diverse suburban high school. This film could be used in the section Cultural Resources [ndash] Language. This PBS Frontline film focuses on Kip Kinkel, who in 1998, at the age of 15, shot his mother and father, and then opened fire at his school in Springfield, Oregon, killing two and injuring 25. He is currently serving 111 years in prison. The film provides an understanding of the tragedy through multiple viewpoints, including interviews with Kip's sister, teachers and psychiatrists. This film could be used in the section Broadening the Definition of School Violence. Written by Tina Fey and based on Rosalind Wiseman's book, Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence, this fictional account of 'mean girls' is a film that most college students will be familiar with. Clips from the film can be used in the section Cultural Scripts[mdash]Femininity to begin a discussion about relational aggression between girls in schools. It can also be used to examine the role that racism and classism play in our public perception of violent behavior, particularly since 'mean girls' in this film tend to be constructed as white and upper class, whereas in contrast, 'violent girls' in film have historically been constructed as poor, young women of color. 1. Social Policy and Intervention. This assignment is intended to get students critically thinking about how educators approach school violence. Have students pick either a national intervention program, such as D.A.R.E., or a local school policy created to deal with school violence. Begin by analyzing how school violence is defined and what type of intervention/prevention is being proposed. Require students to use a cultural approach to understand and critique the policy. In writing the paper, students should consider the following questions. How would a cultural sociologist define violence? What types of violence are missing from this policy? How would this policy be different if it took into account a cultural approach? The book, 'Being Down': Challenging Violence in Urban Schools (2001) by Ronnie Casella provides a good background resource for completing this assignment. 2. Observation Project: Clothing and School Safety. Students will begin by gaining permission to observe at a local middle school or high school. Begin by analyzing the school policy towards clothing. Some schools might have an official uniform policy, whereas others might have policies regarding certain types of clothing (i.e. gang clothing, clothing with profanity, etc.) Next, spend several days observing students in non-classroom settings, like the hallways, cafeteria, bus or playground. Take detailed fieldnotes. Pay particular attention to the clothing that students wear, any discussion made about clothing by either students or teachers, the relationship between clothing and identity, how clothes are used as a site of resistance, and how clothes might cause conflict between students, or between students and teachers. (You may also want to informally interview students about their perception of the school's policy on clothing, how they negotiate rules about clothing, and how they see clothing policies as contributing to conflict and violence, as well as school safety.) As a class, develop a coding scheme for the fieldnotes. Each student will then individually write an analysis paper on the relationship between clothing, conflict, discipline policies, and school violence. 3. Mean Girls: Examining Relational Aggression in Schools. There has been much public attention in recent years to 'mean girls.' As a class, view the film Mean Girls during the course section, Cultural Scripts [ndash] Femininity. As a class, develop an interview guide with about six open-ended questions (i.e. What were your experiences with 'mean girls' in high school? How did you or a close friend deal with being the victim of relational aggression? To what extent did you ever participate in being a 'mean girl'? How did teachers at your school respond to relational aggression between girls?) Next, have students interview six female students using the class interview guide. Students can work individually or in groups to write a paper that compares and contrasts the social construction of mean girls in the film with the actual perceptions of mean girls from their research participants. The analysis should be grounded in the social science research that students are reading on relational aggression.http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1751-9020.2009.00252.xJenny Irons2009-10-22T11:52:00Z10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00252.xJournal Compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing LtdJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.While sociologists have paid a great deal of attention to how political elites matter for the emergence and development of social movements, they have focused less explicitly on how political elites matter for the culture of social movements. Considering the amount of attention paid to culture in the field of social movements, this issue is an important one to address. This essay reviews work that directly and indirectly addresses this relationship, showing how political elites matter for various aspects of movement culture, like collective identity and framing. It also reviews literature that suggests how movement culture comes to impact political elites. The essay concludes by drawing from very recent scholarship to argue that to best understand political elites and the culture of social movements, we need to think about culture and structure as intertwined and to understand how relations matters in the construction of meaning. Armstrong, Elizabeth, and Mary Bernstein 2008. 'Culture, Power and Institutions: A Multi-Institutional Politics Approach to Social Movements.'Sociological Theory 26(1): 74[ndash]99. This is a very recently published article that advances a fairly complex understanding of the relationship between culture, power, and institutions. The authors conceptualize social movements as phenomena that emerge in a society where power is distributed, enacted, and challenged across multiple institutional contexts. While they review a range of empirical cases to illustrate their concerns about the power of the political process model, they largely focus on gay and lesbian activism to illustrate the application of their 'multi-institutional politics approach'. Davenport, Christian 2005. 