Oh, have you heard of this Scholars Strategy Network? Of course you have! You’re hip, in-the-know sorts. But the reason I’m pointing it out specifically right now is that I want to direct your eyes to two specific things going on over at their site:

1. As Syria takes the spotlight off Miley (for real), I recommend you return to Richard Lachmann and Hal Brands’s thoughts on America’s foreign policy and its place in the world. SSN’er Jeff Faux also talks war-weariness in the Huffington Post.
2. September’s topical spotlight on SSN is labor and unionization. While we’ll be featuring several of the briefs in this suite (I believe 17 make up the full complement) on the SSN section of TSP (fun with acronyms!), it’s particularly worth reading Nick Carnes and Jake Rosenfeld’s summary of the spotlight pieces.

Now, back to TSP, riiiiiight after I wish my mom a happy birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Okay, TSP! A week’s worth of goodness, right here for you, adjusted for the tardiness of last Friday’s Roundup:

Features:

“Social Fact: Death—Not the Great Equalizer?” by Deborah Carr and Julie A. Phillips. Race and gender affect life expectancy, but it’s surviving the first quarter of life that really seems to make the difference. It’s also important here to check out the previous Social Fact, on race and homicide rates. I’m not sure I’ll ever get “not horrified” with the fact that murder is the most common cause of death among any race or age group.

Editors Desk:

“Sketch #1: Just Don’t Call It That,” by Doug Hartmann. In the first installment of a new series on larger visions for the field of sociology and its place in the public sphere, Doug starts at the beginning: branding. Can we get by with calling what we do “sociology”?

Office Hours:

“Holly Thorpe on Snowboarding Bodies,” with Kyle Green. I’ll just crib from Kyle’s intro here:

In this episode, we talk with Holly Thorpe about her excellent book Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice. We discuss the use of theory to study physical practice, the rapid growth of the sport, gender relations, marketing, the snowboarding body, and writing about sports for different audiences.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images threatens to break the Internet with their fantastic—and fantastically trafficked—post on gender, power, and body language. Take up some space, people!
• Sociology Lens’s Lisa Sugiura gives a brief introduction to research on the burgeoning online pharmacy business, from a scoiological perspective.
• Girl w/ Pen! adds a new columnist, who, in her first turn on the site, checks out the videos for “Blurred Lines” and “Defined Lines” and wonders where the feminism really comes in.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“How the Decline of Unions has Increased Racial Inequality,” by Meredith Kleykamp and Jake Rosenfeld.

“Unions Foster Middle Class Leadership in Democracy,” by Aaron J. Sojourner.

“Talking about Politics Boosts Civic Participation,” by Casey Klofstad.