How to end the hook-up culture: An economic and institutional examination of the hook- up culture on college campuses
Abstract
The hook-up culture that exists amongst modern day college students is a well-documented
phenomenon in sociological, psychological, and gender studies research, but little
to no research exists examining such a culture from an economic or institutional perspective.
This paper provides a definitional summary of the literature on the hook-up culture,
examining its social norms, origins, and harms, and adds that the hook-up culture
can be conceptualized as an economic club good. Borrowing upon Gerry Mackie’s work,
it then argues that the hook-up culture can be viewed as a societal convention analogous
to the historic Chinese practice of footbinding and the modern day practice of Female
Genital Mutilation. Importantly, the author does not claim that the hook-up culture
harms men and women to the same degree as footbinding or FGM. Both footbinding and
FGM are degrees of magnitude more harmful and more demoralizing than the hook-up culture—and
it would be offensive to argue otherwise. Instead, the author’s point in making the
comparison is solely structural: when each of the three conventions persist, they
persist because those harmed cannot socially coordinate. Thus, to understand how to
end the hook-up culture, it is helpful to understand how similar conventions ended
(or could end). The paper then provides three frameworks for “solving” the harms the
hook-up culture propagates.
Description
Thesis granted Honors by the Duke Political Science Department (2014)
Type
Honors thesisDepartment
Political SciencePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/8470Provenance
Abstract revised in January 2021 at request of author and with approval from DUL administrators.
Citation
Strunk, Daniel (2014). How to end the hook-up culture: An economic and institutional examination of the hook-
up culture on college campuses. Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/8470.Collections
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