Visual sociology of an early evening at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2013. The iconic Forum, the beautiful Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the ever chaotic Flinders Street Station peeking in the distance, and the ultra modern Federation Square. The giant public screen is playing Australia’s first dedicated national Indigenous channel NITV.
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People who live in “Western” societies think red is the universal symbol for “stop” but no sign automatically translates across cultures.
The work I’ve done on intercultural communication in social policy unpacks symbols. For example, when peace keeping forces are stationed in another nation in a rural area, the first method through which they try to enforce law and order is through visual signs. They hand out pamphlets and put up posters that direct locals. They draw on their own cultural ideas which they presume will be shared in their new environment, including “stop” and the meaning of colours. Red has different connotations in different regions of the world. Translating meaning through visual cues is not straightforward.
[Video is a loop a pedestrian crossing button, with a sign showing red, amber and green symbols]
Sociologist Roberto Hugh Potter argues that research funding is skewed towards projects that have commercial applications. His article might help us consider why certain scientific endeavours are better supported by public funding. I’ll go on to discuss how the social and natural sciences can better engage public interest and support for our research. Continue reading How Public Perceptions of Social Science Affect Funding
An article by Complex takes up an important question: why did only 40 people turn up to a great SXSW session on growing entrepreneurship amongst minorities? The author argues that race and gender are not a benign issues in Silicon Valley, although people act as if they are. It ends on this note:
“The hour-long session, though, finally hit home when the moderator noted: ‘African Americans utilise Twitter more than any other group, yet they are so focused on using it instead of wondering how to create the next Twitter.’ It was perhaps the most powerful point of the day. And one for which no one seemed to have an answer.”
The conclusion, that Black Americans simply need to be more entrepreneurial fails to address the structural biases that make digital careers unviable for people from disadvantaged groups. Similarly, places dominated by White people can often be hostile and unwelcoming to Black people, and fail to provide them the same social capital (social ties from their relationships and friendships) that can be leveraged into funding for start-ups and other tech projects.
Source via pleatedjeans
Frida Kahlo art pillow given to me by a great friend many years a go. I often ponder the commercialisation of this important Latin artist, particularly when it does violence to her fierce vision of femininity. Here Kahlo looks slightly serene but in reality her self-portraits were brave and defiant. (The lighting and poor photography by me also makes her appear lighter, but that’s not the case on the item, thankfully.)
At the same time some of these pop culture reproductions help introduce Kahlo’s work to new audiences. It helps me another Latin women to see her image, and I have bought many books, prints and other items that celebrate her lasting power.
It comes back to the spirit of what the item represents. Consider the legal case between a photographer and Che’s family who are arguing over the copyright to the iconic image of the revolutionary in his iconic beret. The commodification of art is tricky business.
This comic by xkcd is a great conversation starter for the sociology of moral panics. In 1871, Sunday Magazine lamented the lost art of letter writing. They bemoan the fact that as it becomes cheaper to write and send letters, people value “quality” letter writing less. This is seen to be to the detriment of society. The proliferation of letter writing evolves as new technologies make paper, ink and postal services more available to the masses.
The rest of the comic charts excellent examples from prestigious books, journals and professionals fretting about how technology changes the quality of human communication. We see these arguments continue today as some traditional media owners and some intellectuals decry the advent of social media and blogging, as well as how the internet in general supposedly ruins our collective intelligence. A couple of years a go, I wrote about how philosopher Edward De Bono said social media causes laziness.
What is at play behind these arguments is actually a moral panic about the control of cultural capital: technologies shift power over who controls information (in Marxist terms, the owners of the means of production). Technology doesn’t drive social change as it’s not some overpowering social force that we accept mindlessly. Instead, social relations change in response to people finding new uses for technology, and this is a feed back loop that pushes innovation in communications.
Take a look at the expanded comic and see what you think.
The Other Sociologist 