CHRISTOPHER A. PAULAssociate Professor, Seattle University The core argument in my book is that video games are an actualized meritocracy, a realm in which the values of hard work and skill have been pushed to their extremes and the result is a toxic community that focuses more on the celebration of individual glory than on … More On gaming, athletes, and individual glory . . . oh, Mercy!
BY GILDA L. OCHOAProfessor of sociology and Chicana/o–Latina/o studies, Pomona College Twenty years after I graduated from high school, I returned to a Southern California school as a researcher. On campus, the brick buildings, school bells, lunches, and overall rhythm of the day were familiar. So was the clustering of different students across campus, and … More Listening to students—especially the most marginalized.
BY LISA GUENTHERAssociate professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University On July 8, more than 30,000 prisoners across California launched the largest hunger strike in state history. Now, three weeks later, more than 600 prisoners continue to refuse meals, in spite of direct acts of retaliation by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Hunger … More Social Death and the Criminalization of Resistance in the California Prison Hunger Strikes
BY JOHN (JAY) ARENAAssistant professor of sociology at the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island Uncle Lionel with the Treme Brass Band. “Uncle Lionel” Batiste, the legendary bass drummer and iconic figure of New Orleans music and culture, died on July 8th at the age of 80. Uncle Lionel — whose image … More New Orleans’s "Uncle Lionel" Batiste: Feted in death, evicted after Katrina.
The most recent birth-certificate debate means it’s once again time to evaluate properties of citizenship and the racialized value of American life. Image source. BY RUBY C. TAPIAAssociate professor of comparative studies and women’s studies at The Ohio State University and author of American Pietàs Challenging the rights to U.S. citizenship and the U.S. presidency … More Fertile Hysteria: "Desert birthers," "maternity tourism," and the regenerative properties of racialized citizenship
