We live in a deeply unequal world – one in which your education, wealth, power, and even health can be determined not by your intelligence or character, but by the social group you belong to. The study of these social inequalities has been central to Sociology right from its beginnings as a discipline.
In this module, you will learn how deep social divisions by gender, ethnicity, and social background really are, how they come about, and how they might be challenged. You will read what classical and cutting-edge sociology has to say about how and why inequality develops, and how it has been maintained. You will engage with important ongoing debates about how society should be organised, and what can be done about social divisions that seem so intractably engrained.
Inequality is one of the most important issues of our age. Barack Obama described it as “the defining challenge of our time”. And yet so much of the conversation about social inequalities is superficial and uninformed. At the end of this module, you will have a much deeper knowledge of the real issues that underly these debates, and of how sociological research and imagination can help us resolve them.
Lectures 8 hours, Workshops 16 hours , Seminars 8 hours
Exam (2 hours) Worth 60% of the total marks for the module
Policy briefing (1500 words) Worth 40% of the total marks for the module
Reassessment Method: Single instrument 100% written assessment (2,000 words)
For reading lists see the detailed module information on moodle
On successfully completing the module, students will be able to:
1) Critically examine sociological theories and research evidence on social inequality
2) Apply knowledge of sociological theories and research evidence to debates (including policy debates) on inequality by gender (and gender identity), ethnicity, social background, and ability/disability.
3) Critically evaluate the methods sociologists use to study inequality, and the strength of research evidence supporting a given proposition.
4) Effectively communicate about sociological evidence and theory relating to social inequalities to a variety of audiences (including academic and non-academic audiences), using a variety of forms.
5) Critically examine the importance of an intersectional perspective on inequality
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