Who makes your clothes? What are the materials with which they are made? Where do clothes come from and what are the conditions in which they are made? How do global politics affect the shape of fashion and how do the demands for clothing affect politics? How do we use clothes, and the tools of making more generally, to make statements, both personal and political? How do political and social norms affect our choices with regard to clothing? In this seminar, we will begin to address these questions, by thinking critically about the choices we make every day when we get dressed, and the ways in which these choices relate to the broader world around us. In doing so, we will explore the history of industrialization, the role(s) of clothing in global history, the political uses of clothing, and current interactions between the political economy of fashion and climate change. Students should come to the course ready to engage critically with their everyday decisions and the wider implications of these choices.
The Junior Seminars are intense writing seminars which focus on the research area of the faculty member teaching the course.
Junior seminars fulfill upper division requirements for the major.
Subfield: Comparative Politics
Political Science Majors of Junior and Senior status.