herbertmarcuse
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Posts posted by herbertmarcuse
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The other day I was joking with one of my relatives who got his CDL in less than three weeks from a driver trucking school whether or not the value of a CDL has a higher value than a PhD in Sociology nowadays. Obviously, for someone who spend 4 undergraduate years plus additional 2 graduate years studying sociology- I was angry and somewhat frustrated that such job-sector comparisons could be made and joked about. Nevertheless, one has to start asking the question with the increasing amount of student debt, the lack of demand of such degrees, the over-supply of sociology graduates, is it really worth to get a PhD degree in Sociology or is it better to get a CDL license?
How many of yall started thinking about driving trucks for a living instead of doing a PhD? Let me know if you had similar dilemmas.
Cheers,
HM
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This is a real nightmare for people like me who got their degrees in Europe. Anyone in a similar situation?
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It is an interesting idea but to my ears - radicalizing sociology and making it more accessible to the public would be opposite in a graduate program where the focus is on research. I see such work either becoming increasingly theoretical within the fields of elites, power, organization etc to a point where you would attend conference simply to debate the meaning of x in the context of y. Or you would end up studying "grass roots" in action.
Either way - as someone who finds Albert Jay Nock to be an daily inspiration - if our paths ever cross and you confuse anarchism for occupy then jostling shall commence.
Finally to answer your real question - I doubt anyone find this to be offensive or unworthy of scholarly pursuit. Being accepted to change sociology, however, might need a very fine statement of purpose...
Everything that you discussed in your reply has merit. I may need some future help with framing my SOP so I don't sound like some uneducated anarchist trying to avoid doing any research!!!
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Graeber's economic history is wrong. We have evidence of trade going back to about the beginning of language, millennia before anything even resembling a state pops up. The settled agriculture --> states --> trade --> hierarchy and social decay idea is a myth. Money was made to facilitate exchange. That's not an economics textbook fantasy -- its an empirically verified phenomenon. Natural monopolies accrue to units of account and stores of value (money) because they load onto networks. Microsoft Office becomes a standard, and national languages for the same reason -- the utility of using such a good increases in the number of people adopting the technology. Such a monopoly lends itself to State control (as do other goods accruing network externalities), but there is a gigantic difference between states capturing a monopoly and abusing it, like say debasing coin to pay for arrows to fight wars with, which causes inflations which disrupt commerce and make everyone poorer (and is why central banks are now independent -- not because of a monetary conspiracy), and the State creating money, or highways in the first place (also originally privately, and locally owned and taken care of well into the late 19th century).
OP: If you're interested in anarchy I'd suggest some work by Elinor Ostrom on stateless coordination of market failures, and an intermediate microeconomics textbook. Occupy is not anarchism. Squatting is not anarchism. Dumpster diving is not anarchism. It's confused teenage rebellion. Getting along with people without central authority and violent enforcement is anarchism -- and the remarkable thing about prosocial mores is just how much anarchy we witness in societies with enormous states.
I would agree with you that the Occupy movement is more like a marxist/labor movement than a anarchist movement. Still, I'm confused why you don't think squatting is not part of anarchism? As far as I can remember back in Europe many squatters often spread slogans like "Property is Theft" which sounds like left-wing anarchism to me. Help me.
HM
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Howdy friends:
I recently had a chance to listen to a podcast from Against the Grain that featured a Canadian named Max Haiven which really got me thinking about radicalizing some of my own ideas a little bit more. I know that this might sound strange but I think that subjects like gender and race don't seem to interest me as much as the anarchist political stuff (Ex: Occupy Sandy). Likewise, there is so much political stuff that anarchists do that resonates in the fields of squatting and alternative eco communities that might make sociology actually more radical and useful to the lay-public. What do you yall think? Could sociology mix with anarchism studies on the side?.Would it be embraced by sociology institutions or face rejection and even censorship?
Link to podcast:
http://www.againstthegrain.org/program/619/coming-wed-103112
HM
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Howdy friends:
I'm planning on applying to this place for the next cycle and was wondering if I'm all alone on this.
thanks,
HM
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Yes...If you plan on focusing on environmental sociology I recommend this film to get you started.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1
Enjoy,
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/opinion/the-age-of-the-superfluous-worker.html
I read this stunning piece by a famous sociologist several months ago and it made me think about what is happening in the job market and for the prospects for future students things look even worse.
Sorry to bring the bad news,
HM
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Have you seen the Film HOME?
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Do they have a Burlington Coat Factory in your town?I highly recommend some of the Kani Gold brands for men's clothes they usually have on sale there. There was a time I used to spend $40 dollars per item at the mall and later realized that my adjunct income was not cutting it anymore.
I recommend Burlington Coat factory!
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When I first started teaching undergraduate classes I only gave 4 tests which determined the entire grade for the class. This was problematic for me because I had a number of outstanding students in the class who always participated in the lectures/discussions but sometimes did much worse on exams than the ones who showed up only on exam days. Hence, a few years ago I modified my grading method to 3 tests (with study guides), 1 major research paper (about 5-6 pages in length) , 4 group projects.
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Its something I've also considered but since there are no demography degrees being offered at the community college level its seems like a risky move to get a degree in something with very little job prospects.
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I few years ago I wanted to go to the following schools for my PhD in Sociology:
New School (I pulled out of this school because of the cost)
UC Berkeley
UW at Madison
Washington University
Kansas
Notre Dame
I also was rejected from PhD program at Portland State University, last year
After receiving only rejections letters I finally decided to give up applying to those schools which appear to be not interested in me joining their programs.
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I've reached the point now in my academic career were 'm sick of doing adjunct work at community colleges that doesn't pay. Has anybody discovered jobs outside of the adjunct business that pays 30k a year or more?
Thanks,
HM
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I actually considered applying to Rice but then noticed its an elite private institution . There is also another concern for me: how many students will they take into their doctoral program?
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Sounds more like a paper proposal to me!
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For me, non-friendly states usually means the following:
1)precarious employment and few long-term career chances for sociologists in the economy.
2)minimal funding or limited support by the state for Sociology graduate students and Sociology Departments.
3)political and ideological hostility towards the entire subject of Sociology in the economy.
To be sure, there are plenty more ways one could describe a state or place that is non-friendly towards sociologists.For example, about 8 years ago I was able to do my Masters degree in Sweden and was amazed with the amount of funding that generally goes into Sociology departments there. Some of this has to do with a more friendliness towards sociologists and the willingness to fund the subject. I guess it also may have to do with the amount of political and social support for sociologists to be employed and seen as equals.
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Anyone ever heard of ATTAC?
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I've often pondered about this.Still, I would like to hear your input:
Which U.S. state/city is friendly towards sociologists?
Here is my short list:
Seattle/ Washington
Santa Cruz/CA
Eugene Oregon
Berkeley/ CA
Madison Wisconisn
"Scholarly" Book Publishing-- Is the PhD Necessary?
in Sociology Forum
Posted
If sociology is your discipline, you might consider writing a few pieces for Contexts Magazine.
http://contexts.org/
Cheers,
HM