SO478     
Social Scientific Analysis of Inequalities

This information is for the 2023/24 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Sam Friedman STC S102

Availability

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Inequalities and Social Science. This course is not available as an outside option.

Course content

The course will consider interdisciplinary approaches to inequality, focusing on (a) how inequality can be conceptualised and explained, (b) how it can be measured and (c) ethical and political issues. Topics to be covered include patterns and trends in economic inequalities; gender, ethnicity, class and age; cultural aspects of inequality; social and intergenerational mobility; global and comparative perspectives; media representation of inequalities; ethical and philosophical approaches; the impact of government, law and social policy.

Teaching

This course is delivered through a combination of lectures, online materials and seminars totalling a minimum of 40 hours across AT and WT.

It is divided into blocks of related lectures and linked seminars.

Reading Weeks: Students on this course will have a reading week in AT Week 6 and WT Week 6, in line with departmental policy.

Formative coursework

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the AT and 1 presentation in the WT.

Indicative reading

Branko Milanovic, Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization (Harvard University Press, 2016)

Piketty, T.  A Short History of Equality (Harvard University Press, 2022)

Hartley Dean and Lucinda Platt, Social Advantage and Disadvantage (Oxford, 2016)

O'Neil, C. 2016 Weapons of Math Destruction. London: Allen Lane

Hickel, J. (2017) The Divide: A Brief Guild to Global Inequality and its Solutions. William Heinemann. London.

Federici, S. (2004) Caliban and the Witch: Women: The Body and Primitive Accumulation. New York. Autonomedia.

Savage, M., (2021) The Return of Inequality: Social Change and the Weight of the Past (Harvard UP).

Assessment

Essay (50%, 3000 words) in the WT.
Policy brief (50%) in the ST.

An electronic copy of the assessed essay, to be uploaded to Moodle, no later than 4.00pm on the submission day. The essay is due by the first day of Winter Term

An electronic copy of the assessed policy brief, to be uploaded to Moodle, no later than 4.00pm on the first Wednesday of Spring Term.

Attendance at all classes and submission of all set coursework is required.

Key facts

Department: Sociology

Total students 2022/23: 34

Average class size 2022/23: 17

Controlled access 2022/23: Yes

Lecture capture used 2022/23: Yes (MT & LT)

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course selection videos

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.

Personal development skills

  • Leadership
  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Application of information skills
  • Communication
  • Application of numeracy skills
  • Commercial awareness
  • Specialist skills