'Understanding Covert Repressive Action: The Case of the U.S. Government against the Republic of New Africa.'Journal of Conflict Resolution. 49(1):120[ndash]40. Davenport's article is a good place to think about how cultural aspects of social movements impact repression. He examines how covert intelligence-gathering activities were directed against the Republic of New Africa, a Black Nationalist organization, in Detroit, Michigan and finds that the racial identity of the challengers was a significant factor in determining who was targeted. Importantly, he shows how the identity of groups, along with their strategy and goals, affect the way they are perceived and treated by political elites. Johnston, Hank and Bert Klandermans 1995. Social Movements and Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. This volume remains one of the best edited collections of readings on the relationship of social movements and culture. Top scholars in the field of social movements review the conceptualization of culture in movement studies, cultural processes in movements, and methods for studying culture and collective action. Laraňa Enrique, Hank Johnston, and Joseph R. Gusfield, eds. 1994. New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. This is an important edited volume in which leading scholars in the field present both case study of movements (for example, of the women's movement and student movements) and theoretical and conceptual assessments of the role of culture and identity in movements. McCammon Holly J., Karen E. Campbell, Ellen M. Granberg, and Christine Mowery. 2007. 'Movement Framing and Discursive Opportunity Structures: The Political Successes of the U.S. Women's Jury Movements.'American Sociological Review 72: 725[ndash]49. McCammon and her co-authors examine factors that explain activists' state-level success in winning women the legal right to serve on juries. One of their key findings is that activists' use of particular frames was more successful when those frames resonated with the current state of legal discourse. In other words, to win, activists must advance claims that resonate with discourse established by political elites. Meyer David S., Nancy Whittier, and Belinda Robnett, eds. 2002. Social Movements: Identity, Culture and the State. New York: Oxford University Press. This is another excellent edited volume that offers essays by leading scholars on the relationship between identity, culture, and the state. Meyer's introduction is particularly useful for the topic at hand, as he points out the ways that state action and polities often create the basis for a challenging group's collective identity. Polletta, Francesca. 1998. 'Legacies and Liabilities of an Insurgent Past.'Social Science History 22(4): 479[ndash]512. In this article, Polletta examines the different ways in which members of the United States Congress commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr., and finds that they most often emphasize King's legacy of community service and institutional politics over disruptive insurgency. For black legislators, however, the story is more complicated, as they must also carefully caution that King's legacy has not been fully realized. Polletta shows that how the culture of movements gets integrated into the discourse of elites is shaped by how elites are situated in a network of relationships[mdash]with other elites, with their own social groups, and with challengers. Social Movementsand Culture http://www.wsu.edu/~amerstu/smc/smcframe.html Sponsored by the American Studies program at Washington State University, this site provides great links to bibliographies, movement websites, and other resources. Speech Prepared for March on Washington, 1963 http://www.crmvet.org/info/mowjl.htm Read the text of Congressman John Lewis' speech at the March on Washington, referred to at the beginning of the article. Sociology Eye http://sociologycompass.wordpress.com/ This website, associated with Sociology Compass, is a great site for thinking about how a range of contemporary issues are sociologically important. Check it out to look for posts related to social movements, culture, and political elites. Though a post may not directly seem to address the issue, oftentimes you can think about the ways in which a discussed subject implicitly tells you something about how the three things relate. Below I provide suggestions for topics and readings that might be assigned in a range of courses, including: a general social movements course, a course focused on social movement culture, or a sociology of culture course with a unit on social movements. McAdam, Doug 1994. 'Culture and Social Movements.' Pp. 36[ndash]57 in New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity, edited by Enrique Laraňa, Hank Johnston, and Joseph R. Gusfield. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. Swidler, Ann. 1995. 'Cultural Power and Social Movements.' Pp. 25[ndash]40 in Social Movements and Culture, edited by Hank Johnston and Bert Klandermans. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Snow, David A., E. Burke Rochford, Jr., Steven K. Worden, and Robert D. Benford 1986. 'Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and Movement Participation.'American Sociological Review 51: 464[ndash]81. Williams, Rhys H. 2004. 'The Cultural Contexts of Collective Action: Constraints, Opportunities, and the Symbolic Life of Social Movements.' Pp. 91[ndash]115 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, edited by David A. Snow, Sarah A. Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Gamson, William 1988. 'Political Discourse and Collective Action.' Pp. 219[ndash]144 in International Social Movement Research, vol. 1, edited by Bert Klandermans, Hanspeter Kreisi, and Sidney Tarrow. Greenwich, CT: JAI. Kriesi, Hanspeter 2004. 'Political Context and Opportunity.' Pp. 67[ndash]90 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, edited by David A. Snow, Sarah A. Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. McCarthy, John D. and Mayer N. Zald 1977. 'Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory.'American Journal of Sociology 82:1212[ndash]1241. Meyer, David S. 2002. 