Category: Countries
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China – The World’s Biggest Tech Thief?
Chinese theft of intellectual property from other countries (mainly the US and those in the EU) represents the greatest transfer of wealth in history according to Keith B Alexander, former director of the US National Security Agency. intellectual property includes such things as patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and software, and China has a long…
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Sociological perspectives on the legalization of gay sex in India
Gay sex was finally legalized in India this month (September 2018), after India’s high court ruled that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a fundamental violation of individual rights. This ruling overturned the previous ‘section 377’ colonial-era law which outlawed certain sexual acts as unnatural, including homosexual sex. Breaking that law meant a…
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Contemporary Sociology: The poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal by the Russian State
The recent ‘russian spy poisoning’ is relevant to many areas of the A-level sociology specification, such as state-crime, globalisation and even consensus and conflict theory.
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Explaining South Korea’s Economic and Social Development #2
South Korea is one of the real success stories of development post world war two, but what policies led to it rapid economic and social development? NB – you might like to read part one of ‘Explaining South Korea’s Development‘ first! During the early phases of its economic development, there were few vested interests In…
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Trump’s Tax Bill: Another Neoliberal Policy.
In mid December 2017, The U.S. Senate voted through a tax-bill which will deliver a dramatic reduction in America’s corporate tax rate – from 35% to 20% – along with a reduction in inheritance tax which will allow the America’s wealthiest individuals to pass more tax-free money to their children (or other heirs). This Guardian…
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The Delhi Smog – A Consequence of Neoliberal Development?
A test match between India and Sri Lanka had to be repeatedly halted on Sunday because of the smog enveloping Delhi. The Sri-Lankan team took the field after the lunch break wearing face masks, and play was halted for consultation with doctors. It then resumed, but was stopped twice more when two Sri Lankan bowlers…
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The Partition of India
The August 1947 partition of India divided the newly independent country into two new states: A Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. The later was itself divided into western and eastern sections, more than 1000 miles apart: present day Pakistan and Bangladesh. In the view of most historians, the partition of India was the central…
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Explaining South Korea’s Development #1
Korea was a Japanese Colony from 1910 to 1945, providing food and fuel for the ‘motherland’. Following the fall of the Japanese Empire at the end of World War II, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel into North and South Korea, North Korea controlled by communist Russia, and South Korea governed by the United…
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Forging the American Empire
Is it possible to perceive the making of modern America as a sort of colonial project? One in which the new American capitalist class colonizes the so called American wilderness for the benefit of Capitalism? This is the argument Andrew Brooks makes in his recent book – The End of Development: On 4 July 1776…
