SO488      Half Unit
Social Scientific Analysis of Inequalities

This information is for the 2024/25 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Sam Friedman

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 30 hours across AT.



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

 

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

Formative coursework

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

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 (100%, 3000 words) in the WT.

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

Key facts

Department: Sociology

Total students 2023/24: Unavailable

Average class size 2023/24: Unavailable

Controlled access 2023/24: No

Value: Half 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