SOC 290 - Special Topics in Sociology

Credits: 3
Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.

Topic for Winter 2011:

SOC 290: Special Topics: Culture and Poverty (3). Some decades ago a number of social scientists came to argue that poverty is partially produced and maintained through culture. This view was criticized by other social scientists who argued that poverty is entirely a product of economic forces. Over the last decade, scholars in sociology, political science, anthropology, and related fields have carried on these debates. In this course, we work together as a research team, trying to resolve these questions. Does poverty reproduce itself culturally? To what extent and how does culture influence poverty? Is poverty, in the end, a cultural phenomenon? We approach these issues through producing critical studies of existing case analyses of poverty in the United States and in the developing world. Our goal in analyzing the case studies is to discern the extent (if any) and limits of culture’s role in contributing to poverty and “underdevelopment.” Finally, we are attentive to the implications of our findings for anti-poverty and development policy. NB: This course satisfies the social science requirement of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies minor if a student chooses one of the Latin American or Caribbean cases. Eastwood.