Reading Concept Explanations: What does the author mean by the sentence weve chosen and what does

this idea mean in the larger context of the class? (A hint, defining your terms helps). In other words, the goal is to show your mastery of the concepts in the readings, and for full credit, make a connection to some idea or example outside of the specific reading. 1. Cultural and urban historian Eric Avila: Culture, like war, is politics by other Historian Douglas Baynton: Thus, while disabled people can be considered one of means (18). 2.

the minority groups historically assigned inferior status and subjected to discrimination, disability has functioned for all such groups as a sign of and justification of inferiority (34). 3. Political Scientist Walter LeFeber: "The September 11 horrors raised, in the most

stark in bloody terms, questions about the new capitalism that had shaped American-led globalization of the previous thirty years." 4. Environmental historian William Cronon: Nature is not nearly so natural as it Cultural critic and media scholar Susan Douglas: in part because they got us seems (25). 5.

when we were so young, and in part because the mass media have been obsessed with defining- and exaggerating- codes of masculinity and femininity, they have ensnared us in an endless struggle for gender self-definition (17).

DES- DES is a synthetic estrogen that produced in 1938. It was used discussed in the movie Blue Vinyl and also in the guest lecture by Julie Sze on Constructing American Natures. DES was used in livestock and to women to make livestock more plump and to use in women for many reasons such as menopause, anti-miscarriage, etc. DES ultimately ended up having carcinogenic effects on animals and on children who were in utero when their mothers were given DES. DES is important because it was a way that technology over-powered nature and attempted to take control of natural occurrences. DES shows the consequences of allowing technology to consume aspects of our life that are supposed to natural. It also displays a way that the corporations at the time attempted to make profit on anything that they could, even if it meant exposing people to cancer-

causing agents. Feminine Mystique- This appeared in Blue Sky Dream. This is a book by Betty Friedan published in 1963. It was the first type of a cultural text to come out during this time period that discusses the dissatisfaction of women with their household roles. This problem was called the problem that had no name because it was a feeling of emptiness especially for those college-educated women that only did household chores and took care of their children. It is important because it addresses the gender roles of women as house keepers and child care at the time versus men as business men. The book discusses the unhappiness of women during the mid 1900's despite achieving the American dream of having a nice house with children and a husband. Women were not fulfilled by this life and until this book came out, no one would speak up about this problem.

Michael Jordan- was a famous basketball player discussed in Walter LaFeber's article titled The Globalization of Michael Jordan. The Michael Jordan phenomenon was due to his pure talent, but also the emergence of new global technology, and also the emergence of new transnational corporations. He is important because he was one of the first athletes to exhibit the large-scale culture of sports around the world. Michael Jordan exemplified the important of advertising and the technology that accompanied this advertising in order to sell a product or popularize a product. Michael Jordan was one such product. Nike- is a company founded in the mid 1960's and discussed in The Globalization of Michael Jordan by Walter LaFeber. It is a textbook example of a transnational corporation whose processes and products use and serve the global market. Nike was one of the first companies that spent billions of dollars on advertising and marketing worldwide. Nike made most of its product outside of the United States and sold about of those products abroad. Nike used the rapidly changing technology and marketing techniques to cater to foreign markets and eventually depended on those products for profit. Nike's advertising campaign, their swoosh symbol, and their saying just do it all are strategies that not only see a product, but a lifestyle that is based on American ideals

and culture. Nike holds a great deal of responsibility for the popularization of Michael Jordan through their wide-spread advertising for him and their products. Nike is important because it represents a transnational corporation that completely utilizes new technological advances to show their products to a global market. Operation Bootstrap- was discussed in Immigration and Popular Culture chapter 3. It was officially called the Industrial Incentives Act of 1947). Operation Bootstrap exploited Puerto Rican workers and demonstrated the United State's selfish desires to save or make money in any way possible. It involved the export of thousands of Puerto Ricans to the United States to work as cheap labor and serve the needs of U.S. corporate interests. The program offered no way for the Puerto Rican workers to feel welcome in the United States and did not help them to assimilate into U.S. culture. On a larger scale, Operation Bootstrap was not only significant because it displayed the assault and unequal treatment of Puerto Rican workers, but it also caused New York to include and house Puerto Rican culture.

