DSOC 27A24 - From Disposition to Emotion:Social Reproduction across Generations

This course revisits one of the central questions of sociology: how and why is social life reproduced across generations? Our point of departure is the sociology of labor, youth, and education, where reproduction has classically been theorized in terms of dispositions, institutions, and capital. We then expand the frame by engaging global ethnographies of deindustrialization and decline, in which reproduction is threatened or interrupted. Here, students will encounter accounts of working-class communities in crisis, where generational transmission is marked as much by rejection or loss as by continuity. By pairing classic sociological studies of class reproduction with ethnographic and literary inquiries into intergenerational transmission, the course opens to perspectives from anthropology and affect theory, which foreground the emotional and existential attachments that sustain or undo social reproduction under conditions of decline, austerity, and class mobility. Learning Outcomes Through a global and historical comparative approach, students will gain a grounding in the sociology of class reproduction while also exploring more recent approaches that bridge structural analysis with ethnographic attention to lived experience, feeling, and horizon. The aim is twofold: first, to make sense of how societies reproduce themselves across generations even in the midst of rupture; and second, to reflect on what is at stake emotionally and affectively in producing attachments to and ruptures from a social order and the perpetuation of its hierarchies and obligations across time. Students successfully completing this seminar should: Be comfortable with core concepts such as habitus and capital (Bourdieu), cruel optimism (Berlant), manufacturing consent (Burawoy), and social non-reproduction (Jaquet). Gain familiarity with ethnographic methods, understanding how long-term fieldwork and narrative can ground abstract theories of class in lived experience and emic perspectives. Analyze how distinct historical case studies (France, US, Zambia, Chile) can be brought together to understand the global history of deindustrialization and post-Fordism. Move fluidly between structural analysis (economic and institutional forces) and affective analysis (feelings, attachments, emotional costs, and existential horizons) in explaining social hierarchy and change. Academic expectations Regular attendance and participation in all sessions. If you are confronting any issues that are impeding your studies this term, please reach out to me so we can help you find appropriate support. Preparation for all discussions by reading all assigned texts in advance. Meet all deadlines for assignments, as specified below. Attend office hours at least once during the semester, to discuss your final term paper and ongoing progress in the course. A link to book office hours will be share during the first class session.

Carolina IGLESIAS OTERO

Séminaire

English

Spring 2025-2026

- Response “Podcast” (30%) - In-class Outline Writing Exercise (15%): On Week 8, we will reserve 45 minutes of class time for an in-class, internet-free writing exercise in preparation for your final term paper. This exercise will be graded for clarity of thought and engagement with course materials rather than polish. - Term paper (45%): You will be required to write an 10-12 pages double-spaced paper. Final papers must be polished, fully referenced, free of mechanical errors, and with a coherent, critical narrative, and a clear framework of argument. - Class participation (10%): Active participation in discussions, evidence of having done the readings, and respectful engagement with your peers in our class sessions.