“We are beckoned to see the world through a one-way mirror, as if we are threatened and innocent and the rest of humanity is threatening, or wretched, or expendable. Our memory is struggling to rescue the truth that human rights were not handed down as privileges from a parliament, or a boardroom, or an institution, but that peace is only possible with justice and with information that gives us the power to act justly.”
John Pilger

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

An Academic Journal:Humanity & Society

Humanity & Society
Editor: David Embrick
Loyola University Chicago
http://www.sagepub.com/journals/Journal202112

Humanity & Society, the official journal of the Association for Humanist Sociology, was first published in 1977 and has been published quarterly since 1978. Humanity & Society is a peer-reviewed Sage journal with abstracts of published articles appearing in Sociological Abstracts. It features “humanist sociology,” which is broadly defined as a sociology that views people not only as products of social forces but also as agents in their lives and the world. We are committed to a sociology that contributes to a more humane, equal, and just society.
Please direct your inquiries and ideas to:

David G. Embrick, Editor-In-Chief, at dge.has(at)gmail.com  &
Kasey Henricks, Managing Editor, at kasey.henricks(at)gmail.com

Friday, November 7, 2014

Ways to write a good book review - Mohammed A Bamyeh


From the editor: Ways to write a good book review
By Mohammed A Bamyeh
I would like to use this introduction as an opportunity to outline some basic strategies of reviewing that produce good, readable, and useful book reviews. Following these will maximize the benefit and readability of a book review.
1. Focus on what the book actually says, not on what you want to say. You can, of course, give us your opinion of it, but this should never come at the expense of ignoring the book’s argument. After all, you are reviewing someone else’s work, not your own. Even if you disagree with a book, readers generally expect the review to tell them at least what the argument is, how it is justified, and how it relates to other literature in a certain field. You can tell the reader that while tell- ing us why you like it or dislike it. But typically few readers appreciate a review- er’s opinion if they have no idea what that opinion is responding to. Do not evaluate a book in terms of what you would have written. Try to understand what the authors you are reviewing have tried to do, and whether they have succeeded on their own terms, before you tell us why or not they have succeeded on yours.
2. Avoid a mechanical, chapter-by-chapter description of the book. This approach usually produces uninspired reviews. Some parts of the book may be more impor- tant than others, and you can focus on those. But the best reviews sketch out the overall thesis of the book. The review may, of course, explain how the book is structured and how its argument progresses, but keep in mind that reviewing a book is not the same as reading it.
3. Pay attention to language and meaning. Avoid jargon, and do not worry too much about what you think specialized academics like to hear. Do not use complex sentences; be short, concise, and to the point. If the book is complex, do not reproduce its complexity. Tell us what you are able to get out of it. It is better not to do the review than to write gibberish. Do not try to sound needlessly profound. Be concise and to the point. Your language needs to make sense.
4. Keep in mind that your audience is international, not local or regional. Do not assume that all our readers are familiar with the minutia of local or national debates, even if you happen to live in a large country or feel that your country (or its social science community) is important.
5. Keep in mind that your audience is general. Write for a general audience of soci- ologists, not specialists in your own area. Our readers come from all the subfields in sociology. Think of your review as an opportunity to explain debates in your own specialty area to a larger audience of social scientists. Get out of your national, regional, and subdisciplinary shell, even your sociological shell. Think of the ability to communicate across various divides as a calling.
6.     Although publishing reviews may add to your professional credentials, reviews should never be done exclusively for that purpose. It is easier to write reviews if you are genuinely interested in the ideas and debates in the books.

7.     Keep notes and references to an absolute minimum; it is preferable to avoid them altogether. A book review is not the place for an extended thesis. Save that for a full-length article. 
In general, a review is an opportunity to engage in debates and ideas, learn some- thing new, and provide a valuable service to a large, educated audience. But it should also be an enjoyable activity. The best reviews are usually written by those who enjoy writing them.
 
Mohammed A Bamyeh

Thursday, November 6, 2014

CALL FOR BOOK REVIEWERS - Societies Without Borders

CALL FOR BOOK REVIEWERS

Societies Without Borders( http://societieswithoutborders.org/), an online journal published by Sociologists Without Borders, is seeking book reviewers in the fields of sociology, international studies, political science, economics and cultural studies. In keeping with its mission to make the scholarly analysis of economic, political, social, cultural, and environmental rights accessible to as wide an audience as possible, Societies Without Borders is a peer-reviewed journal.

If you are interested in reviewing books for our Journal, please send your short CV to tugrulkeskin (at) pdx.edu. We have a list of books to review that you will find below; please contact me in the event that you are interested in any of the titles. Alternatively, you may also propose titles that you are willing to review.

Submissions deadlines for the coming year are March 1, June 1, and September 1, 2015. See attached for complete submission information.