'Opportunities and Identities: Bridge-Building in the Study of Social Movements.' Pp. 3[ndash]21 in Social Movements: Identity, Culture and the State, edited by David S. Meyer, Nancy Whittier, and Belinda Robnett. New York: Oxford University Press. Rucht, Dieter 2005. 'Movement Allies, Adversaries, and Third Parties.' Pp. 197[ndash]261 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, edited by David A. Snow, Sarah A. Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Armstrong, Elizabeth, and Mary Bernstein 2008. 'Culture, Power and Institutions: A Multi-Institutional Politics Approach to Social Movements.'Sociological Theory 26(1): 74[ndash]99. Fantasia, Rick and Eric L. Hirsch 1995. 'Culture in Rebellion: The Appropriation and Transformation of the Veil in the Algerian Revolution.' Pp. 144- 159 in Social Movements and Culture, edited by Hank Johnston and Bert Klandermans. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Irons, Jenny 2009. 'Political Elites and the Culture of Social Movements.'Sociology Compass 3/3: 459[ndash]74. McCammon, Holly J., Karen E. Campbell, Ellen M. Granberg, and Christine Mowery 2007. 'Movement Framing and Discursive Opportunity Structures: The Political Successes of the U.S. Women's Jury Movements.'American Sociological Review 72: 725[ndash]49. Polletta, Francesca 1998. 'Legacies and Liabilities of an Insurgent Past.'Social Science History 22(4): 479[ndash]512. Skrentny, John 2006. 'Policy-Elite Perceptions and Social Movement Success: Understanding Variations in Group Inclusion in Affirmative Action.'American Journal of Sociology 111(6):1762[ndash]1815. Boudreau, Vincent 2002. 'State Repression and Democracy Protest in Three Southeast Asian Countries.' Pp. 28[ndash]46 in Social Movements: Identity, Culture and the State, edited by David S. Meyer, Nancy Whittier, and Belinda Robnett. New York: Oxford University Press. Cunningham, David 2004. There's Something Happening Here: The New Left, The Klan, and FBI Counterintelligence. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Cunningham, David and Barb Browing 2004. 'The Emergence of Worthy Targets: Official Frames and Deviance Narratives Within the FBI.'Sociological Forum 19(3):347[ndash]369. Davenport, Christian 2005. 'Understanding Covert Repressive Action: The Case of the U.S. Government against the Republic of New Africa.'Journal of Conflict Resolution 49 (1):120[ndash]140. Noonan, Rita K. 1995. 'Women Against the State: Political Opportunities and Collective Action Frames in Chile's Transition to Democracy.'Sociological Forum 10: 81[ndash]111. In what ways do political elites matter for the development of a social movement's culture[mdash]in terms of the development of movement frames, discourse, and collective identity? (You might focus on a particular movement to address this question) How do those same aspects of a movement's culture impact political elites? Can you think of examples in which we can see elites reflecting meaning produced by social movements? What do you think are the most effective ways that social movements can impact political elites on a cultural level? What factors shape the relationship between movement cultures and political elites? What do you think are the best ways to conceptualize "political elites" and "social movement culture"?http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1751-9020.2009.00248.xRichard Tutton2009-10-22T11:51:00Z10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00248.xJournal Compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing LtdJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.Since the early days of the Human Genome Project, there has been increasing social scientific research that promises to elucidate the social implications, aspects or dimensions of research on human, animal and plant genetics. This paper discusses the literature on the social aspects of different types of genetic testing technologies and their applications in the contexts of clinical medicine, biomedical research, personal and family genealogy, and criminal justice. Although there are many differences in the practices, purposes and organization of these technologies across such contexts, this paper shows that social scientists' understandings of their social aspects centers on individual and collective experiences of how genetic testing technologies operate in practice.http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1751-9020.2009.00246.xJames Sheptycki2009-10-22T11:51:00Z10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00246.xJournal Compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing LtdJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.Issues surrounding what has variously been defined as 'global', 'international' or 'transnational' forms of 'organized crime' are a frequent staple of globalization crisis talk and are frequently used to justify the emergence and elaboration of transnational policing capacities. How well does this functional explanation account for these related sets of phenomena? What are the particular organizational and institutional characteristics of transnational policing institutions? What counts as transnational organised crime? How does the apparent dialectic between transnational organised crime and transnational policing relate to broader issues of global governance? How do the practices of transnational policing relate to the structure of global society more generally? Sociological questions about global crime and policing turn out to be fundamental questions about the nature of the world system. Sheptycki, J. (ed.) 2000. Issues in Transnational Policing. London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-19260-9. This pioneering book opened up the sociology of transnational policing. The book contains chapters by leading scholars in the sociology of policing and is the first to consider the consequences of globalization specific to the institutions of policing. Chapters consider a number of important emerging issues in relation to transnational policing. The introduction attends to the definitions of the book's central terms: 'policing' and 'transnational'. It also provides a typology relating to the field of policing that has had major implications for the understanding of policing