Global Social Stratification and Inequality

Curriculum Guideline

Effective Date:
Course
Discontinued
No
Course Code
SOCI 2265
Descriptive
Global Social Stratification and Inequality
Department
Sociology
Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
Not Specified
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15 Weeks
Max Class Size
35
Course Designation
None
Industry Designation
None
Contact Hours

Lecture: 2 hours/week

and

Seminar: 2 hours/week

Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Learning Activities

In this course students will engage in a variety of learning activities including attending lectures, participation in class discussions, group discussions, debates, individual and group presentations, reflections, in class reading assignments, group assignments and take-home assignments.

 

Course Description
This course explores the causes and consequences of social stratification. It discusses the types and functions of social stratification in local and global contexts. It elucidates key historical and contemporary factors responsible for the formation and stabilization of social hierarchies. The course also introduces types and forms of opposition and resistance to local and global institutional and social policies and practices that create and expand inequalities at global, local and grassroots levels.
Course Content
  • Introduction to social stratification and inequality
  • Critical views on social stratification and inequality
  • Social stratification and inequality in local and global contexts
  • Social stratification, inequality, and poverty
  • Caste, estate, and slavery
  • Solutions to social stratification and inequality: Debates on welfare and global aid
  • Gender stratification and inequality in a global and local context
  • Stratification by race and anti-racism
  • Global governance, bilateral agencies, and global stratification
  • The World Bank, IMF, and global stratification
  • WTO and global stratification
  • BRICS and global stratification
  • Neo-liberalism, protectionism, and global stratification
  • Free trade, fair-trade and global stratification
  • Migration, migrants, and social stratification

 

 

 

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Understand the causes and consequences of social stratification and inequality from a critical sociological perspective.
  • Apply sociological theories of social stratification to case studies.
  • Understand types and functions of social stratification and inequality at local and global levels.
  • Outline key concepts in the study of global and local stratification and inequality including poverty, social mobility, racism, anti-racism, antisemitism, gender, caste and slavery, capitalism, neo-liberalism, and free trade.
  • Analyse how resources such as income and wealth are distributed including causes and consequences.
  • Outline the roles that powerful states, multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and transnational institutions play in global and local stratification processes.
  • Compare forms and types of opposition and resistance to social divisions at local and global contexts.
  • Discuss a range of mechanisms and approaches utilized to reduce inequalities at local and global levels.
  • Locate, evaluate, and use relevant literature including proper citation and acknowledgement of sources.

 

 

 

Means of Assessment

Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. An evaluation schedule is presented at the beginning of the course.  This is a graded course. 

Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in the course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.

Example evaluation scheme:

Attendance and class participation (10%)

In-class assignments (20%)

Midterm (20%)

Take-home assignment (20%)

Final exam (30%)

Textbook Materials

Textbooks and materials are to be purchased by students. A list of required readings, textbooks and materials is provided for students at the beginning of the semester. Example text:

Platt, Lucinda. 2019. Understanding Inequalities: Stratification and Difference. Latest Edition. Wiley Publishing.

Grusky, David. 2019. Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective. Routledge.

 

Prerequisites

 SOCI 1125 or SOCI 1155

 

 

Corequisites