Monthly topic

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Hey, folks! Happy and prosperous 2014 to all! A new year, and renewed hopes for more success and more smiles! And of course it's time for our traditional monthly topic, the one we may or may not like to take some minutes writing and commenting about. The one you guys chose for January was...

Class Warfare & The Welfare State



Now this could get tricky, you know! As usual, here are some arbitrary hints on the subject...

- Theoretical models of the class society: Marxist, Weberian, etc.
- Class in ancient and Medieval society, and its traces in modernity.
- The common three-stratum model: upper, middle and lower class.
- Consequences of class position: education, health and nutrition, employment.
- Social mobility, social exclusion and social position. Class discrimination.
- Economic stratification and economic inequality.
- The middle class: formation, stratification, factors for growth or deterioration.
- The emerging economies and the new middle class.
- Trade unions and labor unions. Examples of the world.
- Class vs race struggle. Relationship between race/ethnicity and class.
- Class conflict in pre-capitalist societies and in the 21st century.
- Popular revolts and social revolutions throughout history and in our day.
- Elitism, aristocracy, rankism and oligarchism. The global elite.
- Forms of welfare and examples from various welfare systems and social programs.
- Welfare state in Canada, Australia, UK, France, China and Scandinavia.
- Social democracy and similar social models.
- Welfare's effect on poverty: proponents and critics.
- Social programs in the United States.
- Affirmative action, social security, progressive taxes.
- Criticisms on welfare: from conservatives and from socialists and anarchists.
- Welfare fraud and benefit fraud; welfare queens and the nanny-state effect.
- The new demographic phenomena. The welfare state in trouble.
- Classless society. The Soviet Union and similar societies.
- Class warfare in popular media and in the arts.
- Cartoons on class warfare*.

* Yes, you got that one right! During Class Warfare month, we'll be allowed to post a cartoon on the subject, as long as there's a short (let's say at least 1-paragraph) personal comment from the OP on said cartoon. Go ahead, display your creativity! ;)

And here's the poll for February:

[Poll #1950505]

(Do feel free to suggest more topics).

Comments

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Oooo t'is gunna be goood.