American middle classThough the American middle class does not have a definitive definition, contemporary social scientists have put forward several ostensibly congruent theories on it. Depending on the class model used, the middle class constitutes anywhere from 25% to 75% of households. One of the first major studies of the middle class in America was White Collar: The American Middle Classes, published in 1951 by sociologist C. Wright Mills. Later sociologists such as Dennis Gilbert of Hamilton College commonly divide the middle class into two sub-groups.
Transnational citizenshipTransnational citizenship is a political concept which would redefine traditional notions of citizenship and replaces an individual's singular national loyalties with the ability to belong to multiple nation states, as made visible in the political, cultural, social and economic realms. Unlike national citizenship, where individuals interact in such capacities with one sovereign state, transnational citizenship transcends pre-established territorial boundaries in order to create a modern meaning of "belonging" in an increasingly globalized society.
ShakiraShakira (), de son nom complet Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, née le à Barranquilla (Colombie), est une auteure-compositrice-interprète colombienne. Après avoir émergé sur la scène latino-américaine en se produisant dans les , elle connaît un succès international à partir de 2002 grâce au titre Whenever, Wherever et à l'album Laundry Service. Célèbre pour ses chansons mélangeant pop latino et musique du monde, elle est également renommée pour ses talents de danseuse qu'elle met à profit dans ses concerts et clips (danse orientale, merengue, tango).
Nouveaux mouvements sociauxL'expression nouveaux mouvements sociaux (NMS) fait référence aux nouvelles modalités d'action politique apparues dans les années 1960-70 (en France, pendant et après Mai 68) et qui rompaient avec le militantisme dans sa forme traditionnelle (syndicat ou parti). On inclut en général dans cette nouvelle catégorie politique et sociale le féminisme, l'environnementalisme et les mouvements qu'on appelle désormais LGBT.
Global digital divideThe global digital divide describes global disparities, primarily between developed and developing countries, in regards to access to computing and information resources such as the Internet and the opportunities derived from such access. As with a smaller unit of analysis, this gap describes an inequality that exists, referencing a global scale. The Internet is expanding very quickly, and not all countries—especially developing countries—can keep up with the constant changes.
Democratic globalizationDemocratic globalization is a social movement towards an institutional system of global democracy. One of its proponents is the British political thinker David Held. In the last decade, Held published a dozen books regarding the spread of democracy from territorially defined nation states to a system of global governance that encapsulates the entire world. For some, democratic mundialisation (from the French term mondialisation) is a variant of democratic globalisation stressing the need for the direct election of world leaders and members of global institutions by citizens worldwide; for others, it is just another name for democratic globalisation.
Corporate capitalismIn social science and economics, corporate capitalism is a capitalist marketplace characterized by the dominance of hierarchical and bureaucratic corporations. A large proportion of the economy of the United States and its labour market falls within corporate control. In the developed world, corporations dominate the marketplace, comprising 50% or more of all businesses. Those businesses which are not corporations contain the same bureaucratic structure of corporations, but there is usually a sole owner or group of owners who are liable to bankruptcy and criminal charges relating to their business.
