Syllabus
1. Course introduction. Defining inequality. Changing approaches to the study of inequality
2. "Human nature" and the imaginary of social inequalities
3. Is social stratification functional?
4. How to address inequalities? Between redistribution and recognition claims.
5. The end of the „grand“ narratives of class? The role of class in a globalizing world
6. Social class, symbolic boudaries and the concept of identity
7. Gendered and power relationships.
8. Parenting styles. How is inequality (re)produced in the families?
9. Social inequalities across the life course – cumulative disadvantage and life-course perspectives
10. Family structure and the reproduction of inequalities
11. Spatial dimensions of inequality
12. Axes of inequalities: care
Annotation
This course focuses on the critical discussion of various approaches to analysing social inequalities and key concepts addressed in the research on social stratification. It specifically examines ethnicity, gender and age as significant bases of social inequality in contemporary societies.
The course explores processes and mechanisms that cause unequal distribution of valued resources and opportunities and examines the means through which inequality develops and is legitimized. The course focuses on the intersectional analysis of (mainly but not only) categories of gender, ethnicity, and age to explore how structural inequality continues to organize human life.