Multimedia and Discussion Questions
Chapter 14: Architects of Change: Reconstructing Society
- Video Links
- Iowa Citizens
Bill Moyers reports on the populist movement in the United States. People involved in this movement are standing together to oppose what they see as injustices in the economic system, particularly the division between “corporate” and “main street” America. This movement is located primarily in the Midwest.
Discussion Questions:
1. What are the grievances voiced by those in this movement?
2. One member quotes Brandeis, who said that the concentration of great wealth in the hands of a few is incompatible with democracy. Do you agree?
3. How does this system use the United States Constitution and American values and ideals to support their position? Do you find this to be an effective strategy?
Discussion Questions:
1. What is the source of the restriction? How is it maintained?
2. How does the inability to drive affect women as a group? How does it affect society as a whole?
3. How might this movement usher in other reforms in Saudi Arabia, such as the expansion of political rights?
- Teens and Smartphones: A Summer Camp Experiment
A sleep away camp in Pennsylvania has decided to allow campers to keep their screens, with the hope of teaching them how to use them in more mindful ways. In this WNYC video, the head of the camp and the campers reflect on the experience. 1. To what technological and social changes is the camp responding?
Discussion Questions:
1. Were you surprised by the campers’ reactions?
2. Could you give up your screens for a week? Explain your response.
- Amanda Todd’s Story
This is a video made by a teen from British Columbia who committed suicide in late 2012 after being bullied online. In this video she tells her story, in her own words.
Discussion Questions:
1. Have communications technologies and social networking sites changed the nature of bullying over the past ten years? Elaborate on your answer.
2. Use what you have learned about the sociological imagination and social change to analyze Amanda’s story.
3. How might Amanda’s death—and the deaths of other teens who have cited bullying as a motivation for suicide—been prevented?
- Audio Links
- This American Life 336: Who Can You Save?
Act one focuses on the hypothetical scenario that there's a group of five people standing on a train track, and you're on a train coming toward them. You can save the whole group by pulling a lever and switching to another track, but the catch is that you'll kill another person who's standing on that other track. Do you pull the lever? According to a Harvard scientist, who posed this question to hundreds of thousands of people on the Internet, nine out of 10 people say yes, they would pull the lever. But then, the questions get harder—and the answers much more confusing. It turns out that different parts of our brains make different moral decisions. Act two is about the, moment when the U.S. government sent out a call for volunteers—regular, non-military people—to go to Iraq and help rebuild the country, Randy Frescoln signed up. He believed in the cause of the war and in the promise of its mission. He had experience setting up agriculture projects overseas, so was sent to the Sunni Triangle to try to reconstruct the broken economy there. But three months into his yearlong assignment, he comes to a horrible realization: the people he's trying to help hate him. In Act three, Brady Udall tells the story of the time he helped a stranger get his car out of a ditch. In exchange, the man promises to help him any time, for any reason—legal or not. Brady carries the man's card in his wallet; he's reassured that he has such a powerful guy in his corner. Many years later, Brady finally looks him up.
Discussion Questions:
1. How do these individual stories tie into larger social movements?
2. Can you find examples of anomie in these stories? If so, describe them.
3. Does it appear that long term collective action will be successful in these cases?
- This American Life 372: The Inauguration Show
The election of Barack Obama was evidence of significant social change in the United States. On the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration, reporters were sent out all over the country to talk to people about how they're feeling about this new president. Do they believe things will change? Do they think there'll be changes in their own lives? From dozens of hours of interviews, at a Marine Corps base and a button factory, at a New Orleans bar and a Florida town that used to be a stronghold for the Ku Klux Klan, we hear opinions about what's going to happen in America after the ceremony on January 20th, 2009.
Discussion Questions:
1. Many people were shocked that an African-American could be elected president in the United States. Did anomie play a role?
