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Semester 1

What's Wrong with Inequality? (PLIT10110)

Subject

Politics

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed 4 Politics courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses, and we cannot consider interdisciplinary courses or courses without sufficient Politics/Government/International Relations focus. **Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

What is wrong with inequality? Inequality is increasing in many parts of the globe. Politicians and economists are increasingly aware that inequality produces political and economic challenges. Yet inequality is also a moral matter. This course concentrates on understanding the moral considerations at the heart of our concern with equality and inequality. It introduces students to the most important contributions in recent moral and political philosophy on egalitarianism and emerging challenges in the struggle for equality. Students will be equipped with a comprehensive understanding of the central moral issues regarding equality and inequality. Who should we consider as equals? Should our concern with equality focus on distributing society's goods equally, or promoting egalitarian attitudes such as respect? Should we prioritise improving the condition of the worst-off, or ensure everyone has identical shares of society's goods? We will also consider radical critiques of the dominant egalitarian discourses, and explore how issues such as gender, race, and colonialism should affect our understanding of equality. This course will be particularly complementary to students taking Social Inequality and the Life Course (SCPL10020) as it will consider many of the fundamental moral and theoretical questions that inform our empirical investigation of social inequality.

Course Description

This course aims to introduce students to central debates in moral and political philosophy regarding equality. The goal is both to explore the important arguments regarding key issues in egalitarianism and also offer students opportunity to critique these from a range of alternative perspectives (such as critiques of egalitarianism from gender, race, and post-colonial theory). The course may vary from year to year, but typical topics include: 1) Equality for whom? Who should be included in our egalitarian concern? What are the boundaries of inclusion as a subject of equality? 2) Equality of what? What should egalitarians seek to distribute equally? Should egalitarians seek to equalise resources, access to advantage, capabilities, social primary goods, or opportunities for welfare? 3) Equality or Not? Does equality have intrinsic value? Is equality justified if it means making people equal by making everyone worse off? Instead of pursuing equality, should we prioritise the worst off, or ensure everyone has enough? Or should we shift our attention from distributive questions in equality and focus on egalitarian relationships in society such as respect and dignity. 4) Equality where? Should egalitarian reforms concentrate on individuals and their ethos, social institutions, or social groups? Is egalitarianism able to respond to claims of liberation and emancipation, and critiques from post-colonial, gender, and race perspectives?

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

Unless you are nominated on a Politics exchange agreement, visiting students are only permitted to enrol in one Politics course each, per semester, before the start of the relevant semester’s welcome period – and spaces on each course are limited so cannot be guaranteed for any student. Enrolment in a second Politics course will depend on whether there are still spaces available in the September Welcome Period, and cannot be guaranteed. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact staff within this subject area to ask for an exception to be made; all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. This is due to the limited number of spaces available in this very popular subject area.

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