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SOC 190P: THE SOCIOLOGY OF DEATH, DYING, AND KILLING
Roi Livne
Ph.D Candidate
Department of Sociology, UC Berkeley
rlivne@berkeley.edu
Office hour:
Monday 12-2, or by appointment (472 Barrows)
Sign up here: http://wejoinin.com/sheets/inoln.
Death presents itself as an asocial phenomenon. It is the ultimate moratorium of social
relations and obligations – a moment where one’s existence ends. In this seminar, we
will take on sociologizing death. We will look at how death is socially and politically
circumscribed: how the experience of dying, the orchestration of killing, and the very
definition of what constitutes “death” are social, political, and legal constructions.
Technologies that mediate the dying process, cultural and historical transitions that
invest death with meaning, and social mechanisms of oppression and consent that
determine when, how, and for what legitimate reason people die and kill will all be of
primary interest to us.
The seminar is divided into three parts: “death,” “dying,” and “killing.” In the first part,
we will discuss death itself as a social, political, and historical phenomenon. We will
read Durkheimian analyses of the relationship between death, morality, and society,
observe how modernity changed the social meaning of death, look into capitalist
markets that have developed around death, and analyze the sociology of how death is
defined and determined. In the second part, we will focus on medical sociology literature
that analyzes how people die in the U.S. today. We will look at how new medical
technologies are raising ethical questions of prime existential importance: What is a life
worth living? When is it appropriate to give up curing patients? Who should make
decisions on withdrawing life-sustaining and life-prolonging treatments? Finally, in the
third part of the class, we will look at situations of killing. We will discuss when and
how organized killing is exercised as a necessary, legitimate, and even moral act.
Through this provocative juxtaposition of seemingly distinct cases of healthcare
delivery and mass killing, we will critically examine the social and political apparatuses
that pervade life and manage death.
CLASS REQUIREMENTS
SOC 190P is an advanced undergraduate seminar. This means two things: first, starting
on week three, you the students will run most of the classes. Second, you will not only
be evaluated based on your ability to read and understand the assigned readings, but
mainly based on your ability to produce a creative and original work of your own.
The class’s final assignment is writing a research paper, and most of what we will do
this semester is meant to help you write it. I encourage you to start thinking about a
topic of research as early as possible. If you plan to write on a topic that we reach only
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at the end of the semester, make sure you do the readings assigned on this topic in
advance and come to talk to me during office hours.
Starting on the fifth week of the semester, classes will be divided into two halves. In the
first hour, we will discuss the readings. Every week, discussion will be led by a group of
2-3 students (see “group presentations” below). In the second hour, 1-2 students will
present parts of their research project (see “class presentation” below).
Here are the assignments you will complete during the semester:
Active class participation (10% of the final grade)
Please come to class after having completed all of the required readings assigned for the
week. If you are shy and tend not to talk in class, try to make yourself comment at least
once every week. If you see that a few weeks have passed and you haven’t managed to
participate much, I recommend that you come and talk to me during office hours. There
is more than one way to show that you are following and engaging in the class, and
showing up to office hours is one of them.
Attendance: We meet only once a week, so every class accounts for 7% of our meetings.
A seminar’s success depends on the contributions of as many participants as possible.
When you present your work, or when the class focuses on a topic that has relevance to
your final paper, you will want as many people in the room, listening, talking, and
working together on the questions that concern you. As a courtesy to your peers, please
don’t miss classes. If you know you may have difficulties attending all classes during the
semester, please come talk to me in advance, so we can see if you can take the class. 3%
of your final grade will be deducted for each unexcused absence.
Weekly reflections on the readings (10%)
Starting on the second week, I will ask you to upload a short reflection on the week’s
readings to the course’s bspace website by Sunday at 5pm. Reflections should be around
100-200 words long. They will be accessible to all of the other seminar participants, and
I will ask you to read your classmates’ reflections before coming to class. In your
reflection, you can summarize the key ideas of the readings, raise questions, or highlight
points of disagreement between different readings. However, I suspect that the most
helpful exercise would be to use the readings to develop a research topic for your final
paper. Please feel free to use your 100-200 words for this purpose too. While I will not
grade these reflections very strictly, you will not get credit for reflections that show you
did not read what I assigned.
All in all, you are required to write 10 reflections during the semester.