accountability under transnational conditions. The first chapter, by Les Johnston, considers the emergence of transnational private security, by mapping the global security market. Chapter two, by Jean-Paul Brodeur, provides empirical insights into the workings of legal due process in complex transnational criminal enquiries raising questions about the accountability structures in the coming 'age of transnational high policing'. Chapter three, by Didier Bigo, traces the emergence of liaison officer networks across the European policing field. Frank Gregory charts the historical rise of private criminality as a matter of international concern in chapter four, while James Sheptycki undertakes a descriptive analysis of the global system for policing money in chapter five. In chapter six, Peter Manning considers various aspects of policing and technology under conditions of transnationalisation, paying some considerable attention to the policing of 'new social spaces'[ndash] that is the rise of so-called 'cyberspace'. Chapter seven, by James Sheptycki, is a concluding chapter which considers the historical case of the 'international war on drugs' held to be the 'paradigm example of transnational policing'. Sheptycki, J. and A. Wardak (eds) 2004. Transnational and Comparative Criminology. London: Routledge, ISBN 978-1-904385-05-9. This book advocates that contemporary criminology be both transnational and comparative. The introduction describes the field of criminology by placing it in a global context. One key question is how academic criminologists can cope with the difficulties of cultural relativism in fostering a comparative and transnational view of the field. The book is broken into four sections. In the first, a variety of comparative studies are considered. Difficulties in measuring trends in comparative crime statistics across national jurisdictions, techniques for doing so and the interpretation of such data are all considered. The use of qualitative data in comparative studies is also considered. The authors advocate the combination of different types of data in a 'second best' approach to the interpretation of transnational and other types of crime. In the second section, a variety of 'area studies' are considered. These are: West Africa, Southern Africa, Singapore, China and Saudi Arabia. These chapters each offer extended transnational and comparative treatment of issues of crime, crime definition and crime control in their respective regions. Section 3 deals with specific transnational crime control issues that have been identified. Four separate chapters consider transnational organized crime, transnational white collar crime, transnational corruption in the EU and international sex-trafficking in the EU. The final section considers transnational control responses to transnational crime and the book concludes with a chapter on reflexivity in the academic study of crime, crime definition and crime control. Goldsmith, A. and J. Sheptycki (eds) 2007. Crafting Transnational Policing. Oxford: Hart Publishing, ISBN-10: 1841137766. The notion that police around the world share a distinctive outlook has been established, as has the assumption that police must co-operate internationally if they are to respond effectively to the crime and insecurity associated with the transnational condition. Yet the possibility of developing a genuinely transnational policecraft seems negligible. It is possible to discuss in ideal terms such notions as transnational ethics, global social justice and the like but what, practically speaking, could be meant by a transnational constabulary ethic? Arguably, the situated nature of policing means that there is no such thing as a common transnational policecraft and hence no possibility of an overarching ethic for the constabulary. Liberal democratic theories of policing are also ill-adapted to the global conditions that are the consequence of prevailing neo-liberal governmental logics. This book presents a collection of essays that are the results of a workshop at the Onati Institute for the Sociology of Law entitled: Transnational Policing and the Constabulary Ethic. It provides descriptive accounts of transnational policing in a variety of regional settings around the world but grounds the analysis in debates about what would constitute good policing under transnational conditions. Sheptycki, J. 2008. 'Transnationalism, Orientalism and Crime.'Asian Journal of Criminology, 3: 13[ndash]35. DOI: 10.1007/s11417-008-9049-0 The article asks the question: how applicable are European and North American criminological theories to the situation in Asia? It takes a transnational and comparative perspective in relating contemporary and historical trends in crime, crime definition and crime control in a variety of Asian countries that comprise the so-called Confucian sphere. It provides a criminological critique of the 'Asian values debate' and, through an analysis of trends in crime, crime definition and crime control in China and Japan, of organised crime across the region, as well as selected examples of state-organised crime, seeks to provide a perspective on the developing criminological discourses of 'the Orient'. The paper argues that, although cultural aspects are important and interesting in understanding the crime situation in the region, ultimately it is changes in politics and governance, economy and society that are most efficacious in explaining current criminological trends and developments. Sheptycki, J. 2007. 'High Policing in the Security Control Society.'Policing 1(1): 70[ndash]9, Oxford University Press. This article considers the nature and practice of high policing in the security control society. It looks at the effects of the new information technologies on the organization of policing[ndash]intelligence and argues that a number of 'organizational pathologies' have arisen that make the functioning of security intelligence processes in high policing deeply problematic. The article also looks at the changing context of policing and argues that the circuits of the security[ndash]intelligence apparatus are woven into, and help to compose, the panic scenes of the security control society. Seen this way, the habits of high policing are not the governance of crisis, but rather governance through crisis. An alternative paradigm is suggested, viz. the human security paradigm, and the paper concludes that, unless senior ranking policing officers [ndash] the police intelligentsia'[ndash] adopt new ways of thinking, the already existing organizational pathologies of the security[ndash]intelligence system are likely to continue undermining efforts at fostering security. Sheptycki, J. 2007. 