Scanned by CamScanner Doing Sociology #6 – Are Your Clothes part of the Global Commodity Chain? DUE____________________ BACKGROUND You probably own and consume a large number of products that originated in faraway countries, including your car, clothing or shores. These items have traveled widely during the process from production to consumption. Food, pharmaceuticals, and electronics are other examples of globally made products. Social scientists class such international movements of goods “global commodity chains.” Global commodity chains are networks of corporations, product designers and engineers, manufacturing firms, distribution channels (such as ocean freightliners, railroads, and trucking firms), and consumer outlets (such as Walmart). Global commodity chains start with a product design and brand name and end with the consumer making a purchase. But between start and finish is often a complex global process involving many different people, in many different nations, all contributing to the final product. The manufacturing of goods, from garments to electronics to automobiles, used to happen primarily in the United States and other Western nations; today’s manufacturing centers are located primarily in poorer nations, such as the Philippines, China, Indonesia, and many Latin American countries. American corporations such as Nike, the Gap, and Levi-Strauss have closed all their U.S. manufacturing plants and hired contractors and subcontractors from East Asia and Latin America to make their products at substantially lower prices. Now these companies focus large amounts of financial resources on “branding” their products. Branding is the process, usually accomplished through advertising, by which companies gain consumers’ attention and loyalty. Much of the money you pay for some products goes toward financing these branding campaigns, while a much smaller sum pays the workers who actually make the products. ASSIGNMENT: There are three separate parts to this assignment. Part 1.The Global Closet – Pick out 5-10 items of clothing from your closet. Check the labels. Where were your clothes made? Make a list of the nations represented in your closet. How many nations are in East Asia or Latin America or other parts of the globe? Is there a difference between whether an item is made and where it is assembled? Does the label indicate where the fabric originated? Part 2.Once “Made in the U.S.A” – Ask your parents, grandparents or other older family members if you can look at the labels of their older clothes. Or go to a thrift store and look for older or vintage clothes there. Again pick out 5-10 items of clothing. How many of those items were made in the United States? How many were made elsewhere? What does this tell you about the globalization of the garment industry over the past several decades? Part 3.Are Your Favorite Brands “Sweat Free”? – Choose one or more of your favorite brands of clothing, shoes, or other.

1. Scanned by CamScanner
Doing Sociology #6 – Are Your Clothes part of the Global
Commodity Chain? DUE____________________
BACKGROUND
You probably own and consume a large number of products that
originated in faraway countries, including your car, clothing or
shores. These items have traveled widely during the process
from production to consumption. Food, pharmaceuticals, and
electronics are other examples of globally made products.
Social scientists class such international movements of goods
“global commodity chains.”
Global commodity chains are networks of corporations, product
designers and engineers, manufacturing firms, distribution
channels (such as ocean freightliners, railroads, and trucking
firms), and consumer outlets (such as Walmart). Global
commodity chains start with a product design and brand name
and end with the consumer making a purchase. But between
start and finish is often a complex global process involving
many different people, in many different nations, all
contributing to the final product.
The manufacturing of goods, from garments to electronics to
automobiles, used to happen primarily in the United States and
other Western nations; today’s manufacturing centers are
located primarily in poorer nations, such as the Philippines,
China, Indonesia, and many Latin American countries.
American corporations such as Nike, the Gap, and Levi-Strauss
have closed all their U.S. manufacturing plants and hired
contractors and subcontractors from East Asia and Latin
America to make their products at substantially lower prices.
Now these companies focus large amounts of financial resources

2. on “branding” their products. Branding is the process, usually
accomplished through advertising, by which companies gain
consumers’ attention and loyalty. Much of the money you pay
for some products goes toward financing these branding
campaigns, while a much smaller sum pays the workers who
actually make the products.
ASSIGNMENT: There are three separate parts to this
assignment.
Part 1.The Global Closet – Pick out 5-10 items of clothing from
your closet. Check the labels. Where were your clothes made?
Make a list of the nations represented in your closet. How
many nations are in East Asia or Latin America or other parts of
the globe? Is there a difference between whether an item is
made and where it is assembled? Does the label indicate where
the fabric originated?
Part 2.Once “Made in the U.S.A” – Ask your parents,
grandparents or other older family members if you can look at
the labels of their older clothes. Or go to a thrift store and look
for older or vintage clothes there. Again pick out 5-10 items of
clothing. How many of those items were made in the United
States? How many were made elsewhere? What does this tell
you about the globalization of the garment industry over the
past several decades?
Part 3.Are Your Favorite Brands “Sweat Free”? – Choose one or
more of your favorite brands of clothing, shoes, or other fashion
accessories. What is your brand’s stand on sweatshop labor?
Do workers who make our favorite products earn a living wage?
You can check many corporations’ ethics regarding labor
conditions by doing simple search on the Internet. Or visit the
website of one of the following pro-labor organization to se
how your brands score:
· Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights:
www.globallabourrights.org
· CorpWatch: www.corpwathch.org
· Global Exchange: www.globalexchange.org

