Before I began studying American gun culture, I spent 20+ years studying American religion. So it is perfectly natural that I would try to bridge the two interests. It is also the case that people often connect religion and guns in America. This, too, makes sense because the United States today is one of theContinueContinue reading “Clinging to Their Guns and Religion?”
Author Archives: David Yamane
President Donald J. Trump – 10 Initial Gut Reactions and Reflections
I do not follow politics closely anymore, so I am not well-placed to comment on the recent election as anything other than a regular, half-awake citizen. So instead of thoughtful, informed commentary on the political future ahead, I am offering my initial gut reactions and reflections on the election of Donald J. Trump as PresidentContinueContinue reading “President Donald J. Trump – 10 Initial Gut Reactions and Reflections”
Data on Gender Segregation in Occupations (2012)
Teaching Arlie Hochschild’s The Managed Heart in my sociological theory class recently, I was looking for data on the percentage of flight attendants today who are male. I found a nice post on the issue by Mona Chalabi (“Dear Mona”) on the FiveThirtyEight blog. Answer: In 1980, 14.3 percent of flight attendants were male; inContinueContinue reading “Data on Gender Segregation in Occupations (2012)”
My Blogging Year in Review for 2015
Because most of my blogging these days is at my Gun Culture 2.0 blog, this personal blog gets relatively neglected. So I was surprised that I still had nearly 6,000 visitors to the site in 2015. According to my WordPress annual report, these are the posts that got the most views in 2015: Reflections onContinueContinue reading “My Blogging Year in Review for 2015”
My Love of Whisk(e)y and the Alcohol Epidemic in the United States
I love whisk(e)y. My love knows almost no boundaries. American, Canadian, Indian, Irish, Japanese, Scotch, Texas. Barley, corn, rye, wheat. Neat, rocks, mixed. To fuel my love I have been reading Reid Mitenbuler’s recent book, Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey. Early on, Mitenbuler introduces the first alcohol distiller among the BritishContinueContinue reading “My Love of Whisk(e)y and the Alcohol Epidemic in the United States”
Post-Paris Reflection: We are PROBABLY Safe, but Not CERTAINLY Safe
Following the picture below is some text that was originally posted on my Gun Culture 2.0 blog last Saturday. I thought to re-post it here today because I am leaving for Washington, DC in a couple of hours and have been thinking about the advisability of the trip in light of the Paris attacks. OnContinueContinue reading “Post-Paris Reflection: We are PROBABLY Safe, but Not CERTAINLY Safe”
The Problem with Averages in Understanding Guns, Violence, and Crime: No One Lives in “The United States”
The problem with averages is that there is no “United States of America” when it comes to guns, violence, and crime, but many Americas. Some of these Americas – like my neighborhood in Winston-Salem – are more like our first world counterparts in the OECD, and some of them are more like the third worldContinueContinue reading “The Problem with Averages in Understanding Guns, Violence, and Crime: No One Lives in “The United States””
New Course for Fall 2015: The Sociology of Guns
I am excited to be teaching a new course in the fall semester, related to my new research project on American gun culture: Sociology 384: Special Topics Seminar – The Sociology of Guns. Course description follows the flier. COURSE DESCRIPTION Guns often have a spectacular presence in the American imagination, from George Zimmerman to Sandy HookContinueContinue reading “New Course for Fall 2015: The Sociology of Guns”
William Butler Yeats on the Experience of Modernity
I have always invoked Marshall Berman invoking Karl Marx invoking Shakespeare (Prospero in “The Temptest”) to describe the experience of modernity: “All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned.” But I could equally well use Irish poet William Butler Yeats from “The Second Coming” (1919) via African novelist Chinua Achebe:ContinueContinue reading “William Butler Yeats on the Experience of Modernity”
On the Ideal of Ethical Neutrality in Research on America’s Culture Wars
I am not sure what it says about me, but in my career as a sociologist, I have been drawn to some of the more controversial issues of my time. What James Davison Hunter way back in 1991 called “culture wars.” Culture wars, according to Hunter, are “struggles to define America,” and have been foughtContinueContinue reading “On the Ideal of Ethical Neutrality in Research on America’s Culture Wars”