How to Steal
Eugene Lang College Lib Arts: Sociology
CRN: 18023
Credits: 4
This field-based seminar explores the politics, ethics, and aesthetics of theft in a world where accumulation is sacred, dispossession is routine, and the line between private property and public good is drawn in blood. Students will critically examine what it means to steal—from whom, for whom, and why—through site visits and fieldwork in places where capital is hoarded and value is contested: corporate storefronts, grocery chains, museums, libraries, banks, and cultural institutions. We will ask: Is it possible to steal back what was already stolen? What does theft look like under capitalism, colonialism, and in everyday life? When is theft survival, protest, or care—and when is it violence, appropriation, or harm? Readings will span critical theory, political economy, abolitionist thought, and radical histories of expropriation and redistribution. Students will produce field journals, collective mappings, and speculative strategies for redistributing wealth, knowledge, and beauty. This is not a course in petty crime—it is a study in moral ambiguity, radical ethics, and imaginative justice.
College: Eugene Lang College Lib Arts (LC)
Department: Sociology (SOC)
Campus: New York City (GV)
Course Format: Seminar (R)
Modality: In-Person
Max Enrollment: 18
Add/Drop Deadline: September 9, 2025 (Tuesday)
Online Withdrawal Deadline: November 17, 2025 (Monday)
Seats Available: Yes
* Seats available but reserved for a specific population.
Status: Open*
* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 7:20pm EDT 4/18/2025