'Criminology and the Transnational Condition: A Contribution to International Political Sociology.'International Political Sociology 1: 391[ndash]405. This article contributes to international political sociology and the further enhancement of the interdisciplinary study of the global system by introducing the vocabulary of critical criminology into the discourse. It suggests that the contemporary global system is ripe with existential anxieties that are symptoms of momentous historical change and it argues that, for good or for ill, issues of crime definition and control have become central to the transnational condition. As a consequence, criminological theories should be introduced into theoretical discussions about the nature of the contemporary global scene. Such conceptual thinking is vital, given the centrality of the language of criminal threats in the language of global governance and the language of governance globally. The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces http://www.dcaf.ch/ Small Arms Survey http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/ One World Trust http://www.oneworldtrust.org/ Open Society Institute http://www.soros.org/ The Jack and Mae Nathanson Centre on transnational human rights, crime and security http://nathanson.osgoode.yorku.ca/ The drug policy alliance network http://www.drugpolicy.org/homepage.cfm The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/html.cfm/index190EN.html The Environmental Investigation Agency http://www.eia-international.org/ Corporate Watch http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/ I Introduction and overview Definitions, problems and issues: What is policing? What is crime? What do the terms internationalisation, globalisation and transnationalisation refer to? What consequences follow from a world-system without world policing? Outside reading: Castells, M. The Rise of the Network Society, Cambridge, MA: Blackwell (1996). Held, D., A. McGrew, D. Goldblatt and J. Perraon 1999. The Global Transformations Reader. Cambridge: Polity Press. Held, D. 2003. Cosmopolitanism, a Defence. Cambridge: Polity. Sklair, L. 2001. The Transnational Capitalist Class. Oxford: Blackwell. II Issues in comparative criminology What is crime and how to academic criminologists study in comparative perspective? The use and abuse of statistics in understanding crime cross-nationally, cross-culturally and cross-jurisdictionally. The uses of qualitative data in interpreting problems in comparative criminology. The comparative study of crime and the emerging world system. Outside reading: Hofstede, Geert 2001. Culture's Consequences, Comparing Values, Behaviours, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations. Beverly Hills: Sage. Reichel, P. 2007. Comparative Criminal Justice Systems, a Topic Approach. Harlow: Pearson Education. III Issues in transnational criminology What is transnational about transnational crime? How are transnational crime problems defined and prioritized? How are transnational crime problems measured and evaluated? What do we know about the various types of transnational crime? Outside reading: Beare, M. 2004. Critical Reflections on Transnational Organized Crime, Money Laundering and Corruption. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Edwards, A. and P. Gill 2004. Transnational Organised Crime; Perspectives on Global Security. London: Routledge. Reichel, P. 2005. Handbook of Transnational Crime and Justice. London: Sage. IV Issues in transnational policing Who are the transnational police? What is Interpol? What do transnational police agents do? How are transnational policing priorities set? Under conditions of transnationalisation, what is the relationship between law and policing? Outside reading: Anderson, M. et al. 1995. Policing the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Andreas, P. and T. Snyder. Wall Around the West. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. Andreas, P. and E. Nadelmann 2006. Policing the Globe; Criminalization and Crime Control in International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ratcliffe, J. 2004. Strategic Thinking in Criminal Intelligence. NSW: Federation Press. What challenges do researchers interested in comparative criminology face and why? What are comparative and transnational criminology and how are they different? With reference to the contemporary period, can you think of practical elements, themes or questions that are common to both? What is transnational policing and how can it be made accountable to the global commonwealth? What are the practices that feature most prominently in transnational discourses about contemporary policing and how are these understood from a human rights, civil liberties or human security point of view? What does the study of transnational crime and policing reveal about the nature and character of the world system? Based on knowledge acquired from this course, choose a topic in transnational or comparative criminology and create a briefing portfolio. The portfolio will consist of four items: (i) three page statement of purpose; (ii) annotated bibliography; (iii) poster and presentation; and (iv) written essay. As part of the project, students should prepare a poster presentation (approx. 