3. PAPER: Complete the three parts of this assignment listed
above. Write a 3-4 page essay outlining and analyzing your
findings.
Grading – 10 points
- College effort (typed, spell check, etc.): 5
- Thorough: 5
*LATE: points taken off at my discretion. No papers accepted
more than two weeks late.
Doing Sociology #5 – “McDonaldization of Society”
ASSIGNMENT
DUE____________________
Do research on the Internet about (or ideally, READ) the book
“McDonaldization of Society” written by George Ritzer, first
edition in 1993. Look for a youtube video of a lecture or
interview with George Ritzer.
PAPER: Write a 2-3 page paper answering the following
questions:
1. In 2-3 paragraphs, summarize the main points in
“McDonaldization of Society.”
2. What is McDonaldization? What are some examples of
McDonaldization given in the book?
3. What are some of the advantages of McDonaldization?
Discuss efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control.
4. What is rationality and how does it relate to Ritzer’s
argument?
5. Do you think the advantages of McDonaldization outweigh
the disadvantages? Explain.
6. Summarize a youtube video you watched of George Ritzer.

4. 7. List five (5) ways in your daily life that you could resist
McDonaldization.
Grading – 10 points
- College effort (typed, spell check, etc.): 5
- Thorough: 5
*LATE: points taken off at my discretion. No papers accepted
more than two weeks late.
Doing Sociology #4 – The Politics and Poetics of Racial
Identity DUE______________________
BACKGROUND: Racial identity is expressed through a variety
of elements in our culture; its many messages are captured in
words and images, performed in the arts, and portrayed through
the media. Racial identity is established and shaped by our
face-to-face and online interactions, and sometimes it is
expressed through the collective action of the many fighting for
social change.
The following is a link to a poem by Richard Blanco. Blanco
read this poem at President Barack Obama’s second
inauguration in 2013.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkSRy8SGTEE
The poem was discussed, analyzed, scrutinized, and evaluated
by critics and ordinary citizens for months afterward. Blanco
was the youngest poet ever to read a presidential inauguration;
and he was also the first Latino, and the first open gay, poet to
compose verse a president. Does Blanco’s racial identity matter
for your understanding of the poem? Racial identity plays a
large role in how we perceive ourselves, the world around us
and how others perceive us.
ASSIGNMENT: In this assignment, you will do a content
analysis of an existing source such as a poem, speech, song, or
performance piece that deals with racial and ethnic identity.

5. The primary focus of your analysis will be the words. Provide
the text to your piece to analyze. A shorter excerpt from a
longer speech or performance is fine also. There are many
places to for material across a variety of media:
· Look up poets such as Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, or
your favorite poet
· Look up famous speeches by Cesar Chavez, Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., Muhammad Ali or Malcolm X
· Read more current speeches by Barack Obama, Cory Booker,
etc.
· Choose lyrics from one of your favorite songs; there are many
songs that deal with issues of racial identity
· Take an excerpt of a performance of stand-up comedian, such
as Aziz Ansari, Margaret Cho, Hannibal Burress; or comedy
troupes Culture Clash or Axis of Evil
Once you have found your chosen text, consider the following
prompts:
· What is the overall message of the text, its major themes or
patterns? Take note of the usage and frequency of specific
words phrases, terms, or their descriptive language, as well as
their meaning. Consider the significance of tone, humor,
sarcasm, or hyperbole, if any. How do these narrative elements
contribute to the larger message of the text?
· How is the race or ethnicity of the writer, speaker, or
performer established within the text?
· Who is the intended audience for the text? What kind of
reaction is the text trying to elicit?
· What is the importance of the historical and social context in
which the text was created? Are there references to people,
events, or social problems?
· How does the text tackle issues such as racial and ethnic
identity; racism, prejudice and discrimination; social
inequalities; and intergroup relations?
· Does the text deal with intersectionality, where race or
ethnicity is also linked to class, gender, sexuality, age, or other
forms of inequality?

