21 - 30 of 241 results for: SOC

Strategies of environmental movements to contain domestic and foreign corporations that are viewed as major perpetrators of rainforest devastation and the socio-economic degradation of this vast region. Topics: Origins, roles and inter-relations among corporations (zero deforestation agreements in soybean agriculture and cattle ranching), the development of environmental law and the efficacy of government and NGO movements¿ strategies, and whether this emerging economy shapes social classes, groups, tribes, family life to further embed inequality and immobility. This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit.

In this course, students will use data from the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA) to study the patterns, causes, consequences, and remedies of educational inequality in the US. SEDA is based on 200 million test score records, administrative data, and census data from every public school, school district, and community in the US. The course will include lectures, discussion, and small group research projects using SEDA and other data.

Drawing from theories and research in race/ethnicity, social psychology, inequality, and demography, and focusing on the U.S., this course examines how racial hierarchies affect immigrants¿ socioeconomic mobility and ethnic identities, and how immigrants and their descendants contribute to the reconstruction of racial and ethnic boundaries. Topics include: theories of international migration and assimilation; immigration and the labor market; racial and ethnic identities; immigrants and interracial relations; second-generation mobility and identities; transnationalism.

20th-century Korea from a comparative historical perspective. Colonialism, nationalism, development, state-society relations, democratization, and globalization with reference to the Korean experience.

Social, cultural, political, economic, and international factors affecting the development and consolidation of democracy in historical and comparative perspective. Individual country experiences with democracy, democratization, and regime performance. Emphasis is on global third wave of democratization beginning in the mid-1970s, the recent global recession of democracy (including the rise of illiberal populist parties and movements), and the contemporary challenges and prospects for democratic change.

Causes, effects, and solutions to various forms of corruption in business and politics in both developing regions (e.g. Asia, E. Europe) and developed ones (the US and the EU).

(Graduate students register for 214.) The sociological approach to production, distribution, consumption, and markets, emphasizing the impact of norms, power, social structure, and institutions on the economy. Comparison of classic and contemporary approaches to the economy among the social science disciplines. Topics: consumption, labor markets, organization of professions such as law and medicine, the economic role of informal networks, industrial organization, including the structure and history of the computer and popular music industries, business alliances, capitalism in non-Western societies, and the transition from state socialism in E. Europe and China.

The course examines how the international community has fared in promoting and protecting human rights in the world, with an emphasis on the role of the United Nations. The course will begin with an overview of debates about the state of the international human rights system in the contemporary world, and then examine how international society has addressed the challenges of implementing universal human rights principles in different local contexts across different issues. The specific rights issues examined include genocide, children's rights, labor rights, transitional justice, women's rights, indigenous rights, NGOs, and the complicated relationship between the US and global human rights. The course will feature video conference/guest lecture sessions with leading human rights scholars and practitioners, providing students with unique opportunities to hear their expert opinions based on research and experience.

(Graduate students register for 217A.) The transformation of Chinese society from the 1949 revolution to the eve of China's reforms in 1978: creation of a socialist economy, reorganization of rural society and urban workplaces, emergence of new inequalities of power and opportunity, and new forms of social conflict during Mao's Cultural Revolution of 1966-69 and its aftermath.