18"× 24") detailing the chosen topic through the display of quantitative and qualitative types of data together with key concepts, case-study vignettes, maps and pictures. Students will give an oral presentation based on their poster and create an annotated bibliography and write a short essay on their chosen topic based on the feedback they receive. Some suggested topics: comparative study of gun-homicide in two or more countries/cultures; comparative study of rape and sexual assault in two or more countries/cultures; comparative student of family violence in two or more countries/cultures; environmental organized crime; policing the global money system; policing and the global drug prohibition regime; controlling piracy on the high seas [ndash] then and now; transnational crimes of the powerful and the powerless; policing, tourism and crime; corporate crime and state crime [ndash] spot the difference.http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1751-9020.2009.00244.xMatthew W. Hughey2009-10-22T11:51:00Z10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00244.xJournal Compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing LtdJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.While the sociological study of white identity has traversed many stages, its most recent turn emphasizes the contextual heterogeneity of whiteness. Because of this increased attention to context and locality, the study of whiteness has never been more amenable to cultural analysis than it is today. Hence, an emphasis on different white racial formations that span a political spectrum from conservative to liberal and racist to antiracist is now dominant. In this vein, white nationalists and white antiracists represent the distinct polarities of contemporary inquisitions into white identity formation. Motivated by this academic milieu, this article first reviews the common perception that whiteness is in 'crisis' and polarizing into antagonistic political projects. Second, the article scans the literature on white nationalist and white antiracist groups, making explicit the relation to cultural theory. Third, the article questions why these two groups are consistently juxtaposed against one another and how such a conceptualization hinders, rather than advances, cultural analysis. Fourth and last, the article advanced a cultural sociological framework for understanding white racial identity formation that neither collapses white identities into a monolithic collective nor reifies white formations as a static typology. Such an approach considers the general processes and contexts which produce 'whiteness' and give it meaning, as well as illuminates the social relationships and practices in which white racial identity formations become embedded.http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1751-9020.2009.00243.xSamantha Kwan, Mary Nell Trautner2009-10-22T11:50:00Z10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00243.xJournal Compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing LtdJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.Similar to race, class, and gender, the body is an important signifier that shapes identity, social processes, and life outcomes. In our article, we examine the individual and institutional rewards conferred upon physically attractive individuals and the social stigma and discrimination experienced by the less physically attractive. This body hierarchy is tied in part to the performance of beauty work, including attempts to transform and/or manipulate one's hair, make-up, and body shape or size. We explore these beauty work practices, highlight the gendered nature of this body hierarchy, and situate these practices in debates about agency and cultural structure. Are beauty conformists 'cultural dopes' who buy into an oppressive patriarchal beauty culture that creates docile bodies? Or, are these individuals 'savvy cultural negotiators' who participate in beauty work practices to reap material and psychological rewards? Bordo, Susan. 2003. Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture & the Body. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. A series of essays that examine Western body culture, including media images, weight loss practices, reproduction, psychology, medicine, and eating disorders. In her analysis, Bordo adopts a postmodern feminist interpretation, problematizing the female body as a cultural construct. Davis, Kathy. 1991. 'Remaking the She-Devil: A Critical Look at Feminist Approaches to Beauty'. Hypatia, 6, 21[ndash]43. Drawing on interviews with Dutch cosmetic surgery patients, Davis examines how women account for their decisions to participate in cosmetic surgery and how they view it in light of surgery outcomes. She argues that women actively pursue cosmetic surgery for instrumental reasons including regaining control of their lives, feeling normal, and/or righting the wrong of an ongoing suffering. Dellinger, Kirsten and Christine L. Williams. 1997. 'Makeup at Work: Negotiating Appearance Rules in the Workplace'. Gender & Society, 11, 151[ndash]77. Dellinger and Williams analyze in-depth interviews to understand the reasons why women do [ndash] or do not [ndash] wear makeup in the workplace. Women are negatively sanctioned when they do not wear makeup (e.g. they are questioned about their health or heterosexuality) and are positively rewarded when they do wear makeup (e.g. they are seen as more credible, feel more confident, etc.). The authors argue that such practices ultimately reinforce inequality between women and men, but that individual resistance strategies are unlikely to be successful given the institutional and structural constraints faced by women. Gagné, Patricia and Deanna McGaughey. 2002. 'Designing Women: Cultural Hegemony and the Exercise of Power Among Women Who have Undergone Elective Mammoplasty'. Gender & Society, 16, 814[ndash]438. The authors address two feminist perspectives on cosmetic surgery using interviews with women who have undergone elective mammoplasty. One perspective suggests that women who elect cosmetic surgery are victims of false consciousness whose bodies are disciplined by a male gaze. A second perspective centralizes women's agency; surgery enables women to achieve greater power and control over their lives. They propose a grounded theoretical synthesis, maintaining that surgery can be empowering at an individual level, but can also reinforce hegemonic ideals that oppress women as a group. Gimlin, Debra L. 2002. Body Work: Beauty and Self-Image in American Culture. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Gimlin examines four sites of body work [ndash] the beauty salon, aerobics classes, a plastic surgery clinic, and a fat acceptance organization. Relying on ethnographic and interview data, she discusses women's body transformation efforts and how they negotiate the relationship between body and self. Lovejoy, Meg. 2001. 