Group Presentations (10%)
Every week, 2-3 students will be assigned to run the discussion during the first hour of
the class. Discussions should include two things: first, an overview of the readings that
we did for the week. Second, some additional components of your choice that relates to
the readings in some way or another: a discussion of a case study from the news, a short
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movie, a discussion of the optional readings assigned, etc. This is a group assignment,
and the entire group will have to cooperate in completing it. I would encourage you to
present on the topic you intend to write about in your final paper, although this is not
required. All in all, you should prepare to present and facilitate the discussion for about
20 minutes. Please come to my office hour to discuss your plans before you present.
Research proposal (20%)
On week 4, you will submit a research proposal outlining your proposed project for the
final paper. Proposals should be 2-4 double-spaced pages, written in font 12, with 1-inch
margins. They should present a clear topic and research question for your final paper,
which can be studied empirically by the end of the semester, and an explanation of your
method. The research proposal should connect your research question to at least two
readings (required or optional) from the syllabus and two other readings that are not
included in it. I will ask you to come to office hours to discuss your paper topic at least
once before the research proposal is due.
If you want to write on a topic that we will cover later in the semester, make sure you
do the readings ahead of time, so you can get ideas on how to frame your question and
research. I will comment on your research proposal, and I may ask you to revise and
resubmit it. When you complete your research proposal, I will ask you to upload it to
bspace, so the rest of the class can read it.
Research Presentation (10%)
Starting in the 5th week of the semester, we will have several research presentations
every week. Each of you will have about 20 minutes to present parts of your research
and discuss them with the rest of us. You are encouraged to use this time to share
problems that you’ve encountered, questions you are unsure about, or dilemmas you are
facing. This will be an excellent opportunity to get feedback, so use your time wisely.
Make sure you allow enough time for people to think and comment on your work
(preferably, 10 minutes). Before your presentation, you will be asked to upload an
updated version of your research proposal to the website, so the rest of us can be
prepared for the discussion.
Final Paper (40%)
The final paper is due on December 15. Papers should be about 12-15 double-spaced
pages long, excluding references, title pages, etc. I will accept longer papers in special
cases, but please let me know in advance. Papers should be structured as academic
research papers, have an introduction with a clear research question, a theoretical
analysis, a methods section, empirical section(s), and a conclusion. For examples of how
an academic paper should be structured, you can consult any of the journal articles
included in the syllabus (e.g. Zelizer, Quinn, Chan, Timmermans, Armstrong, etc). I do
not plan to give classes on writing, but if you’re having trouble with writing, please
come to see me during office hours. You are also welcome to share early drafts with me
and solicit preliminary comments.
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DEADLINES
October 3, Friday 3pm: Research proposals are due in my mailbox (410 Barrows).
December 15, Monday 3pm: Final paper is due in the very same box.
READING ASSIGNMENTS
All required readings are marked with an asterisk. Unmarked readings are optional, but
they may be helpful to you if you choose to write a paper on a relevant topic. If you
make a class presentation, expanding the discussion based on such an optional reading
may be helpful, although you’re not required to do that.
Books to purchase: (available at the Cal Student Store)
(1) Ariès, Phillip. 1976. Western Attitudes Towards Death: From the Middle Ages to the
Present. London: John Hopkins University Press.
(2) Mitford, Jessica. 1998. The American Way of Death (Revisited). New York: Vintage
Books.
The course reader is available in Copy Central, 2576 Bancroft (across the street from
the stairs by the Pacific Film Archive).
INTRODUCTION
Week 1 (September 8): Why Death? Why Now?
No Presentations
* Feifel, Herman. 1977. “Death in Contemporary America”, Pp. 3-12 in New Meanings of
Death, edited by Herman Feifel. New York: McGrew.
* Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. 1969. On Death and Dying. New York: MacMillan. Chapter 1:
“On the Fear of Death”; Chapter 11: “Reactions to the Seminar on Death and
Dying.”
Seale, Clive. 1998. Constructing Death: The Sociology of Dying and Bereavement. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. Pages 50-71.
PART 1: THS SOCIOLOGY OF DEATH ITSELF
Week 2 (September 15): Life, Death, and Society
No Presentations
* Durkheim, Emile. Suicide: A Study in Sociology. New York: Free Press. Pages 41-53,
208-223, 241-254.
* Klinenberg, Eric. 2001. “Dying Alone: The Social Production of Urban Isolation.”
