"Drugs" play a significant role in shaping contemporary expressions and representations of the self and social life; in the management of populations; in the production of markets and wars, and in the maintenance of inequality. Understood historically, drugs lend insight into the social construction of the licit and illicit; the boundaries of rich and poor; and the production and management of difference, desire, and disease. In this course, we will examine the fundamental questions drugs pose, especially as they relate to experience, culture, and capitalism.
3-5 units · Letter (ABCD/NP)
"Drugs" play a significant role in shaping contemporary expressions and representations of the self and social life; in the management of populations; in the production of markets and wars, and in the maintenance of inequality. Understood historically, drugs lend insight into the social construction of the licit and illicit; the boundaries of rich and poor; and the production and management of difference, desire, and disease. In this course, we will examine the fundamental questions drugs pose, especially as they relate to experience, culture, and capitalism.
Offered in Winter 2027 at Stanford University.