'Disturbances in the Social Body: Differences in Body Image and Eating Problems among African American and White Women'. Gender & Society, 15, 239[ndash]61. Lovejoy reviews several perspectives on racial/ethnic differences in body image and eating disorders including: (1) a psychometric perspective that focuses on attitudinal and perceptual body image; (2) white feminist perspectives that focus on social control and changing gender roles; and (3) black feminist perspectives that claim obesity is a problem for black women, see eating as a mechanism to cope with oppression, and acknowledge black women's susceptibility to eating disorders. According to Lovejoy, black women's positive body satisfaction can be explained through an alternative beauty aesthetic and the cultural construction of femininity in black communities. Pope, Harrison G., Jr., Katharine A. Phillips and Roberto Olivardia. 2000. The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession. New York: The Free Press. In contrast to the many works that focus on women, these authors discuss appearance stereotypes and appearance work related to men and masculinity. While more journalistic than academic in tone (and quality of research design), the authors draw on surveys, interviews, and archival documents to argue that women's entrance into previously masculine arenas (e.g. male-dominated occupations) has led to a sort of 'threatened masculinity.' As a result, men use their bodies to demonstrate masculinity (e.g. increased musculature) [ndash] often through unhealthy behaviors and practices, including steroid use and eating disorders. Weitz, Rose. 2001. 'Women and Their Hair: Seeking Power through Resistance and Accommodation'. Gender & Society, 15, 667[ndash]86. Based on in-depth interviews with women, Weitz shows how women use their hair (style, length, color, etc.) to conform to, resist, and negotiate hegemonic beauty norms, thereby gaining [ndash] or losing [ndash] personal and professional power and other advantages. Weitz's article is particularly useful for illuminating how personal advantages can belie group advantages as well as the limitations of the agency versus docile bodies argument. West, Candace and Don H. Zimmerman. 1987. 'Doing Gender'. Gender & Society, 1, 125[ndash]51. This article introduces the idea of gender as an accomplishment or a performance. Femininity and masculinity, the authors argue, do not automatically follow from biological sex. Rather, males and females perform gender in their daily routines and interactions with others. We 'do gender,' for example, through our appearance, behaviors, speech patterns, etc. Wolf, Naomi. 1991. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women. New York: Harper Collins. This book explores the relationship between unattainable beauty ideals and women's social advancement. Examining issues including work, culture, religion, sex, and hunger, Wolf argues that despite increased advancement in the public sphere, women's self-esteem and equality are stymied by the beauty myth and an obsession with body perfection. About Face! http://www.about-face.org/ About Face is an organization whose mission is to equip women and girls with tools to understand and resist harmful media messages that affect their self-esteem and body image. Website contains images of positive and negative advertisements (along with discussion questions and company contact information), further reading suggestions, and links to other organizations dealing with either body image or media literacy. Adios Barbie http://www.adiosbarbie.com/ A website devoted to creating awareness about disempowering cultural messages about bodies, encouraging positive body image, and taking an active role in creating unique versions of beauty and identity. Jean Kilbourne http://www.jeankilbourne.com/lectures.html Jean Kilbourne is an author and lecturer whose works focuses extensively on the depiction of women in advertising. Her website includes recourses for change and postings from organizations with opportunities for individuals to get involved in activities/events that challenge destructive media images. The 'Film & Video' link also includes films on advertising and western beauty culture. Lauren Greenfield http://www.laurengreenfield.com/ Lauren Greenfield is a photographer whose images capture, among other things, the toll of beauty stereotypes and beauty work on women of all ages. Particularly relevant are Greenfield's collections titled Girl Culture and Thin. The website includes photographic images, short films, links to Greenfield's books and films, and further resources, including readings for teens, activists, and educators (including an extensive discussion/exercise guide for Girl Culture). Love Your Body Day Campaign (National Organization of Women) http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/ Website for NOW's annual body-image campaign that began in 1998. Includes activism resources (primarily for college campuses), including a Powerpoint presentation with images and text about how commercial images (with a focus on advertising) affect both women and men ('Sex, Stereotypes and Beauty: The ABCs and Ds of Commercial Images of Women'). Newsweek, Lifetime Spending on Beauty http://www.newsweek.com/id/187758 Interactive graphic, 'The Beauty Breakdown', shows the average cost that women in various age groups spend on beauty products and services. Graphic also includes links on the right-side menu to other Newsweek articles and photo essays related to beauty work. We encourage use of this article in various Sociology, Gender and Women's Studies, and Cultural Studies courses including Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of Gender, and the Sociology of Body. In what ways does your level of physical attractiveness affect how others treat you? How does your race and gender shape your response? Consider various contexts including school, work, gym, church, etc., and how social context might affect social treatment. What are some individual and institutional rewards conferred upon physically attractive individuals? How are physically unattractive individuals stigmatized and treated differently? Why do you think individuals make assumptions and treat people differently based on physical attractiveness? What