SP314      Half Unit
Ethnicity, Race and Social Policy

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

The overarching theme of the course is to examine and explain the distribution of resources, opportunities and life chances of different social groups categorised by their ethnicity and race, while also considering how individual experience is mediated through other dimensions of identity such as social class, gender, and faith/religion. The course proceeds through conceptualising core notions of race, ethnicity, racism, discrimination, before examining questions around migration, citizenship, and belonging, integration, multiculturalism, and interculturalism. It then moves to examining inequalities in key social policy domains (settlement and housing, education, employment, and criminal justice) and assesses different policy approaches to ameliorate racialised inequalities, including positive action, affirmative action, diversity approaches, cultural competence/sensitivity/intelligence, and minority-only service provision. It uses an array of case studies in lectures and in classes/readings from all regions of the world with a mix of high, middle, and low-income contexts. 

15 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.

All teaching will be in accordance with the LSE Academic Code which specifies a "minimum of two hours taught contact time per week when the course is running in the Autumn Term (AT) and/or Winter Term (WT)". Social Policy courses are predominantly taught through a combination of in-person lectures and In person classes/seminars. Further information will be provided by the Course Convenor in the first lecture of the course.

While there is no set text for this course, those listed below are general textbooks and edited collections which are strongly recommended for background reading, although many have a primary British focus:

• Williams, F. (2021) Social Policy: A Critical and Intersectional Analysis. Oxford: Polity.
• Rattansi, A. (2020) Racism: A Very Short Introduction. Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Tajmazinani, A. A. (2021) Social Policy in the Islamic World. Basinsgtoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Murji, K. (2017) Racism, Policy and Politics. Bristol: Policy Press.
• Jivraj, S. amd Simpson, L. (eds) (2015) Ethnic Identity and Inequalities in Britain: the Dynmaics of Diversity. London: Policy Press.
• Sangeeta, C., Atkin, K., Craig, G. and Flynn, R. ( (2019) Understanding 'Race' and Ethnicity: Theory, History, Policy, Practice. Second Edition. Bristol: Policy Press.
• Bhattacharyya, G, et al. (2021) Empire's Endgame: Racism and the British State. London: Pluto Press. 
• Bulmer, M. and Solomos, J. (ed.) (1999) Racism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Back, L. and Solomos, J. (eds.) (2022) Theories of Race and Racism: A Reader. 3rd Edition. London: Routledge.

Exam (70%), duration: 180 Minutes in the Spring exam period

Continuous assessment (10%)

Essay (20%, 1500 words) in Autumn Term Week 7

• Class Participation (10%)
• Essay (20%)
• Digi-Exam (70%)