PVC- The abbreviated name for Polyvinyl Chloride. This concept was specifically discussed in Blue Vinyl. PVC is a cheap building material that has replaced other materials such as wood. However, its production, distribution, and destruction present hazardous conditions to the environment and people surrounding these processes. Specifically, dioxide is created when PVC is manufactured and when it is destroyed. Dioxide causes birth defects, cancer, etc. and is toxic and not degraded by the environment. Those that create PVC and are directly in contact with it are in the most dangerous positions, and PVC corporations are aware of this. PVC is important because it represents the corporations want to make a profit that they knowingly put others in danger to do so. It is a form of hegemony in that a dominant group exerts power over a less dominant group that is unknowingly not doing things for their own benefit.

Red lining- This is the practice of denying mortgage loans to those in the red zone, making it almost impossible for them to buy a house. The National Housing Act of 1934 really begins red-lining which established the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

The red-lined neighborhoods were often minority neighborhoods. This practice is important because it exemplifies residential segregation in the U.S. and the ways in which the highest classifications were reserved for white, middle and upper class citizens (the most dominant group).

Orientalism- Is a term first described by Edward Said who said Orientalism is where the West naturalizes the East and doesn't distinguish between the different cultures in the East, but instead puts them all into one category. It demarcates the world into two parts: the East and the West. Each trait of the East is contradicted with each trait of the West, therefore one understands itself in relation to the other. The Orient is viewed as weak and inferior, so the West believes it is able to speak for and have power over the Orient and the East. Orientalism is a stratergy used by the West in order to exert dominance over the East.

Transnationalism- Is the cross movement of people, labor, ideas, good, etc over national boundaries. It is directly related to globalization in that transnationalism is a medium through which globalization can thrive. Transnationalism is facilitated by new ways of technology and advancements that produce new ways of knowings. These new forms of knowing have created new ways of thinking about and dealing with time and space. New media, such as internet, allow for a smaller distance between places, therefore aiding the process of transnationalism. The physical boundaries between places are no longer a barrier to the movement of people, commodities, and ideas. Due to transnationalism, it becomes difficult to know where responsibility lays. Transnational Corporation- (Discussed in Walter LaFeber's The Globalization of Michael Jordan) A transnational corporation is one that employs foreign labor, and depends on the production of information and knowledge . There is an aim of the corporation to not only produce with foreign labor, but to sell to a global market. Transnational corporations depend on massive advertising campaigns that depend on new technologies. They also depend on world markets for profits. Because transnational corporations didn't just exist in one country, they are not accountable to any one

government, which leads to complications with things such as labor policies. Trouble the Water- (before the midterm) Themes: - inequality of treatment of blacks in New Orleans - government inequality- racism? - Do blacks matter as much as whites do in America? - Structural racism and inequalities People Like Us: Social Class in America (before the midterm) Themes: - Social class is hard to transcend - Capitalism runs everything in America - Inequalities of the class structure - Structural inequalities give some advantages over others - The hierarchy of classes stratisfies people - Class dictates status, lifestyle, education, etc - Class is about a relationship to power - Class is not natural, it is produced and serves a hegemonic purpose Blue Vinyl (after the midterm) Themes: - Consumer consciousness- we must be aware of what is going into our products, not just the end product itself - The hegemony of the PVC corporations- they try to hide the true information about the dangers of their products in order for their product to keep its good image and for it to seem normal Wealthier people have the most choices - Companies put profits over the health of people ($ is EVERYTHING) - The production, distribution, and destruction of a product should also be considered when making/ buying a product - Corporations greed and will do anything to make a profit Judith Helfand- The director of Blue Vinyl who sets out to discover and research the harms of PVC on workers and the population. At the same time, she attempts to find sustainable replacements for PVC that are cheap and not has hazardous. Through her film, she discusses consumer consciousness as a big issue- that consumers must be conscious about the whole process that leads to a final product, not just the product itself. Furthermore, she discusses all the things that go into the production of a product such as PVC and how the production and destruction of PVC have deadly elements. In her film, she also exemplifies the idea of hegemony in that big corporations, such as those that make PVC, suppress true information about their products so that the product can keep a good image and it seems natural. However, this is not the reality.