6. · In what ways is the text both an individual story and the story
of a larger group?
· Why did you choose the text? What about it is interesting or
meaningful to you? What do you think or feel?
PAPER: Choose a poem, speech, song, or performance piece
and do a content analysis of the test. Write a 3-4 page essay
responding to the above prompts. Make sure to incorporate the
relevant sociological concepts in your discussion. Include a
copy of the text with your paper.
Grading – 10 points
- College effort (typed, spell check, etc.): 5
- Thorough: 5
*LATE: points taken off at my discretion. No papers accepted
more than two weeks late.
Doing Sociology #3 – The Fashion Police: Gender and the
Rules of Beauty DUE_______________________
BACKGROUND
Gender role socialization starts with a baby wrapped in pink or
blue and continues to permeate every stage of our lives from
there. Messages about what it means to be a girl or a boy are
everywhere. We are told over and over, and in a million subtle
ways, what is appropriate or desirable for each sex. Ideas about
masculinity and femininity are played out innumerable times
across an expanding media landscape. Gender norms reflect our
ideals about beauty, style, fitness, and physical or sexual
attractiveness, and examples of these ideal are on constant
display – on our TVs and touch screens, in the grocery store,
and at the bus stop. We can’t avoid them.
ASSIGNMENT
In this assignment, you will closely examine the covers of
men’s and women’s magazines to discover what they have to
say about gender and the rules of beauty. Choose one magazine
that focuses on women’s fashion or fitness and one magazine

7. that focuses on men’s fashion or fitness.
Some suggestions – For Women: Vogue, Elle, Essence,
Glamour, Latina, InStyle, Shape, Women’s Health, Yoga,
Runner’s World, etc. For Men: Details, Esquire, GQ, Maxim,
Krave, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Men’s Journal, Outside,
etc.
Locate a recent of issues of each of the two magazines you’ve
chosen; you can find a hard copy at a bookstore, library,
newsstand, or you can access a digital issues online. You will
do a content analysis of each magazine cover. Immerse yourself
in all the visual elements and text on each cover. Look at the
general display and layout, the specific photos, and any other
kinds of graphics. Scrutinize the headlines and which words
were used. All of this becomes your data. As you examine the
covers more closely, consider the following questions:
· How are the cover models presented? Describe their body
type. Does it reflect the ideals for masculine and feminine
beauty? How are they posing? What does their posture, facial
expressions, gestures, or other physical attributes convey?
· How are the cover models styled? Describe their clothing,
hair, makeup, and accessories. Are the cover models engaged in
any activities? What do their actions (or inaction) tell us about
who they are?
· What is the background or scene of the magazine cover? Does
it appear to be taken in a studio, or is it a location shot of some
kind? What does the background convey?
· What colors are used for the magazine cover? Look at the
background, the title, and any kind of text or added graphics.
What, if any, are the other visual aspects of the cover?
· What words and phrases appear on the cover? Which words
are bold, italicized, in capital letters, in larger or smaller font
sizes, and why? What is the overall tone? What are the explicit
and implicit messages embedded in the words?
· As a whole, what are the major themes and patterns that
emerge from the cover? DO these themes support or challenge
gender norms and the rules of beauty? Besides gender, do other

8. factors of intersectionality – race, class, age, or sexual
orientation – seem to affect the message?
· Compare and contrast the women’s and the men’s magazines.
What are the similarities and differences between the two
covers, and how do you explain them? How do you think such
magazines influence how we see ourselves and others?
PAPER
Write a 3-4 page essay based on your answers to the above
questions. Support your analysis with specific examples from
your data. Attach copies of the magazine covers (in print or
digital format) to your paper.
Grading – 10 points
- College effort (typed, spell check, etc.): 5
- Thorough: 5
*LATE: points taken off at my discretion. No papers accepted
more than two weeks late.
Doing Sociology #2 – Television as an Agent of Socialization
DUE______________
BACKGROUND: Television is a powerful agent of
socialization. It is everywhere, and we devour thousands of
hours of it – so it seems important to ask what kinds of
messages we are getting about ourselves and our society from
all that viewing. How does TV socialize us? Answering that
question is the goal of this assignment.
ASSIGNMENT:Choose one of the most popular TV series
currently on the air – NCIS, Modern Family,The Big Bang
Theory, Orange Is the New Black, etc. Choose a regular drama
or comedy series rather than a news program, talk show, game
show or reality show. Make sure that the show takes place in
contemporary times (today rather than in the past or in some
fantasy world), since your aim will be to analyze how the show
depicts modern society affects today’s viewers.
Now choose some aspect of social status and individual identity

