Exploration of the social organization of taboo, stigmatized, or otherwise morally controversial markets. Examples include markets for alcohol and other drugs, sex work, gambling, adoption, domestic labor, blood, organs, eggs, sperm, genetic material, viaticals, and pollution rights. Examination of both empirical and normative studies of such exchanges, together with debates surrounding the creation, expansion, and regulation of these markets. Includes consideration of broader arguments about the scope and limits (if any) of the market as a social institution, and its relationship to other modes of exchange.
Department of Sociology