ask a scatterbrain: anonymity at blog parties?!

Pitseleh asks:
How the heck does the blogger meeting at ASA work? If we are trying (probably in vain) to remain anonymous, how exactly do you meet face-to-face and talk about blogging?

the culture of workaholism

In writing a review essay about organizational culture and family leave policies, I am always continually struck by the desire–on the part of workers–to assume the responsibilities, hours, roles. It’s a part of their identity within the institution and in their personal lives, and how they define themselves. I am a good worker!
Culture is the [...]

this for all of you nerdy scatterbrains

 

Find more here.

backstage, to your right

Pitseleh and I are having a most awesome discussion about the Goffmanian concept of backstage.  Original post here, followed by part I and part 2.  My tangentially related post here, and a conversation between Pitseleh and I on the elusiveness of the backstage can be found here.
Go read. You know you want to procrastinate. I know you do, because [...]

this sounds like a question for venkatesh

It seems that Venkatesh is on a roll with his rogue sociologist thing. He already has an “ask a thug” feature on the Freakonomics blog, but really, he should have an “ask a rogue sociologist” feature.
From the NYT, comes this sad story and sociological (and legal) question about pro surfer Emery Kauanui, who was beaten [...]

i am furious

I am so mad, that I can’t even think straight. I don’t have anything productive to say other than a string of expletives. But really, what can you say, or what needs to be said, against such utterly contemptible falsehoods?
Why am I mad?
Scalia says “Get over it. It’s so old by now” regarding Bush [...]

songs about sociology

Because there have not been any posts for two days, I will take one for the team.
Ok, there are plenty of songs about the law, which is my thing. “I Fought The Law and the Law Won,” for example. Also, Kanye West’s “Spaceship” makes me think of employment discrimination law for these lyrics:
If my [...]

where do I get these ideas anyway?

Apologies for monopolizing Scatter blogging.
[begin incoherent rant]
I’ve been reading Arlie Russell Hochschild’s books, The Time Bind and The Second Shift. They are depressing. Not only are workers overworked, they overwork themselves–they don’t want to take advantage of family-friendly policies, they want overtime, they want to buy into the organizational culture of the 10 hour [...]

in your abundant spare time

So, I know we all read a lot for work. It’s all I do. And then I do more of it online, because I am a blog addict and F5 refresher hound. I need to do that site-blocking thing Jeremy does.
But what do you read in your spare time? Me? Not enough, and it hurts [...]

a seat at the (conference) table

Part of being a good institutional citizen of your school/university is attending paper talks. No, not just those free food ones sponsored by this and that student org or law firm. Go to those too, although you will get sick of pizza. If you are the type that goes just to get [...]

i never know what to do here

Part of why I don’t blog here enough is that I never know what to say. Jeremy encourages me to do whatever I want, which is great. But I don’t know what I want to do on other peopl’s blogs. On my blog, I have a devil-may-care flippant attitude, posting up poetry, Youtube videos, book/article [...]

the social psychology of elevators

 
Check out this great article by Nick Paumgarten in the New Yorker on the history, future, and social psychology of elevators:
Passengers seem to know instinctively how to arrange themselves in an elevator. Two strangers will gravitate to the back corners, a third will stand by the door, at an isosceles remove, until a fourth comes [...]

can i ask a scatterbrain?

I am still a grad student.  Help me not fail.  How do I write a “review essay” like the ones in Law and Social Inquiry? 

first person narrative in scholarship

 (it took me a day before I realized I violated Jeremy’s no caps rule)
I am sort of a lawyer, and I read a lot of law blogs. One of the never-ending debates in legal scholarship is the use of first-person narrative in legal scholarship.  First person narrative, or “storytelling,” is one of the principal methodologies [...]

The Frequency of Awesomeness

Some awesome independent scholar dude named Ray Cha (bust down those Ivory Tower gates!) has a blog that is most awesomely about technology and policy (check it out, Madisonian.net folks) found my cross-post about Your Daily Awesomeness on Scatterplot.
So awesomely awesome is Ray Cha’s awesomeness: the man has empirically assessed the use of “awesomeness” over [...]

your daily awesomeness

Via the awesome Kieran Healy:
1. Go to http://www.google.com/
2. Type “find chuck norris” into the search box
3. Press the “I”m feeling lucky” button
4. Feel the awesome.
Via the just-as-awesome Frank Pasquale:
Song Flow Charts
YOU CAN’T

work and identity

No one is their job, you say. People are more than the sum of their professions. What a limited view of humanity. Blah blah blah. This is certainly true. But then why do people introduce themselves as their professional roles? “Hi, I’m a doctor.” “I’m a lawyer.” “I’m a teacher.” Etc., etc.I was thinking about [...]

self-promotion for the insecure

Over at my mishmash of a blog, the serious posts are always balanced by something lighter and silly. Law and Letters.
So lest you think I am a humorless and uninteresting law person, if you are interested, check out my polemic against the idea of love and for the reality of love. It has lots [...]

how much (deconstructionist) theory belongs in law and society? an empirical study?

I’ve recently had occasion to re-read Laura E. Gomez’s article “A Tale of Two Genres,” which is in The Blackwell Companion to Law and Society (ed. Austin Sarat). In this article, she argues that Law and Society scholars, while focusing on discrimination and oppression, have failed to utilize fully the theories of Critical [...]

and since i’m here…

I mentioned that I do sexual harassment law scholarship. Part of the work is trying account for why those who are harassed do not pursue organizational correctives (largely symbolic grievance procedures, etc.), instead quitting their jobs or just living with the harassment. Such behavior is considered “unreasonable” by the courts, and gives employers [...]