The purpose of this study is to describe one permutation of the cultural logic of modern socio-economic structures through the example of bankruptcy in the United States. The PI will do so through a multi-site, multi-method approach, combining interviews with attorneys working on bankruptcy cases for a large Maryland firm, discussions with members of the U.S. House and Senate involved in the passage of recent bankruptcy reform legislation, and historical/archival research on bankruptcy petitions in the U.S. The result will be a fuller understanding of the social construction of debtor identity, and a clearer picture of the place of debt in the larger socioeconomic discourse.
