A principal forbids same-sex prom dates. A community group tries to prohibit gender-neutral bathrooms. Despite growing acceptance of 2SLGBTQ+ rights, Canadian schools regularly become battlegrounds in clashes between students wishing to express their sexuality or gender identity and those who perceive this as a threat to their values.Making the Case clearly shows how Canadian law responds to “competing” human rights claims, when there is a clash between people asserting se...

“Am I safe here?” LGBTQ students ask this question every day within the school system. In this timely book, Donn Short treats students as the experts, asking them to shine a light on the marginalization and bullying faced by LGBTQ youth. They identify what makes a school safe – insightfully explaining that safety doesn’t come merely from security cameras and dress codes, but from a culture that values equity and social justice. The students reveal the reality of going to school in an envir...

Recent cases of teen suicide linked with homophobic bullying have thrust the issue of school safety into the national spotlight. In "Don't Be So Gay!" Queers, Bullying, and Making Schools Safe, Donn Short considers the effectiveness of safe-school legislation. Drawing on interviews with queer youth and their allies in the Toronto area, Short concludes that current legislation is more responsive than proactive. Moreover, cultural influences and peer pressure may be more powerful th...

Identity Economics provides an important and compelling new way to understand human behavior, revealing how our identities--and not just economic incentives--influence our decisions. In 1995, economist Rachel Kranton wrote future Nobel Prize-winner George Akerlof a letter insisting that his most recent paper was wrong. Identity, she argued, was the missing element that would help to explain why people--facing the same economic circumstances--would make different choices. This was ...

British social reformer Robert Owen once declared that "man is the creature of circumstances." A century and a half later, his famous words still ring true. While many adopt a fatalist approach, believing that their lot in life is inevitable, in fact a number of highly complex social factors determine the outcome of our socioeconomic status and integration into society. It may seem unfair, but the conditions into which we are born largely determine the various courses that our lives take. In...

Designed specifically for sociology of the family courses, this text examines the choices and constraints placed on individuals, relationships, and marriages in light of both family circumstances and societal expectations. Using an interdisciplinary approach that draws on the latest research in sociology, psychology, anthropology, and social history, the author explores emerging patterns in family life, including rising rates of cohabitation among both heterosexual and same-sex couples; trend...

In Violence Against Women, award-winning author Walter S. DeKeseredy offers a passionate but well-documented sociological overview of a sobering problem. He starts by outlining the scope of the challenge and debunks current attempts to label intimate violence as gender neutral. He then lays bare the structural practices that sustain this violence, leading to a discussion of long- and short-term policies to address the issue. DeKeseredy includes an examination of male complicity an...

Pundits and politicians often opine on the irrelevance of feminism and the women's movement today. Some commentators describe the state of feminism as "post-feminist," alongside equally questionable claims of Barack Obama's election as signaling a "post-racial" America. Modern Misogyny examines contemporary anti-feminism in a "post-feminist" era. It considers the widespread notion that the feminist movement has ended, in large part because the work of feminism has been completed. ...

Youth, Education, and Marginality: Local and Global Expressions is a close examination of the lives of marginalized young people in schools. Essays by scholars and educators provide international insights grounded in educational and community practice and policy. They cover the range and intersections of marginalization: poverty, Aboriginal cultures, immigrants and newcomers, gay/lesbian youth, rural—urban divides, mental health, and so forth. Presenting challenges faced by margin...

How much say should students have in shaping their schools' disciplinary cultures? Should they have the power to weigh in on contentious issues like favouritism, discrimination, ‘no hats’ rules, and zero tolerance? What if pupils disagree with their teachers and administrators on certain rules? Rebecca Raby reflects on how regulations are made, applied, and negotiated in educational settings in the accessibly written School Rules.Through an in-depth analysis of original da...

An all-too-popular explanation for why black students aren't doing better in school is their own use of the "acting white" slur to ridicule fellow blacks for taking advanced classes, doing schoolwork, and striving to earn high grades. Carefully reconsidering how and why black students have come to equate school success with whiteness, Integration Interrupted argues that when students understand race to be connected with achievement, it is a powerful lesson conveyed by schools, not...

Winner of the Outstanding Publication Award, Section on Aging and the Life Course, American Sociological AssociationSenior citizens from all walks of life face a gauntlet of physical, psychological, and social hurdles. But do the disadvantages some people accumulate over the course of their lives make their final years especially difficult? Or does the quality of life among poor and affluent seniors converge at some point? The End Game investigates whether persistent socio...