Nepotism: Families, Status, and Wealth

Catalog description

Nepotism, or families awarding jobs and opportunities to their own, is widespread. So why do people favor their relatives - and why can't societies seem to stop them? When is family preference defensible, and when does it corrode public life? This course traces nepotism from its evolutionary roots in biology to its modern forms: family firms, political dynasties, legacy admissions, and elite social networks. We begin with the word's origin in the Renaissance papacy, where celibate popes gave Church offices to "nephews," and follow the practice across history, religion, economics, and politics, from Ottoman fratricide to bureaucratic examinations in China to Swedish corporations to contemporary university admissions in the United States. We will explore how biology matters, how hierarchies and religions have enforced family obligations, and how institutions from matriarchs to elementary schools to country clubs all transmit wealth, status, and privilege from generation to generation. Students will leave with a richer understanding of how advantage is created, transmitted, and justified across generations. Along the way, we will adjudicate social science explanations: what makes a scholarly account more powerful and convincing? We will examine how historical and sociological explanations differ, and which research methods are appropriate for studying social and political phenomena. My goal is not only a deeper understanding of the topic, but a set of rigorous analytical tools that will be useful in other classes at Stanford and well beyond. We will map arguments, learn how to deconstruct articles, and how to advance and present research findings.