I will mail any of the following books to you if you express interest:
  
Women's Rights to Social Security and Social Protection  Edited by: Beth Goldblatt, Lucie Lamarche Hart Publishing, 2014. 

Moral Systems and the Evolution of Human Rights. Bruce K.  Friesen Springer, 2014.

Race and Racisms: A Critical Approach. Tanya Maria Golash-Boza. Oxford University Press, 2014.

Human Rights as Social Construction. Benjamin Gregg. Cambridge University Press, 2013.

The Human Rights Enterprise.  William T. Armaline , Davita S. Glasberg and Bandana Purkayastha 2014.

Failing to Protect The UN and the Politicisation of Human Rights. Rosa Freedman. Hurst Publishing, 2014.

Social Movements and Globalization How Protests, Occupations and Uprisings are Changing the World. Cristina Flesher Fominaya. Palgrave, 2014.

Expulsions Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy.  Saskia Sassen. Harvard University Press,  2014. 
 
Making Human Rights Intelligible Towards a Sociology of Human Rights Edited by: Mikael Rask Madsen, Gert Verschraegen Hart Publishing, 2013.

Call for Reviews of Human Rights Films: Societies without Borders

From: LaDawn Haglund <LaDawn.Haglund (at) ASU.EDU>
Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 2:15 PM
To: <HUMANRIGHTS@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU>
Subject: Call for Reviews of Human Rights Films

Dear colleagues:

Fourth-quarter reviews of human rights-related films for SWB are now being accepted (deadline December 1). Please see the attached CFP.
This is a great opportunity for students to publish as well!

Call for Reviews of Human Rights Films: Societies without Borders

This picture is posted by Tugrul Keskin
The editors of Societies Without Borders: Human Rights and the Social Sciences would like to invite scholars, teachers, students, practitioners, and activists to review submit to our Film Reviews section. Reviews should be original and accessible to a broad readership. Preference will be given to reviews of more recent films, and those for which the human rights content is most apparent.

Submissions deadlines for the coming year are December 1, 2014 and March 1, June 1, and September 1, 2015. See attached for complete submission information.

Please forward to others who may be interested.

All the best,

LaDawn Haglund
Chair, ASA Section on Human Rights
Associate Professor, Faculty of Justice and Social Inquiry, SST
Lincoln Fellow of Human Rights and Sustainability
ArizonaState University

Mailing address: PO Box 876403
Ground delivery address: 240 E. Orange Mall
In-person address: Wilson Hall Rm 265

Tempe AZ 85287-6403
Phone: 480-965-7083
Fax: 480-965-9199

A New Book: Moral Systems and the Evolution of Human Rights

Moral Systems and the Evolution of Human Rights

Friesen, Bruce K.

Springer, 2014
  • Presents a unique sociological perspective on moral social change
  • Offers an account for the development of human rights
  • Illustrates how moral systems exist apart from religion

This volume offers a comprehensible account of the development and evolution of moral systems.  It seeks to answer the following questions: If morals are eternal and unchanging, why have the world’s dominant religious moral systems been around for no more than a mere six thousand of the two hundred thousand years of modern human existence?  What explains the many and varied moral systems across the globe today?  How can we account for the significant change in moral values in one place in less than 100 years’ time? Using examples from classical civilizations, the book demonstrates how increasing diversity compromises a moral system’s ability to account for and integrate larger populations into a single social unit. This environmental stress is not relieved until a broader, more abstract moral system is adopted by a social system.  This new system provides a sense of belonging and purpose for more people, motivating them to engage in prosocial (or moral) acts and refrain from socially disruptive selfish acts.  The current human rights paradigm is the world’s first universal, indigenous moral system.  Because moral systems can be expected to continue to evolve, this book points to current boundaries of the human rights paradigm and where the next major moral revolution might emerge. 

CONTENTS:

Introduction
Sociology as Naturalist Inquiry
Convergence
The Never-Ending (Back) Story
The Evolution of Human
Lenski’s Taxonomy
Hunting and Gathering Societies
Simple Horticultural and Pastoral Societies
Advanced Agrarian Societies
Industrial Societies
2 The Moral
Secularizing Durkheim: Key Concepts
The Bummer of Being Human
A Theory of Moral Change
3 Moral Systems in Traditional Societies

Hunter-Gatherer Society: Pre-religious Morality
Horticultural Societies: Religion as Moral System
Agrarian Societies: Legitimizing Hierarchy
The Axial Age
The Growth of Monotheism Research on Monotheism.
4 Biological Underpinnings .
A Theory of Emotions
Research on Primates
Research with Babies and Children
Experimental Economics: The Ultimatum References
5  Secularizing Morality
Rights as the New Moral System
Human Rights as a Global, Moral System Institutionalizing Human Rights
6  Convergence and Frontiers
Scenario 1: Human Rights as Myth and Ceremony
Scenario 2: Further Expansion of Rights
Human Rights: An Applied Sociology.
FOR MORE INFORMATION.....