TY - JOUR AU - Halnon, Karen PY - 2010/04/26 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Social Problems JF - TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology JA - TRAILS VL - IS - SE - DO - UR - https://trails.asanet.org/article/view/social-problems-halnon SP - AB - This course is a sociological introduction to social problems, or more precisely, an introduction to the political economy of social problems. Following in the tradition of classical sociologists Marx, Weber, and Durkheim (with greatest emphasis on the two former), we will probe the meaning, nature, and consequences of capitalism in our present times. We will examine some of the socially problematic consequences of the transition to a consumer society of the spectacle, and living amid globalization and imperialist empire building. Related topics include: environmental destruction, the increasing and dramatic polarization between wealth and poverty (both domestically and internationally), corporate welfare, the intimate linkages between the agendas of First World governments and multinational corporations, andthe structure and/or activities of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, NAFTA, GATT, and the World Trade Organization. Related topics include terrorism, counter-insurgency, political dishonesty, waning civil rights, the culture of fear, and uncritical and uninformed patriotism. We will further discuss the commodification of culture, the commodification of dissent, the ultra concentration of the media, the bias of the media, and media control. The course also examines strategies for progressive social change. ER -