Please respond to this at least 1 question in this post no later than Tuesday May 20, 2008 at Midnight.
Also note that a survey which is posted on Blackboard must be completed either in class or sent to me via e-mail by NOON tomorrow Thursday May 15, 2008 in order for your Blogging requirements to be marked as fulfilled.
Last night as I watched Nightline I became very upset by the images/pics of the earthquake victims in China. As the camera panned across people sleeping in the street (either because they had no place to go or because they were afraid to sleep indoors because of the aftershocks), I was reminded of Hurricane Katrina. I thought to myself, as rich a nation as China is, why haven’t they invested more money into the maintenance and development of their infrastructure? Although the earthquake was a natural disaster and was unavoidable, the aftermath and events leading to Hurricane Katrina were avaoidable. Here you have two nations considered to be some of the most technologically advanced and developed nations in the world yet both nations have decided not to invest in the maintenance of their building structures, bridges, tunnels, etc.
So do you think the technological advancement of developed nations must come at the expense of infrastructure? Why can’t some nations take a holistic approach and prioritize by meeting the needs of residents in rural areas as much as they do those living in urban centers? If you are aware of them, are there nations that are sucessful at accomplishing both, making advances in technology and ensuring that their citizens aren’t destitute after natural disasters?
On another note, I thought to myself at least China has a military to deploy to these remote areas, if a natural disaster were to happen on that scale in the U.S. with most of our troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, what would we do? Would we turn down assistance from nations like Venezuela and Cuba like we did during Hurricane Katrina, or would citizens step up to the plate like they did during 9/11 and Katrina and worry about the health consequences later?
Today’s article about Yuppie Coffees talks about consumption patterns, setting the discussion of coffee aside, what do today’s consumption patterns indicate about contemporary class levels? As consumption practices are changing, are people purchasing goods according to their income level? What are some ways that people deviate from consumption practices that are typically associated with their class position, (i.e. working class, middle class, upper class people only shop…)
Once this deviation occurs, how do the purchasing habits of some people allow them to create or re-create new identities for themselves? Are your purchasing habits representative of how you identity yourself through your gender, race/ethnic association, and/or class?
Please respond to at least 1 question in this Post and to a classmate’s comment by Saturday 5/10 at midnight.
In light of yesterday’s discussion about Brent Williams’ article on Debt and/or the current housing crisis, do you think the issue of class is or will be the biggest problem of the 21st century? Why or Why not?
How do you think geographical spaces and landscapes inform an individual’s perception of class? (i.e. do you think class disparities are heightened in urban areas as opposed to rural areas, why or why not?)
Just take a look around NYC how are certain geographical spaces landscaped to ‘mark’ certain areas by class? What are some markers in your neighborhood that reveal the economic class of the residents?
Please Respond to one or all questions by midnight, Sunday May 5, 2008.
Please respond to this post by Thursday April 17, 2008.
In light of the film we saw in class, Life and Debt and the articles on microcredit/microlending, do you think that marginalized groups/nations stand a chance in today’s global economy? Will ‘developing’ nations ever become fully ‘developed’ (i.e. reach the advanced status of Western nations) and if they do, at what cost?
I know you guys are pretty tired from midterms, and really don’t want to think anymore, but…Everyone please respond to either this post or your fellow classmates’ response to this post by Monday morning.
In light of recent readings such as Freeman’s article on Pink collar informatics/data entry workers in Barbados, and Mathur’s article on the increasing marginalization & disempowerment of workers in factories, what are some challenges that you have noticed (through observations in the media, local neighborhoods, workplace, personal stories) that working class people continue to face in the work environment? Are there differences in the ways that working class women are treated in the workplace or in surrounding communities, as opposed to working class men?
Please respond to all OR one of the questions in the post, all students should comment to my post no later than Thurs. March 20.
Taking into account some of the readings that address the issue of gender, such as the article on “I’m Here but I’m There: Latina Transnational Motherhood” by Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila, what do you think about the role of gender and ‘accepted’ gender roles that men and women occupy in a family? What are some ways that we can examine the role of gender in relation to the family outside of traditional notions of family (i.e. heterosexual couple, 2 kids, house w/picket fence and dog)? What constitutes a family when one has family members living in different parts of the world?
In our city of New York, is gender a big issue with all the negative and positive roles other places in America might have?
Ana Aparicio uses Dominicans in her article, how does her use of this race shows her main point in the article?
In what ways does gender roles effect our capitalistic society? + or -?
The authors of Racial Formation explain how there is a dichotomy between racial socialization and institutionalized racism. They also state how “…the slaves incorporated elements of racial rule into their thought and practice…” (131). This can be expanded to all US citizens: consciously or unconsciously, our thoughts and actions are influenced, to some degree, by the stratified notions of race to which we’ve been enculturated. With this in mind, how can we work to transcend racial constraints when we are components of the very institutions that perpetuate them?
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