DSOC 1210 - FWS: Follow the Thing: Stories of Stuff in the Global Economy

Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

O. Warritay.

We live in an interconnected global economy, yet the links between production, consumption and waste are sometimes obscure. This course offers students an opportunity to reflect on where and how ‘things’ are made and consumed, and provides tools to construct compelling narratives about social problems in the global economy. Students will use basic commodity chain analysis to organize thoughts about actors, processes, spatial dimensions, and social issues relating to the production and consumption of a particular ‘thing’. The course will introduce prominent authors of globalization and commodity chain analysis and, through written assignments, students will relate their commodity of choice to topics such as labor, global governance, inequality and the environment.

Outcome 1: Writing assignments will oblige students to focus on constructing compelling narratives to explain complex problems in the global economy.

Outcome 2: Students will learn about subject matter in political economy, while also gleaning the importance of storytelling in social science research.