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Assistant Professor
Office Location(s): 4111 LSA Phone: 734.763.0066 slevitsk@umich.edu View Curriculum Vitae
Professor Levitsky’s research lies at the intersection of sociology of law, political sociology, and social movements. Her work considers the ways in which law and legal discourse are used as political resources in social reform movements, and the ways in which contemporary social welfare problems are changing cultural understandings of what types of social needs or interests ought to be protected as “rights” or “entitlements” in the U.S. context. She is currently working on several articles and a book manuscript based on a study of long-term care and the dynamics of political demandmaking. The study explores how individuals reconcile longstanding and deeply-held beliefs in “private” responsibility for long-term care provision, with a social reality in which dramatic shifts in household structure, health care provision, and gender norms make it difficult for many families to provide such care on their own. Drawing on a variety of qualitative methods, the study traces the conditions that shape how individuals view the state’s role in matters of health and economic security, as well as their willingness to translate private health care dilemmas into political demands.
