In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss launch the third season of their podcast by unpacking one of Karl Marx's most resonant and influential ideas in the field of sociology, his theory of estranged/alienated labour. Eric somehow manages to call Marx an 'emo' in this episode, while Louis admits that his ideal work situation is to play video ga…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss look to unpack a chapter in the Disability Studies Reader by the noted disability researcher, Tom Shakespeare. This work considers considers the strengths and limitations of the social model of disability, which powerfully conceptualises disability as a socially constructed phenomenon. In the second half …

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss have a discussion about Zygmunt Bauman's noted work, Wasted Lives (2003), which explores how the process of modernisation inevitably produces waste. In discussing what it means to live in a disposable society, Eric and Louis imagine what it must have been like to have once worked in a fax machine factory.…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss take time out of their somewhat busy schedules to talk about Hartmut Rosa's noted theory of 'social acceleration'. Rosa's (2003) article in the journal, Constellations, helps us make better sense of what it means to live in a high-speed society. Eric at one point in this episode recounts the time he gave …

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss explore Immanuel Wallerstein's influential and innovative approach to theorizing inequalities at a global level, which regards capitalism as a 'world-system' that is directly linked with colonialism. They also welcome onto the program a guest who you can either thank or blame for Eric having an academic c…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss entertain the possibility that one of the previous episodes they did wasted everyone's time. They have a chat about Justin Rosenberg's polemical argument that scholars are paying too much attention to the concept of globalization. Not only is it being used in theoretically problematic ways, perhaps it act…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss examine a sociological theory that some scholars believe is vital to understanding the social implications of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the hazards posed by anthropogenic global climate change: Ulrich Beck's noted theory of 'risk society'. Eric asks Louis in this episode if 'danger' is his middle…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss discuss how biometric technologies and cultures are transforming how borders are constituted and being experienced in the contemporary era. The text their discussion revolves around is Louise Amoore's (2006) article in Political Geography, titled, 'Biometric borders: Governing mobilities in the war on ter…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss pay yet another visit to their dear friend, Emile Durkheim. They have a chat about his noted work, the Division of Labour in Society, which advances thought-provoking ideas of how social order is maintained in the modern world. Eric laments something about this episode. He wishes he could have slipped in …

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss discuss how some sociologists have come to theorize the phenomenon of globalization. They do so by examining what’s come to be known as the ‘Great Globalization Debate’, as described by David Held et al.’s highly influential work, Global Transformations. Eric and Louis believe fans of the cult television …

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss look to unpack David Beer's article in New Media & Society, titled, 'Power through the Algorithm'. Beer's work theorizes how algorithmically driven media technologies affect our experience of social life and how power might be expressed in distinctive ways in the contemporary era. At one point in this epi…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss explore sociological understandings of race by examining Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer's article on 'What is Racial Domination? ' in the Du Bois Review. Desmond and Emirbayer articulate how race structures and affects people’s experience and they theorize how race informs power relations. To expla…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss have an in-depth chat about Shoshana's Zuboff's theory of 'surveillance capitalism', which postulates the existence of a new variant of capitalism that significantly involves the digital monitoring of people's behaviours. Eric and Louis mainly base their discussion on Zuboff's 2015 article in the Journal …

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss consider George Ritzer and Nathan Jurgenson's theory of prosumer capitalism as articulated in their article in the Journal of Consumer Culture. Ritzer and Jurgenson investigate how there might be something novel and unique about prosumption in the digital world, which signals a shift in the way capitalism…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss examine the concept of 'philanthrocapitalism' by considering a sociological critique of it by Linsey McGoey in Poetics. Philanthrocapitalism is a portmanteau of philanthropy and capitalism and it describes how the these two phenomena are thought to be increasingly linked to good effect in the contemporary…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss discuss the ambiguous legacy of Thomas Kuhn's work in the field of sociology by unpacking an article by Zaheer Baber in the Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. Some sociologists have used Kuhn's concepts to advance a social constructionist view of science. But Baber cautions us from wholly embracin…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss discuss Thomas Kuhn's noted work, the Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Kuhn puts forward a provocative theory of how scientific knowledge develops. While Eric and Louis ditch their old cheaply assembled recording setup for new microphones and an upgraded soundmixer, they try to preserve the essence of…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss have an introductory conversation about Patricia Hill Collins's work, Black Feminist Thought, which makes a notable contribution to standpoint theory. Through concepts like the' matrix of domination' and the 'interlocking nature of oppression', Collins sensitizes readers to the importance of considering o…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss examine Dorothy Smith's account of feminist standpoint theory. Smith's work problematizes the view that sociological forms of knowledge are uncritically objective, preferring instead to highlight the ways in which knowledge is situated and unevenly produced. At one point of the episode, Eric and Louis con…

In this episode. Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss examine some key ideas from Michel Foucault's text, Discipline and Punish, which provides an innovative account of how power has come to be covertly expressed in the modern world. To illustrate one of Foucault's ideas, Louis admits that he occasionally watches silly Youtube clips at work when he thinks no…

In this episode. Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss have a conversation about Michel Foucault’s unique theoretical understanding of power, which tries to unsettle how it is normally thought about. Eric and Louis explore how Foucault’s account of power highlights how it can be subtly expressed and how it can emanate from a multitude of different points. Mus…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss discuss Emile Durkheim's sociological study of suicide. In a conversation about a somber topic, Eric somehow manages to slip in a bad impersonation of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Louis does not follow suit and bizarrely refrains from performing impressions of any ageing Hollywood action stars. Music and sound …

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss unpack one of Emile Durkheim's most important contributions to the field of sociology, his concept of 'social facts'. This leads Eric and Louis to talk about a lot bizarre topics. Eric goes on a mini-rant about how he disapproves of people who lie on their beds with their shoes on. And Louis wants everyon…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss explore whether or not bureaucracies unfairly get a bum rap in sociology. This leads them to discuss Paul du Gay's thoughtprovoking argument about the virtues of bureaucracies in the contemporary modern world. Louis gets the opportunity in this episode to talk passionately about Australian politics, which…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss examine Max Weber's theory of bureaucracy. They discuss why it continues to have resonance in the 21st century and totally unprompted by anything or anyone and without a hint of sarcasm, they ponder if they might be the best sociology instructors in the entire world. Music and sound effects for this episo…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss discuss one of the most noteworthy texts in classical sociology, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' The Communist Manifesto. Eric somehow manages to slip in two awful impersonations of Gordon Ramsay. Music for this episode comes from various sources and is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License/the Cr…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss delve into Zygmunt Bauman's erudite account of sociology. They explore Bauman's fascinating argument that sociology should not be simply equated with common sense. Eric does more than one bad impression of Donald Trump in this episode. Music and sound effects for this episode comes from various sources an…

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss explore the introductory chapter of C Wright Mills's influential text, the Sociological Imagination. Our guest this week is Professor Paula Geldens, Executive Dean of the Justice & Society Unit at the University of South Australia (UniSA). Music and sound effects for this episode comes from various source…