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from 'Whose Side Are We On?'



It was a pleasure to burn. - Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

'Cause Sadie moved like water poured
The shapes she shaped had angels floored
She knew her walk turned wind to fire
A wink from Sadie turned brains to mire" -Tim Seibles, The Ballad of Sadie LaBabe





Friday, February 29, 2008

from 'Whose Side Are We On?'

by Howard Becker, 1967

To have values or not to have values: the question is always with us.
When sociologists undertake to study problems that have relevance to the
world we live in, they h d themselves caught in a crossfire. Some urge them
not to take sides, to be neutral and do research that is technically correct and
value free. Others tell them their work is shallow and useless if it does not
express a deep commitment to a value position.

This dilemma, which seems so painful to so many, actually does not exist,
for one of its horns is imaginary. For it to exist, one would have to assume,
as some apparently do, that it is indeed possible to do research that is uncontaminated by personal and political sympathies. I propose to argue that it is not possible and, therefore, that the question is not whether we should take sides, since we inevitably will, but rather whose side we are on.

* later he calls sociologists politically liberal.
posted by jessica at 3:20 PM - ⊗   0 comments Comments: Post a Comment

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i recommend

The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss. This is one of my absolute favorite stories. Focusing on prejudice, it demonstrates the silliness of segregating people based on categories (race, religion, gender, etc). The story's strength is that it shows just how arbitrary these categories are.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In this classic story, a new mother suffering from what we might today call 'post-partum depression,' sinks into a still-deeper depression invisible to her husband, who believes he knows what is best for her. Alone in the yellow-wallpapered nursery of a rented house, she descends into madness.

Lies My Teacher Told Me (1995) - James Loewen

The Covert War Against Rock (2000) - Alex Constantine

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"Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?" He asked. "Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop."

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

(both quotes from Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," available in full-text here.)