2. Can the election of Barack Obama be considered a social movement? If so, what kind?
3. Did technology and the erosion of privacy play a significant part in the election?
- Owner of Asian Market in Columbia, Missouri Sees Future in New Immigrants
This segment profiles Chong’s Oriental Market, a small store owned and operated by a Korean immigrant. It is located in downtown Columbia, Missouri, home to a large and diverse ethnic population, many from the continent of Africa. The store is reinventing itself to serve those from Cogo, Indonesia, Ghana…
Discussion Questions:
1. How does this story highlight the differences between first and second generation immigrants?
2. How is this story connected to the issue of globalization?
3. Do you find it surprising that a store started by Korean immigrants is serving an African community?
4. What role do cultural norms play in the interactions between the store owners and their customers?
- Fixing Your Online Reputation: There’s an Industry For That
Changes in the ways we interact and share information can present problems for managing our identities. This segment considers companies that have stepped in to help people manage their online reputations and control the personal information about them that is available online.
Discussion Questions:
1. Why do recent college graduates need to sanitize their online reputations?
2. In the future, do you think stories like Pete’s will become more or less common? Explain your reasoning.
3. Have you considered how your online reputation will affect your potential job prospects?
Discussion Questions:
1. Why would Martin be surprised that someone with Schlafly’s “background” would not embrace the feminist movement and would in fact oppose it?
2. How does Schlafly describe her political career and political involvement?
3. Does Schlafly believe that women are oppressed?
4. What term would sociologists use to describe the social movement that is opposed to the feminist movement/feminism?
- Web Resources
Professional Resources
Data Resources
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The Sentencing Project
“The Sentencing Project is a national organization working for a fair and effective criminal justice system by promoting reforms in sentencing law and practice and alternatives to incarceration.” Statistics can be found by state. Publications, news, and advocacy information about issues including sentencing policy, racial disparity, felony disenfranchisement, drug policy and women in the justice system are all available.
Other Resources
The following Web sites are run by social movements and other organizations to advance their social change efforts and should not be taken as objective sources of information on the topics in question.
Abortion:
- The National Abortion Federation (NAF)
The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the professional association of abortion providers in the United States and Canada [self-characterization].
- The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League
The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League: Our goal at NARAL is to help find sane, workable answers that will ultimately reduce the need for abortions. . . .Until we achieve our goal, it is critical that those who value the freedom and independence we enjoy in this country work hard now to protect a woman’ s right to choose [self-characterization].
- The National Right-to-Life
The National Right-to-Life is the largest and most influential organization dedicated to fighting “the culture of death” through public policy.
- The Pro-Life Action League
The Pro-Life Action League is dedicated to saving the lives of the unborn through the use of nonviolent direct action [self-characterization].
Civil and Human Rights:
- Amnesty International
Amnesty International is a worldwide campaigning movement that works to promote all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards.
- Civilrights.org
Civilrights.org is a joint project of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Leadership Conference Education Fund. The goal of civilrights.org is to recruit, educate and mobilize individuals of good conscience in the ongoing struggle for equal opportunity.
- NETWORK
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, educates, lobbies, and organizes to influence the formation of federal legislation to promote economic and social justice.
- SojoNet
SojoNet is the online presence of Sojourners, a Christian ministry whose mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice.
- People for the American Way
People for the American Way is dedicated to making the promise of America real for every American: Equality. Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. The right to seek justice in a court of law. The right to cast a vote that counts. The American Way. Our vision is a vibrantly diverse democratic society in which everyone is treated equally under the law, given the freedom and opportunity to pursue their dreams, and encouraged to participate in our nation’s civic and political life. Our America respects diversity, nurtures creativity and combats hatred and bigotry [self-characterization].
- The Society for the Study of Social Problems in Pursuit of Social Justice
The Society for the Study of Social Problems in Pursuit of Social Justice is an organization located at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. According to the web site, the purpose of the organization is “to promote and protect sociological research and teaching on significant problems of social life and, particularly, to encourage the work of young sociologists; to stimulate the application of scientific method and theory to the study of vital social problems; to encourage problem-centered social research; to foster cooperative relations among persons and organizations engaged in the application of scientific sociological findings to the formulation of social policies; to foster higher quality of life, social welfare, and positive social relations in society and the global community and to undertake any activity related thereto or necessary or desirable for the accomplishment of the foregoing purposes.”