Japan's disposable workers

Aeon has posted a short documentary on those in Japan unable to find or keep full-time jobs. Estimated to comprise more than a third of the nation's labor force, temporary workers earn a fraction of their former pay, and therefore many have sought housing in low-rent cubicles available in Internet cafes. This video made by Shiho Fukada tells the compelling story of two net-cafe refugees--how they got there, how they manage to endure, and what they hope to become.

Note that the video is part of Japan's Disposable Workers, a larger project sponsored by MediaStorm that is documenting the changing nature of employment and hardship in that nation. In addition to addressing net refugees, this excellent collection includes films and stories about such subjects as workplace stress, depression, and karoshi (death by overwork) and karojishi (work-induced suicide).    

For more information in this blog about net-cafe residents, see Poverty in Japan by Carol Walden and Earl Venne.   

rescuing sex slaves in Houston documentary

Tune in to MSNBC on July 27 9:00-10:00 PM to see a documentary on sex trafficking in Houston. The film features Dottie Laster, an incredible woman totally devoted to rescuing trafficked victims and bringing law enforcement down on the bad guys. Dottie also has been featured in a number of other media stories, including this article in More magazine.
PS - In response to the common question: what can you do with a sociology degree? I always point to Dottie; she graduated from UTSA with a bachelor's degree in sociology in 2003.

slave labor and big retail

This Guardian video describes the involvement of megachain retailers, such as Walmart, in selling shrimp that was produced through slave labor. 
See the entire Guardian series on Modern-Day Slavery at 
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/series/modern-day-slavery-in-focus
Also see the Guardian's YouTube playlist at
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa_1MA_DEorF1PPQA6nRiRPqnnHaJFUoR

virginity, sexual property, stratification

   

You are invited to create a post or submit a comment on this video. Should you want to write a post, be sure to include your ideas about how the video could be employed for teaching and learning purposes, particularly as related to the study of social stratification. Send your post to me at michael.miller@utsa.edu. I reserve the right to edit post submissions.

This video is available at http://testtube.com/lacigreen/virginity.

evolution of equality

This useful infographic places a variety of events relevant to inequalities of race, sex, and sexual orientation on a historical timeline.