Social Psychology of Inequality - JSB762

• Title: Social Psychology of Inequality
• Czech title: Sociální psychologie nerovnosti
• Guaranteed by: Department of Sociology (23-KS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2023 to 2023
• Semester: summer
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:1/1, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: 25 / 25 (20)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Atefeh Bagherianziarat
• Teacher(s): Atefeh Bagherianziarat
• Class: Courses for incoming students

Annotation

Last update: Atefeh Bagherianziarat (05.02.2024)

In this course, students will explore the concept of social inequality, examining its various aspects and forms, as well as its impacts on individuals and societies. Additionally, we will delve into relevant theories and approaches for understanding social inequality, and discuss the role that social institutions, including policymakers, play in shaping and addressing it.

Aim of the course

Last update: Atefeh Bagherianziarat (26.02.2024)

·      Acquire familiarity with key concepts in the social psychology of inequality, including social class, stratification, social conflict, social cohesion, social comparison, relative deprivation, and social justice.

·      Develop a broad understanding of various forms of inequality such as economic, gender, race, and education inequalities, along with insights into their historical and contemporary trends worldwide.

·      Articulate analytically the construction and reconstruction of social inequality within societies and through different institutions.

·      Cultivate an understanding of how and why social inequality influences individual and collective behaviors.

·      Recognize the roles of institutions, government, sociology as a discipline, and their own informed agency in addressing and managing current social inequality.

Course completion requirements

Last update: Atefeh Bagherianziarat (05.02.2024)

The grading system will be based on a 60/40 distribution, where 40 points can be earned through the final exam and 60 points throughout the course. These 60 points will be allocated based on class participation, short presentations, and/or homework assignments that I will assign throughout the semester.
Furthermore, the final exam will be in the form of some open-ended questions derived from the content taught during the semester.

Literature

Last update: Atefeh Bagherianziarat (05.02.2024)

Hurst, C., Gibbon, H. F., & Nurse, A. (2016). Social inequality: Forms, causes, and consequences. Routledge.

Mills, C. W. (2018). The power elite. In Inequality in the 21st Century (pp. 80-88). Routledge.

The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger" by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (2011), Bloomsbury Publishing USA

The social psychology of inequality by Jetten, J., & Peters, K. (2019). Springer.

Capital in the twenty-first century by Piketty, T. (2014), Harvard University Press.

Teaching methods

Last update: Atefeh Bagherianziarat (26.02.2024)

Two sessions were dedicated to lectures and group discussions, accompanied by one seminar session. Each seminar involves three presentations, collaboratively prepared by groups of two students.

Requirements to the exam

Last update: Atefeh Bagherianziarat (28.04.2024)

The final exam for this course accounts for 40 points out of 100, assessing students' comprehension through open-ended and analytical questions based on the course content. To sit for the final exam, students must accumulate a minimum of 30 points out of the 60 available during the semester. These points can be earned through active participation in group discussions, delivering mini-conferences on select topics from the course, and completing mini-assignments as assigned throughout the term.

Find the sources of the exam through the following link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1t7aqZkcxdWsmofLpxbdlahNNTkdeJPkN

Syllabus

Last update: Atefeh Bagherianziarat (10.04.2024)

First and second sessions:  Understanding social inequality

- The outlook of social inequality in our world

- Definition of social inequality and relevant concepts

- Dimensions of social inequality

- Measuring social inequality

Third session: Seminar (Colonization and inequality; COVID-19 and inequality,…)

Fourth session: sociological explanations of social inequality  (functionalism, conflict, and symbolic interactionism)

Fifth session:  why and how is social inequality maintained? Language of inequality, status stereotypes, longevity of inequality, social mobility beliefs, perception of wealth distribution (Reading and analyzing activity)

Sixth session:  Seminar (Parenting and inequality;…)

Seventh session: Capital in the 21st Century by Thomas Piketty 

Eighth session: the social psychology of inequality: social anxiety, relative deprivation, status stress, class consciousness, etc.  (Reading and analyzing activity)

Ninth session: Seminar (digitalization and inequality; Parenting and inequality;…)

Tenth session:  Is social inequality inevitable? / welfare, taxation, and redistribution policies

Eleventh session:  Global inequality (Reading and analyzing activity)

Twelfth session: Seminar