Digital Commons Network^™

The Next Los Angeles: The Struggle For A Livable City, Regina Freer, Robert Gottlieb, Mark Vallianatos, Peter Dreier

Mark Vallianatos

While most historians, journalists, and filmmakers have focused on Los Angeles as a bastion of corporate greed, business boosterism, political corruption, cheap labor, exploited immigrants, and unregulated sprawl, The Next Los Angeles tells a different story: that of the reformers and radicals who have struggled for alternative visions of social and economic justice. In a new preface, the authors reflect on the gathering momentum of L.A.'s progressive movement, including the 2005 landslide victory of Antonio Villaraigosa as mayor.

Earn More, Move Up: A New Look At The Gender Pay Differential, Jennifer Keil

Jennifer Keil

Why I Quit The Railroad, Linda Niemann

Linda G. Niemann

The article presents the author's reasons for leaving her job in the railroad industry. She wasn't thrilled to be force-assigned to the foreman's spot on Union Pacific's Lawrence switcher. Being the junior switchman on the California coast for years, she was used to jobs that weren't so plum. What made it tough were a difficult yardmaster and her help, a switchman who outranked her but didn't want the responsibility of the foreman's spot.

The Lord Of The Night, Linda Niemann

Linda G. Niemann

The article presents the author's reflection on the management of Southern Pacific after it was acquired by Union Pacific (UP). The year preceding the UP merger, 1995, everyone tried to earn the maximum they could in preparation for whatever union-negotiated guarantee would come down the pike. Downsizing hit this system hard. The union contract did away with the system seniority that provided trainmen the freedom to work anywhere on the railroad.

Phenotypic And Genetic Relationships Between Vocational Interests And Personality, Julie Harris, Philip Vernon, Andrew Johnson, Kerry Jang

Andrew M. Johnson

Relationships between personality and vocational interest factors were examined at the phenotypic and genetic levels. Twins and siblings (N = 516) completed self-report personality and vocational interest scales. Following factor analyses of each scale, five personality and six vocational interest factors were extracted. At the phenotypic level, correlations between personality and vocational interests ranged from zero to .33. Heritability estimates of the scales showed that genetic components accounted for 0–56% of the variance for the vocational interest factors and 44–65% for the personality factors. Genetic correlations between the two areas ranged from zero to .50. The results suggest that personality …

La Imagen Del Imperio: Los Estudios Sobre Wari En La Arqueología Peruana, Patricia Chirinos Ogata

Patricia Chirinos Ogata

In Peru and in the rest of the world, a great part of the information that helps us to understand the past comes from the story of archaeological practice itself. This article presents some thoughts about how the story of archaeological research in Peru has defined the concept that we have now about Wari and the Middle Horizon, and the impact of this phenomenon in the academic, social, political and cultural spheres.

Living Off Crime, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

A sociological exploration of highly active property offenders who commit themselves to careers in serious property crimes, such as burglary and armed robbery. This book takes the unique approach of situating these criminal careers within the fundamental sociological concepts of social class, criminal subcultures, and consciousness. Kenneth D. Tunnell brings class back into the dialogue of property crime among the highly criminally active and economically marginalized, and gives considerable treatment to the subcultural values of this group. The book does not ignore the politics of repetitive property offenders' behaviours; rather, it describes their actions as political, yet absent of politicized …

The Department Store, Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy

Wendy A. Wiedenhoft Murphy

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology is published in both print and online. Arranged across eleven volumes in A-Z format, it is the definitive reference source for students, researchers, and academics in the field. This ground-breaking project brings together specially commissioned entries written and edited by an international team of the world's best scholars and teachers. It provides: Clear, concise, expert definitions and explanations of the key concepts An essential reference for expert and newcomer alike, with entries ranging from short definitions of key terms to extended explorations of major topics Materials that have historically defined the discipline, but also more …

Did Katrina Recalibrate Attitudes Toward Poverty And Inequality? A Test Of The “Dirty Little Secret” Hypothesis, David Grusky, Emily Ryo

Emily Ryo

We test the popular claim that poverty and inequality were “dirty little secrets” until the media coverage of Hurricane Katrina exposed them to a wider public. If this account were on the mark, it would suggest that the absence of major antipoverty initiatives in the United States is partly attributable to public ignorance and apathy coupled with the narrowly rational decision on the part of policymakers to attend to other issues about which the public evidently cares more. Using the 2004 Maxwell Poll, we find strikingly high levels of awareness and activism on poverty and inequality issues even prior to …