Deviance and Conformity

Foundational theories and methods in the study of deviance. Social construction of deviant categories. Role of social power and social order. Consequences of the deviant label and deviance of the powerful. Development of deviant identity and stigma management. Efforts to contest and transform deviant categories. SOC 94-8 Reproductive Labor, Institutions, and Power A wide variety of human labor directly and indirectly contributes to our survival as social beings. This course surveys various forms of paid and unpaid reproductive labor that reproduce us as social beings on a daily and generational basis. In our daily lives, reproductive labor can include activities such as childcare, household work, caring for sick family members, and schooling. The course investigates the topic of reproductive labor as intertwined with institutions (state, family, kinship networks) and power (class, race, caste, citizenship, and gender) in societies. The course will focus on the countries of the Global South, which are incorporated into global capitalism differentially and unequally, to understand how capitalist relations shape the practices of reproductive labor in these societies. Some specific themes that will be covered in the course include childcare, mental health, household work, food crisis due to climate change, and elderly care, among others. By the end of this course, students should be familiar with key theoretical frameworks to engage with reproductive labor and be able to examine social issues through them critically.