SOCY
Imagine today you went out shopping - you get a starbucks coffee and they give 10% to Oprah's charity, you buy a pink umbrella and a percentage of your proceeds go to breast cancer research, You buy a pair of shoes and a pair goes to someone in a developing nation.
Some Critical theorists claim that today capitalism or cultural capitalism is all about buying into an ethic or a lifestyle. They claim this type of charitable giving attached to consumption actually encourages consumption as it allows us a way to buy our way out of the guilt of consuming.
This type of charitable giving differs greatly from direct charitable donations which have declined greatly over the years.
This article ; https://www.huffpost.com/entry/breast-cancer-pink-ribbons_b_1951319?guccounter=1 details some of the issues with this type of giving.
1. Using class concepts reflect on this type of charitable giving and its consequences for charitable causes overall and well as its relationship to inequality and social change (Do not just summarize the article- use class concepts to analyze the problem).
2. Research a social movement that got its start or relied heavily on the internet (some possible examples occupy wallstreet, the Arab spring, black lives matter) Please note - fundraising events are not social movements, they may be part of a social movement but are not a movement in itself from the perspective of sociology. The most common internet event that gets used here is the ice bucket challenge- this is not a social movement, do not use it here. Using class concepts of social movements and social change answer the following questions.
2a. Give a short summary of the history of this social movement
2b. What are the differences between this movement and social movements begun more traditionally?
2c. What has been the outcome, social influences, or social changes resulting from this movement?
2d. Were there online counter movements that developed? what were there outcome?
2E. Discuss more generally how social movements online may differ from face to face social movements.
2F. Discuss more generally how social movements may benefit from technological advances and how technological advances may diffuse or discourage social movements and social change.
Please note: In the textbook social institutions chapter there is a convergence theory but that is not the same theory as the social movements converge theory from this week’s readings and class sources.
· Boundless sociology- social movements
· Openstax introduction to sociology chapter 21- Introduction to Social Movements and Social Change (see attachment)
· Openstax Introduction to Sociology chapter 8- Introduction to Media and Technology : (see attachment)
· Openstax introduction to Sociology Chapter 20- Introduction to Population, Urbanization, and the Environment; (see attachment)
· Crash course sociology #12 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsRSL3duSko
· Social change module (See attachment)