Gilman & Feminism

Gilman & Feminism

• Harriet Martineau: Pre-sociologist, examined social issues like class, religion, suicide, women's status, and the relationship between individuals and institutions. Known for her empirical research on morals and manners, and a critique of America's treatment of women. Analyzed dress and its impact on women.

• Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Examined women's work, and the societal pressure on women's behavior, drawing from personal experience with mental illness. "Yellow Wallpaper" advocates for women's autonomy and involvement in the broader world, criticizing male-centric societal structures. Claimed societal pressures cause mental illness in women who have desires that can't be achieved based on societal norms.

• Anna Julia Cooper: Advocated for Black education. Examined the intersection of race and gender, and applied socialist principles to societal structures affecting black women.

• Jane Addams: shifted focus from individual morality to social ethics, particularly concerning the poor. Founded Hull House, offering services to immigrants in Chicago.

• Ida B. Wells-Barnett: Activist who fought against railroad discrimination and lynching.

• Marianne Weber: A wife of Max Weber. Analyzed patriarchal distortions in social life, specifically focusing on marriage and women's work, exploring how male dependency hampers women's progress. Criticized the economic theory surrounding the male/female dynamic.

Research

• Babbie & Best: Argued that social science research is essential for understanding and discovering truths, advocating critical skepticism towards statistics.

• Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research: Quantitative research (e.g., surveys) aims to measure and describe or explain social phenomena, while qualitative research (e.g., ethnography) focuses on in-depth understanding of experiences through observation and immersion.

• Key Dates in Sociological Research History: Research evolved from early sociological writings to the integration of quantitative and qualitative methods in the mid-20th century, with further developments in combining methods and using secondary data, including the rise of “fake news” and other challenges of the digital age.

• Uses of Sociological Research: Research is employed in government policy analysis, business, education, and charity to understand societal problems and inform solutions.

Activism

• Activism & Theory: Activism is purposeful social change. "Praxis" (action) is a key Marxist concept.

• Categories of Activism: Activism encompasses diverse approaches, from consciousness-raising and community building to lobbying, media activism, economic activism, and various forms of protest. It reflects both peaceful strategies and revolutionary approaches.

• Milbrath's Hierarchy of Activism: This hierarchy defines three levels of activist participation – gladiatorial, transitional, and spectator – characterized by activities ranging from direct political involvement to passive engagement in discussions across different digital platforms.

• Social Movements: Organized groups striving for or opposing societal change. Aberle identified alternative, redemptive, reform, and revolutionary types of movements. Resource mobilization theory emphasizes organizing resources for social change.

• Addams & Alinsky: Jane Addams focused on social reform and service, while Saul Alinsky championed confrontational community organizing. Martin Luther King Jr. represents a middle ground.

Economic Inequality

• US Economic Trends: Significant economic inequality has increased over the past 30 years, as a noted observation by Stiglitz.

• Trickle-Down Economics: This theory assumes wealth increase for the rich stimulates economic growth and job creation for lower classes, but Stiglitz disagrees, citing societal effects.

• US Economic Inequality Facts: The Pew Research data indicate a widening wealth gap, persistent racial disparities, and public awareness of the issue's severity.

• Role of Education: Access to quality education is crucial for upward mobility, with substantial disparities between rich and poor in educational pathways impacting outcomes.

• Gini Coefficient: Measures income inequality on a scale of 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (one person holds all income). The US Gini coefficient is typically around 0.43-0.48.

• Group Income Differences: Wage disparities exist between genders (men vs. women) and racial groups (white vs. black/African American). Significant factors affecting these variations are education, workforce experience, and industry/occupations.

• Sexuality and Pay: Gay/bisexual women's pay is similar to heterosexual women's, while gay men often earn less than straight men, and trans women tend to earn even less.

• Stiglitz's Critique: Stiglitz argued that government responses to market inequalities (e.g., weakening labor unions, reduced taxes for the wealthy, and cuts to social programs) exacerbate economic inequality.

• Stiglitz's Proposed Actions: Recommendations for curbing economic inequality include reforming tax policy, strengthening worker protections, and expanding social safety nets.

• Alternative US Futures: Proposed scenarios for change are either reform resulting from recognition and participation of the exploited; or worsening trends leading to unrest, change and potential revolution.

Health & Healthcare

• Measures of Health: Health is measured through factors like amenable mortality (preventable deaths), life expectancy, and infant mortality rates. The US performs below other developed countries in these measures.

• Structural Inequities & Social Determinants of Health: Social determinants of health directly impact health outcomes, often associated with systemic inequalities, illustrating how factors like housing, education, income and healthcare access influence health status.

• Government-Provided Healthcare in US: Medicare (for the elderly & disabled), Medicaid (for low-income individuals), and the Veterans Health Administration provide examples of government-funded healthcare services and their beneficiaries.

• Unequal Healthcare Distribution: Factors include a primary care shortage, relying on workplace health insurance, and disparities along identity groups and geographic locations.

• High Healthcare Costs: Administration costs are high, specialists are expensive, drug prices are high, the fee-for-service model incentivizes treatment over prevention, and a lack of preventative care contribute substantially to the cost structure of healthcare.

• Cost Reduction Practices: Practices such as focusing on primary care, adhering to standards of care, emphasizing preventative care, improving IT usage, managing chronic diseases, negotiating cheaper medications, optimizing provider payment structures, and involving patients in decision-making are recognized as potentially effective in reducing healthcare costs.

• Massachusetts & Obamacare (Affordable Care Act): The Massachusetts healthcare plan aimed to make healthcare insurance more universally accessible with government subsidies for the poor. Obamacare expanded on that by adding a national approach, although it has faced challenges in recent years.

• “Single-Payer” System: Single-payer systems (like Canada) automatically cover basic healthcare for all citizens, reducing administrative burdens compared to the US's fragmented private and public systems.

Immigration

• Migrant-Sending vs. Receiving Nations: Sending nations often have surplus labor; receiving nations usually need to replenish their aging workforce.

• US Immigration Policies (1882–1986): Initial restrictions emphasized racial quotas, including the Chinese Exclusion Act; later reforms focused on family reunification and skilled labor immigration.

• Foreign-Born US Population: About 14% of the US population was foreign-born in the most recent data, but it's unclear if this marks a record high.

• Immigration Origins: The most prominent immigrant origin country is Mexico. Asia is the region contributing the highest percentage of recent US immigrants.

• Chain Immigration: This involves immigrants sponsoring family members to immigrate.

• Nativism, Xenophobia, Sinophobia, Acculturation: These terms relate to attitudes towards immigrants, the processes of assimilation, and discriminatory beliefs.

• Nativism Goals: Intransigent forms of nativism often seek exclusion and/or assimilation of immigrants.

• Immigration Legislation Focus: Contemporary immigration legislation addresses legalization of existing immigrants, reform of the legal immigration system, and stricter border enforcement.

• DREAMER & DACA: These terms refer to undocumented immigrant children (Dreamers) and a former Obama policy (DACA) delaying their deportation and allowing them to work.

• Zeke Hernandez's Proposals: Include recognizing immigrants' economic and social contributions, increasing legal immigration pathways, linking immigration to workforce demands, simplifying the system, and other proposed measures for reforms.