Racism Without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla- Silva chapters 1, 2, and 9 (before the midterm) Themes: - We tend to put blame on individuals for failing, not the structures or communities (which it actually is) - New Racism= not open racism, more covert ways - blacks have less opportunities than whites - Persistence of color-blind racism o The four frames of color-blind racism: abstract liberalism, naturalization, cultural racism, and minimization of racism - White prejudice is an ideology to defend white privilege - For most whites, racism is prejudice. For most people of color, racism is systematic or institutionalized - Race is a socially constructed concept - Blaming the victim for their own inequalities - Racial inequality today is due to the continuing significance of racial discrimination - Obamerica- New racism- (just because we have a black president we are no longer racist)

The Magnuson Act of 1943 repeals the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, establishes quotas for Chinese immigrants, and makes them eligible for U.S. citizenship

Prompted by labor shortages, the United States institutes the bracero program, allowing Mexican nationals to temporarily work in the United States, primarily in the agricultural industry.

Hart-Celler Act, also known as Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, abolished the National Origins Formula that had been in place in the United States since the Immigration Act of 1924. It was proposed by United States Representative Emanuel Celler of New York, co-sponsored by United States Senator Philip Hart of Michigan and heavily supported by United States Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.[2] The Hart-Celler Act abolished the national origins quota system that had structured American immigration policy since the 1920s, replacing it with a preference system that focused on immigrants' skills and family relationships with citizens or residents of the U.S. Numerical restrictions on visas were set at 170,000 per year, not including immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, nor "special immigrants" (including those born in

"independent" nations in the Western hemisphere; former citizens; ministers; employees of the U.S. government abroad)

American lifestyle and advertising Revolutionary telecommunication technology, advancements in industrial production, innovative advertising strategies, and Americas emerging role as hegemonic nation of the new globalized world sparked the diffusion of American culture. The Malboro Man, McDonalds golden arches, Nikes swoosh logo, and thousands of other successful American products have used the attractive characteristics American lifestylefreedom of choice, XXXX in their advertising.

However, the American lifestyle that is advertised is far from the truth. For many Americans, freedom is limited

At home and abroad, most advertisements for American products are Selling American lifestyle permeates in many of Nikes commercials

However, not all advertizing is as overt as this.

They portray the American lifestyle as free,

Nike Nikes commercials showcase the exploitation and fabrication of the American lifestyle as a powerful symbol that has captivated the imagination of millions of people around the world. Consumers of American goods outside of the United States are intrigued by the product being marketed to them and are interested absorbed by the fascination of the lifestyle of Americans. Wearing a shirt or a pair of shoes with the infamous Nike logo on it allows them to emulate their favorite American icons.

With the emergence of groundbreaking telecommunication technology like the sataliete and color televisions, United States corporations capatilized on the groundbreaking telecommunication technologies like the sataliete and color televisions to reinvent advertising models and to reach new audiences.

Nike advertises not only the newest pair of Jordan shoes

McDonalds The economic prosperity of globalized corporations like Nike, McDonalds, and CocaCola rely on advertising to transcend their businesses across the borders of the United States. Many of their marketing strategies integrated the mythical portrayal of the American lifestyle. In Yunxiang Yans Of Hamburger and Social Space: Consuming McDonalds in Beijing, he claims that many McDonalds customers were more interested in experiencing American cuisine, culture, and lifestyle than in actually eating the food.

Artificial Sweetner Many countries throughout the world saw Americas cultural invasion as a threat to their culture and a threat to their political infastructure.