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Ethnography 2(4): 501-531.
Marmot, Michael. 2004. Status Syndrome: How Social Standing Affects Our Health and
Longevity. New York: Owl Books. Chapter 8.
Durkheim, Emile. 1995. “The Notion of Soul” and “The Piacular Rites and The
Ambiguity of the Notion of the Sacred”, Pp. 242-275; 392-406, in The Elementary
Forms of Religious Life. New York: Free Press.
Seale, Clive. 1998. “Falling from Culture.” Pages 149-171 in his Constructing Death: The
Sociology of Dying and Bereavement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
--Class screening of the BBC Documentary “Life and Death at the Ambassador Hotel”
Recommended Prose: The Wall, by Jean-Paul Sartre; The Stranger, by Albert Camus
Week 3 (September 22): Defining Death
Class Presentation I
* Agamben, Giorgio. 1998. Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life. Stanford:
Stanford University Press. Pp. 160-165
* Lock, Margaret. 2002. Twice Dead: Organ Transplants and the Reinvention of Death.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Pages: 66-129, 235-258.
* Kaufman, Sharon. “Defining Death: Four Decades of Ambivalence.” Huffington Post
1.17.2014. (http://alturl.com/jj5ba)
Week 4 (September 29): Death and Modernity
Class Presentation II
2 Research Presentations
* Ariès, Phillip. 1976. Western Attitudes Towards Death: From the Middle Ages to the
Present. London: John Hopkins University Press.
Elias, Norbert. 1985. The Loneliness of the Dying. Oxford: Blackwell.
Zygmund Bauman. 1992. “Living with Death,” Pages 12-50 in Mortality, Immortality and
Other Life Strategies. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Recommended Prose: The Death of Ivan Ilyich, by Leo Tolstoy
Recommended Film: Angels in America, by Tony Kushner
*** Research Proposal Due: Friday, October 3, 2014, 3pm***
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Week 5 (October 6): Markets of Death and Deadly Markets
This class will take place at 350C Moffitt. During the second half of class, we will
have library instruction with Jim Ronningen
Class Presentation III
* Sandel, Michael J. 2012. “Markets in Life and Death,” Pages 131-162 in his What
Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets. New York: FSG.
* Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 2000. “The Global Traffic in Human Organs.” Current
Anthropology 41(2): 191-224.
* Zelizer, Viviana A. 1978. “Human Values and the Market: The Case of Life Insurance
and Death in Nineteenth-Century America.” American Journal of Sociology 84:
591-610.
Chan, Cheris Shun-Ching. 2009. “Creating a Market in the Presence of Cultural
Resistance: The Case of Life Insurance in China.” Theory and Society 38: 271-305
Quinn, Sarah. 2008. "The transformation of morals in markets: Death, benefits, and the
exchange of life insurance policies." American Journal of Sociology 114(3): 738-80.
Week 6 (October 13): The Monetary Value of Death
Class Presentation III
2 Research Presentations
* Mitford, Jessica. 1998. The American Way of Death (Revisited Edition). New York:
Vintage Books. Pages xi-xix, 1-100.
* Ashmore, Malcolm, Michael Mulkay, and Trevor Pinch. 1987. “Measuring the Quality
of Life: A Sociological Invention Concerning the Application of Economics to
Health Care.” Sociology 21(4): 541-564.
* Williams, Alan. 1987. “Measuring Quality of Life: A Comment.” Sociology 21(4): 565-6.
Carruthers, Bruce G. 2009. “Can Social Science Numbers Save Public Policy from
Politics? A Comment on W. Kip Viscusi’s “The devaluation of life.’” Regulation &
Governance 3(3): 287-290
Fourcade, Marion. 2009. “The Political Valuation of Life: A Comment on W. Kip
Viscusi’s ‘The Devaluation of Life.’” Regulation & Governance 3(3): 291-7.
The article they comment on is: Viscusi W. Kip. 2009. “The Devaluation of Life.”
Regulation & Governance 3(2): 103-27. Feel free to skim it.
