Lifestyle topics
Howard Becker is a major figure in American sociology (and also a star jazz player) He is the subject of an article in the New Yorker (January 12) by Adam Gopnik. What particularly drew my attention was his contention that “any social group, insider or outsider, ends up by divorcing itself from the group it …
In 1979 French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu wrote a book called Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste”. He studied people’s tastes in a wide range of items, from theatre to food to beauty and concluded that what people liked corresponded precisely with their socio-economic circumstances. Music turns out to be the key. “Nothing,” …
Continue reading ‘Class and music go together likes peas in a pod’ »
WARNING: This post utilizes irony and tongue-in-cheek stuff. A woman in the US state of Idaho has been killed after her two-year-old son accidentally shot her with a gun he found when reaching into her handbag. The woman, named by the local sheriff’s office as Veronica J Rutledge, 29, was shot in a Wal-Mart in …
Several years ago the London Review of Books reviewed a 14th Century Parisian book of household management called The Good Wife’s Guide: A Medieval Household Book, a compendium of medieval instructions to young wives as how to be good, efficient, and obedient. The following is an excerpt from a section entitled Care of the Husband’s …
General Nagata is a top US General. He is quoted as saying, “We do not understand ISIS, and until we do, we are not going to defeat it. We have not defeated the idea. We do not even understand the idea.” About 1,000 foreign fighters flock to Iraq and Syria every month. How and why …
Continue reading ‘1. Understanding ISIS: a challenge to the readers. Long, but important!’ »