are some common forms of beauty work practices? Do you engage in any of these practices? Why? Why do you think others engage in these practices? How do practices and consequences differ by gender? By race? By sexual orientation? How is beauty work a gendered double standard? That is, how do beauty work 'obligations' differ for women and men? Also, what are some contradictions women face when they perform beauty work? In other words, what are some of the costs to performing [ndash] as well as not performing [ndash] beauty work? What, if any, forms of resistance are an effective means of social change? Do 'alternative' appearances, i.e., body piercings, scarring, or tattoos, or advertising campaigns such as the Dove Real Body campaign constitute resistance to beauty ideals that promote social change? How might different strands of feminist thought envision social change? Reading Assignment: Beauty Assumptions Select photos of both conventionally attractive and unattractive men and women from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. Select these photos in pairs, varying preferably all but the level of physical beauty, e.g. attractive white woman versus unattractive white woman, attractive black man versus unattractive black man. If possible, use 'before and after' makeover photos. Before students read the assigned article, ask them to rate the person depicted in each photo on various personality characteristics. Use semantic differential scales and pairs such as happy-sad, beautiful-ugly, intelligent-unintelligent, healthy-unhealthy, honest-dishonest, friendly-unfriendly, etc. After students have read the article, revisit their responses. Are there any patterns of assumed characteristics based on level of physical attractiveness? How does race and/or gender affect responses? Use this exercise to transition into a discussion of the article. Journal Assignment: Media and Our Beauty Culture Ask students to examine critically and document observations about the beauty culture that surrounds them. In a week, students should pay special attention to what they see on television. In terms of physical attractiveness, who is depicted on television? Moreover, how do depictions vary by physical attractiveness? What roles do physically attractive individuals play? How are they depicted? Conversely, what roles and portrayals are associated with less physically attractive individuals? Would they see similar depictions in other media such as film, magazines, and the internet? In their write-up, students should also discuss the social meanings and significance of these television depictions. For example, do they think these portrayals affect their views of beauty, their assumptions about others, and how they treat others?http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1751-9020.2009.00242.xJelle Mast2009-10-22T11:50:00Z10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00242.xJournal Compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing LtdJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.Today, as tendencies of popularization and hybridization have fundamentally redefined conventional notions of (small) screen documentary, the genre (re-)emerges as a particularly appealing topic of scholarly research. This article elaborates some of the main strands of the multifaceted debate about these ongoing developments, thereby focusing on the 'reality TV' phenomenon, which is probably the most notable, yet also most controversial embodiment of the shifting that takes place. Discussing key positions regarding the problem of labeling and definition, questions of documentary values, and ethical issues, it is argued that a comprehensive, nuanced approach based on profound conceptualizations as well as empirical research into production and reception contexts are invaluable in making an astute assessment of the popular hybrid documentary.http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1751-9020.2009.00241.xMarta Herrero2009-10-22T11:50:00Z10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00241.xJournal Compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing LtdJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.In its current state the sociology of art markets is characterized by an externalist approach to the analysis of art value in which the art object is the repository of beliefs, judgements given to it by art market actors. However, a review of the literature on art museums poses a challenge to this externalist approach by focusing on the mutually constitutive relationship between the art object, its exhibition and museum context, and viewers. The article reviews this literature exploring the advantages of this line of research for a meaningful sociology of art markets. It will argue for the need to overcome its current externalist focus with studies of the emotional dimension of art market objects as well as of the practices of art market actors.http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1751-9020.2009.00239.xJean Van Delinder2009-10-22T11:49:00Z10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00239.xJournal Compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing LtdJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.This study outlines how gender relations and gender differences come into play in the civil rights movement [ndash] the national movement to transform American race relations in the 1950s and 1960s. Social movement scholarship on the civil rights movement emphasizes dramatic mass mobilizations and charismatic leadership, both distinctively masculine enterprises. This emphasis overlooks the subtle and underappreciated dynamics of gender in shaping cultures of protest and resistance. Consideration of gender and gender roles in the private and public spheres provides a more nuanced understanding of protest strategies and the formulation of resistance in direct action. Gendered patterns related to movement participation, mobilization, leadership, strategies and ideologies also bring into focus how local issues shaped regional variations in civil rights initiatives. Finally, gender symbolism and culture deepen our understanding of non-violent direct action as a moral, emancipatory performance, serving to blur the physical boundaries enacted by civil restraint.