Recommended Prose: Death with Interruptions, by José Saramago
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PART II: THE SOCIOLOGY OF DYING
Week 7 (October 20): The Medical Construction of the Dying Process
Class Presentation IV
2 Research Presentations
* Kaufman, Sharon. 2006. And a Time to Die: How American Hospitals Shape the End of
Life. New York: Scribner. Pages: 25-84, 95-146
Timmermans, Stefan 2005. “Death Brokering: Constructing Culturally Appropriate
Deaths, Sociology of Health and Illness 27(7): 993-1013
Recommended Film: Amour, by Michael Haneke
Recommended Prose: A Very Easy Death, by Simone de Beauvoir; “My Father’s Brain” by
Jonathan Franzen, in his book How to Be Alone.
Week 8 (October 27): Deaths that (don’t) Matter
Class Presentation V
2 Research Presentations
* Sudnow, David. 1967. Passing On. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Pages 33-116
* Armstrong, Elizabeth M., Daniel P. Carpenter, and Marie Hojnacki. 2013. “Whose
Deaths Matter? Mortality, Advocacy and Attention to Disease in the Mass
Media.” Pp. 158-176, in The Sociology of Health and Illness (9th edition), edited by P.
Conrad and V. Leiter. New York: Worth Publishers.
Recommended film: The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, by Cristi Puiu
Week 9 (November 3): Acute Care: Sociology at the Gates of Death
Class Presentation VI
2 Research presentations
* Zussman, Robert. 1993. Intensive Care: Medical Ethics and the Medical Profession.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pages: 99-171.
* Timmermans, Stefan. 1998. “Resuscitation Technology in the Emergency
Department: Towards a Dignified Death.” Sociology of Health and Illness 20(2):
144-67
* Watch the documentary: “Facing Death” (Frontline/PBS)
Timmermans, Stefan. 1996. Sudden Death and the Myth of CPR. Philadelphia: Temple
University Press.
Christakis, Nicholas. 1999. Death Foretold: Prophecy and Prognosis in Medical Care.
Chicago: Chicago University Press. Pages: xi-xxii, 1-60.
Anspach, Renee R. 1987. “Prognostic Conflict in Life-and-Death Decisions: The
Organization as an Ecology of Knowledge.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior
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28: 215-231
PART III: THE SOCIOLOGY OF KILLING
Week 10 (November 10): The Right to Kill and the Will to Die
Class Presentation IX
2 Research Presentations
* Anderson, Benedict R. 1991. Imagined Communities: Refections on the Origin and Spread
of Nationalism. New York: Verso. Pages 9-36.
* Foucault, Michel. 1990. “Right of Death and Power over Life”, Pp. 135-159 in History
of Sexuality Vol I. New York: Vintage.
Foucault, Michel. 2007. Security, Territory, Population. Lectures at the College De France
1977-1978. London: Palgrave/MacMillan. Pp. 87-114.
Week 11 (November 17): Genocide and Ethnic Cleansings: The Social Structure
of Killing
Class Presentation X
2 Research Presentations
* Browning, Christopher. 1996. “Daniel Goldhagen’s Willing Executioners.” (review
essay). History and Memory 8(1): 88-108.
* Tom Pessah. 2014. “Violent Representations: Hostile Indians and Civilized Wars in
Nineteenth-century USA.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 37(9). Forthcoming.
Arendt, Hannah. 2003. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. New York:
Penguin.
Ghassem-Fachandi, Parvis. 2012. Pogrom in Gujarat: Hindu Nationalism and Anti-Muslim
Violence in India. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Pp. 1-20.
Pappe, Ilan. 2001. “The Tantura Case in Israel: The Katz Research and Trial.” Journal of
Palestine Studies 30(3): 19-39.
Recommended film: The Act of Killing, by Joshua Oppenheimer, an anonymous director,
and Christine Cynn.
Week 12 (November 24): Capital Punishment
Class Presentation XI
2 Research Presentations
* Zimring Frank. 2003. The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment. Oxford:
Oxford University Press. Pp. 16-64.
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* Sarat, Austin. 2001. “The Role of the Jury in the Killing State”, Pp. 126-157 in When
the State Kills. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
* Alexander, Michelle. 2012. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color
Blindness. (Revised Edition). New York: The Free Press. Pp. 109-112.
Banner, Stuart. 2002. The Death Penalty: An American History. Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press.
Recommended Film: A Short Film about Killing, by Krzysztof Kieślowski
PRESENTATIONS MARATHON
Week 13 (December 1): Research Presentations
5 Research presentations
Week 14 (December 8): Research Presentations
Research Presentations (as many as needed)
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