Man on the Street: Anthropology, Citizenship and the Fight for Housing Rights in Hungary

2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Éva Udvarhelyi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Special Significance ◽  
Housing Rights ◽  
Powerful Means ◽  
Social Movement Activism

Doing anthropology can be a powerful means of reclaiming citizenship, while exercising critical citizenship is essential for being a good (applied) anthropologist. Through research and advocacy for homeless rights in my native Hungary, I have realized that drawing boundaries between the roles of "anthropologist" and "citizen" are false and disempowering, as in fact the two both complement and reinforce each other. While this might not seem like a particularly striking statement in the United States, this recognition has a special significance in Hungary, where anthropology is a new academically oriented discipline that is not yet widely applied to understand and improve social problems. However, I learned that it can be, and that it is crucial for anthropologists to move beyond mere formal citizenship and simply reporting what they learn, and to actively use this knowledge as political participants. The citizen in me was awakened when I conducted research among homeless residents of Budapest, and saw first hand that anthropology and social movement activism are intertwined.

scholarly journals Retirement Without God: Activism and Community Among Secular People Over 60

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 441-441
Author(s):  
Joseph Blankholm
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Generational Differences ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
National Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Vast Literature

Abstract There are more than 1,400 nonbeliever communities in the United States and well over a dozen organizations that advocate for secular people on the national level. Together, these local and national groups comprise a social movement that includes atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, and other kinds of nonbelievers. Despite the fact that retired people over 60 dedicate most of the money and energy needed to run these groups, the increasingly vast literature on secular people and secularism has paid them almost no attention. Relying on more than one hundred interviews (including dozens with people over 60), several years of ethnographic research, and a survey of organized nonbelievers, this paper demonstrates the crucial role that people over 60 play in the American secular movement today. It also considers the reasons older adults are so important to these groups, the challenges they face in trying to recruit younger members and combat stereotypes about aging leadership, and generational differences that structure how various types of nonbeliever groups look and feel. This paper reframes scholarly understandings of very secular Americans by focusing on people over 60 and charts a new path in secular studies.

Exploiting a Crisis: Abortion Activism and the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Kate Hunt
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
Medical Procedure ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Global Crisis ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Movement Organizations

How do social movement organizations involved in abortion debates leverage a global crisis to pursue their goals? In recent months there has been media coverage of how anti-abortion actors in the United States attempted to use the COVID-19 pandemic to restrict access to abortion by classifying abortion as a non-essential medical procedure. Was the crisis “exploited” by social movement organizations (SMOs) in other countries? I bring together Crisis Exploitation Theory and the concept of discursive opportunity structures to test whether social movement organizations exploit crisis in ways similar to elites, with those seeking change being more likely to capitalize on the opportunities provided by the crisis. Because Twitter tends to be on the frontlines of political debate—especially during a pandemic—a dataset is compiled of over 12,000 Tweets from the accounts of SMOs involved in abortion debates across four countries to analyze the patterns in how they responded to the pandemic. The results suggest that crisis may disrupt expectations about SMO behavior and that anti- and pro-abortion rights organizations at times framed the crisis as both a “threat” and as an “opportunity.”

Encouraging Coreligionists in the Academy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas K. Rademacher
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Home Institution ◽  
John Courtney Murray

Furfey pursued an intellectual apostolate according to which he advanced social justice in theory and practice through his scholarship and correspondence. In the mid-1930’s Furfey concentrated on developing and articulating a specifically Catholic response to social problems. He revised his objective, concentrating on developing a Catholic technique and corresponding foundational Catholic motivation to address social problems. Furfey advanced and defended his position in print, writing several books and many articles on the topic, and through voluminous correspondence with leading Catholic intellectuals in the United States. Il Poverello House and Fides House represented his and his colleagues’ attempt to develop a social reform technique that was both thoroughly Catholic and rigorously scientific. He received support and cooperation from his colleagues at CUA and in the broader Catholic community. A rift emerged at his home institution. Mary Elizabeth Walsh most prominently supported and advanced supernatural sociology while Gladys Sellew wavered, expressing distress and dissatisfaction with respect to the meaning and application of supernatural sociology. The chapter also considers the challenges to Furfey’s theological society levelled by Raymond McGowan, Wilfred Parsons, and John Courtney Murray.

Conclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 135-152
Author(s):  
Kathleen E. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Ethic Of Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Social Inequities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Relational Outcomes

This concluding chapter argues that the stories in this book are about people working to strengthen family relationships, but that in many cases they also represent shared discovery of commitment to an ethic of care for those outside of their intimate circles. It stresses how most respondents recognized their privilege and expressed a desire for their Camino to translate to daily interactions with distant others and contemplation of larger social problems. At the same time, distancing memories may undermine such effects. This chapter suggests that respondents’ stories, taken as a whole, push us to think more deeply about the social forces that stand in the way of positive relational outcomes from shared transformational travel. The conclusion moves beyond the Camino, identifying efforts to promote inclusivity in opportunities for travel for transformation in North America and highlighting differences in access to spiritual practices in the United States that could foster relational intimacy. It stresses efforts to build opportunities for travel for transformation with the potential to promote understanding of social inequities and injustices.

95 Years of Teaching High School Sociology

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael DeCesare
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
High School ◽  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Teaching Sociology ◽  
The Past ◽  
Current Events ◽  
History Of

A neglected part of the history of teaching sociology is the history of teaching high school sociology. The American Sociological Association's centennial in 2005 affords sociologists an opportunity to reflect on the teaching of sociology–anywhere and everywhere that it happens. In the spirit of contributing to the history of teaching sociology in the United States, this paper outlines the roughly 95-year history of the teaching of high school sociology. I rely upon published course descriptions written by high school sociology teachers and empirical studies conducted by academic sociologists. They demonstrate that past high school sociology courses have focused primarily on examining social problems and current events, and on promoting citizenship education. This remains the case today. I offer several reasons why the courses have looked as they have over the past 95 years, and conclude with four predictions about the future of teaching high school sociology.

Migrant Workers

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Wolff ◽  
Karen Dodge
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
Child Labor ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Social Work Programs

This entry discusses migrant workers in the United States and the unique circumstances and conditions they face. Included in the discussion are social problems faced by migrants with respect to health, housing, working conditions, child labor, and education. Policy issues are addressed, including relevant national, international, and corporate laws. Migrant patterns, demographics, and definitions are presented. Finally, social work programs, responses, and interventions are identified.

Losing Common Ground: Feminists, Conservatives and Public Policy in Canada during the Mulroney Years

1996 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Bashevkin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Women's Movement ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Action ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
The United Kingdom

AbstractThis article examines relations between organized feminism and the federal Conservative government of Brian Mulroney, focusing on elements of the Canadian women's movement that targeted federal policy change from 1984 to 1993. In questioning the main priorities of both sides and the potential for conflict between them, the discussion uses the conceptual literature on social movement evolution as a base. It assesses formal decision making across five major policy sectors identified by Canadian feminism and presents the perspectives of movement activists on the Mulroney period. Although comparisons with policy action under the Thatcher and Reagan governments indicate a more pro-feminist record in Canada than the United Kingdom or the United States, Canadian materials suggest a narrowing of common ground between the organized women's movement and federal elites during the Mulroney years.

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