Death presents itself as an asocial phenomenon. It is the ultimate moratorium of social relations and obligations – the moment when one’s existence ends. In this seminar, we will take on sociologizing this moment and the process leading to it. We will look at how death is socially and politically circumscribed: how the experience of dying, the medical and organizational management of death, and the very definition of what constitutes “death” are social, political, and legal constructions. Technologies that mediate the dying process, cultural and historical transitions that invest death with meaning, and social mechanisms of oppression and consent that determine when, how, and for what legitimate reason people die and are allowed to die will all be of primary interest to us.