Author Archives: nboals

Exigence: Green’s exigence begins as the issue of the penny’s usefulness—how it is no longer useful in our economy and has become a burden to society, but we haven’t taken any steps to get rid of it in the United States. However, the exigence transforms as the podcast goes on, and turns into a broaderContinue reading “Project 1: Plan in class 2/19”

Artifact: John Green’s podcast, The Anthropocene Reviewed.  Episode 9: “Pennies and Piggly Wiggly” https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/anthropocene-reviewed/episodes/episode-9-pennies-and-piggly-wiggly I’m particularly looking at the first half of the podcast which focuses on the penny. I stop at 8:27. I might add the section about Piggly Wiggly into the final project, but I want to start by focusing on the firstContinue reading “Draft of Project 1: Analysis”

In my opinion, the most important thing to understand about the economy is how it is working for and against people. We need to understand economic inequality and the systems that are perpetuating it if we want to create social change and work towards reducing the wealth gap in this country. In addition to studyingContinue reading “Engagement Activity 2/17”

In The Education Gospel, Tressie McMillan Cottom discusses her firsthand experience working at for-profit colleges, and how that has influenced her present-day view on for-profit education as a sociologist. McMillan Cottom describes how when advising students at the for-profit schools, she always felt pressure to “close the deal” even for students who really couldn’t affordContinue reading “RR4 McMillan Cottom: The Education Gospel”

Pierre Bourdieu’s “The Forms of capital” provides a thorough analysis and categorization of what constitutes capital, which he defines as “accumulated labor”. His introduction seems to suggest that capital is inextricably tied with the social world, and this becomes increasingly apparent as Bordieu classifies different types of capital. The distribution of capital and its classificationsContinue reading “RR3-Bourdieu “The Forms of Capital””

    In “Payments and Social Ties,” economic sociologist Viviana Zelizer discusses different types of monetary transfers and their connection to social relationships. Zelizer argues that there are three primary types of payment: compensation, entitlement and gift. Compensation is a direct payment exchange (and perhaps the most business-like and impersonal). Entitlement is a payment that isContinue reading “RR2: Zelizer, “Payments and Social Ties””

A few weeks ago I heard the song “Money” by Pink Floyd on the radio. This song literally has money in the title, but the song as the whole is about how money rules our world, and the consequences of living in a capitalistic society. A lot of Pink Floyd’s songs are critiques of capitalism,Continue reading “Question of the Day 1/29”