9. that you want to focus on, such as gender (how women or men
are portrayed), race (how African Americans, Latinos, etc. are
portrayed), sexuality (heterosexuals, gay men, or lesbians) or
class (poor people, wealthy or middle class.
Watch an episode of your chosen program in its entirety. If
possible, record the program or watch on an episode on Netflix,
Hulu, or another on-line source so you can review certain
scenes or bits of dialogue several times if needed. Take some
notes as you watch and pay attention to the program’s content
as it relates to your specific topic.
Use the following questions to guide your watching, analysis,
and note-taking:
· In this episode of the program, how many {substitute your
topic here…women} characters are there? How does the
number of {women} compare with the number of other
characters? Are the {women} roles major characters or minor
characters? How can you tell?
· What types of roles do the {women} characters have? What
are their activities, attitudes, and interactions like on the show?
What kinds of things do they do and say that tell you who they
are and what they are like?
· Are the portrayals of {women} positive or negative?
Humorous or serious? One-dimensional or multidimensional?
How can you tell?
· What images of {women} does this program portray? In
other words, what messages do the words, pictures, plot lines,
and characters convey to views about {women} in general?
Now that you have examined the roles and portrayals, consider
the effects on society:
· How does the content of this program contribute to our
socialization process? What do we learn about {women} in
society from watching the program? After finishing your
analysis, what you think about TV’s powers of socialization?
PAPER: Write a 3-4 page essay in response to the above
questions. Be sure to include the show you watched and the
focus of your analysis (race, class, gender, etc.) Make sure to

10. refer specific segments of the episode that help to support your
discussion of TV as an agent of socialization.
Grading – 10 points
- College effort (typed, spell check, etc.): 5
- Thorough: 5
*LATE: points taken off at my discretion. No papers accepted
more than two weeks late.
Doing Sociology #1 – Advertising and the American Dream
DUE_____________________
BACKGROUND: We are surrounded by advertising, which
aims not only to give us information about products but also to
create and stimulate a buying public with demands for an ever
increasing array of goods and services. Advertising shapes our
consciousness and tells us what to dream and how to pursue
those dreams. It provides us with a concept of the good life and
tells us that it’s available to everyone. Advertising equates
shopping and acquisition with emotional fulfillment, freedom,
fun, happiness, security, and self-satisfaction.
The sales pitch seems to be working. Like no other generation,
today’s 18-34 year-olds have grown up in a consumer culture
with all its varied enticements, but they are having a harder
time reaching financial stability in adulthood than did their
parents. Many young people are finding themselves caught in a
difficult job market, with too few positions and too little pay, at
the same time they are carrying larger student loans and
mounting credit card debt.
In 2013, more than two-thirds of all college graduates left
school with student loan debt; the average amount owed was
$28,400. On top of that, more than one-third of all college
students also use credit cards. While some students may be
spending on luxuries like fancy clothes, expensive meals, high-
tech toys that they really can’t afford, many young people are
using credit cards for basic household needs and expenses, such
as prescription medication and car repairs. And the appeal to

11. spend more is always there, urging you to buy your way into the
American Dream. Let’s examine where some this pressure to
spend comes from – advertising.
ASSIGNMENT: In this assignment, you will analyze some
advertisements in terms of the ideology of the American Dream.
To start your research, find three or four ads from magazines,
newspapers, websites, or other sources. These should be “print”
ads rather than video clips. Look for ads that are of interest to
your particular age, gender or other demographic group. In
particular, try to identify ads that are selling the idea of the
American Dream of wealth, success, or living the “good life.”
Examine both the visual (images and layout) and textual
(words) element so the advertisement.
For each of the ads, consider the following questions:
· What product or service is being advertised?
· For whom is the advertisement intended?
· Does the ad “work”? Would like to buy the product or
service? Why or why not?
· In addition to a product or service, what else are the
advertisers trying to “sell”?
· What are the explicit (obvious) and implicit (subtle) messages
conveyed in the ad?
· How do these messages make you feel? Do they play on your
emotions, desires, or sense of self-worth? If so, in what ways?
Once you have examined all the ads, consider these more
general questions:
· What were the similarities or differences between the ads you
chose with regard to their underlying ideology?
· How do the ads represent a particular lifestyle that you should
aspire to? How does that influence your buying habits?
· What types of ads have a strong effect on you? Why?
· What kinds of pressures do you feel to keep up with the
material possessions of your friends, neighbors, or co-workers?
· Why do you think we are lured into shopping and acquiring
material possession?
PAPER: Write a 3-4 page essay discussing your general

12. thoughts on advertising, consumption and the American Dream.
Include an analysis of the specific ads you chose by answering
the above questions.
Grading – 10 points
- College effort (typed, spell check, etc.): 5
- Thorough: 5
*LATE: points taken off at my discretion. No papers accepted
more than two weeks late.