Kanye 2020 | Page 18

Even the Best Laid Plans…

Simplifying complexities, organizing chaos- this was the idea behind state simplification. In forming organized societies, states took complex social practices and essentially created a map whereby the society could be recorded and monitored. This way the state could monitor its subjects and collect taxes, but it had unintentionally discriminatory consequences. These state “maps” merely reflected…

The Unique Role of Statecraft in America

In both readings by James Scott, we see how different states across history organized their respective societies through city structure, “standardization of language and legal discourse” (2), permanent last names, etc. Some efforts, like France’s push to make French the dominant language, were successful due because the standardization would help everyone in society advance. Others,…

Challenge Your Choice of Words

In the article, “The Clock Didn’t Start With the Riots,” Coates speaks of his childhood growing up in West Baltimore in the middle of violence throughout his school days. He differentiates this violence to violence that can cause social change for the better, and how violence is in the past, present, and future of our…

The Hands of Power

Power belongs to the people who can influence others. In his article “Power, Sociologically Speaking,” Roscigno explains that “the extent of true change, however, lies in the ability to transform structure and culture in meaningful ways.” Roscigno continues in saying that privileged positions will hold the structural and institutional tools to reinforce these existing power…

The Importance of Fear and Violence

I think what we must recognize as a society is the role of fear in our history, how that fear sometimes leads to violent responses, and how it influences government policy and everyday social interaction. One could analyze the 1770 Boston Massacre, Nat Turner’s 1831 slave revolt, the attack on Pearl Harbor, or September 11th…

State Sanctioned Violence

What do Soviet organized crime and American race problems have in common? They both owe their origins to violence and the state. In “Violent Entrepreneurs”, the surge in the Soviet organized crime underworld is credited to violence and the decaying Soviet government. America’s race problems began 250 years ago with the state violently enslaving thousands…

Racist Monopoly on Violence

Reading The Atlantic’s article “The Clocks Didn’t Start with the Riots,” my mind immediately wandered to Weber’s discussion on the modern nation state’s monopoly on violence. It is imperative to acknowledge that modern nation states are formed and maintained though violence—and that this violence is normalized through its monopoly by the state and its associated…

“We Take this Oath to Protect and Serve (the Status Quo)”

Many wealthy Russian businessman were active members of criminal organizations such as Uralmashevskie and Tsentral’naya during the privatization of the economy of the Soviet Union. The fact that these businessman have received short or no sentences for their crimes illustrates the theoretical perspective in criminology known as critical criminology. Critical criminologists often charge that those…

Violence and Tony Soprano

Volkov speaks on violence being the primary product of Russian businesses in the late 80’s. On the other hand Coates speaks on the recent events of racial unrest in the United States. How violence is sometimes the language of the unheard. However, the catch is that “violence” is labeled differently based on the offender and…

Violence and the “State”

When thinking about the work of Coates and Volkov, I started out by asking myself what the readings were saying about the state. I immediately took issue with what the word “state” meant. I soon discovered that both works revolved around the use of force and violence, and how actions of the state perpetuate violence….