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The purpose of this course is to address the questions that are widely recognised as central to a social scientific university education, namely what sort of inequalities exist within modern society, why they persist, and how they are ‘internalised’ within individual human beings. It therefore deepens the social scientific understanding that students will have gained from previous social science courses

This course will provide students with the opportunity to examine: the philosophical underpinnings of the concept of social justice; inequalities of social class through the lens of classical sociological theory; the need for an integrated analysis of class, gender and ethnicity; and the role of identity politics in the present day in challenging inequalities. Case studies may include migration and cultural diversity in Australia, inequalities in the criminal justice system, the role of the mass media, and the development of neo-nationalism. Students are encouraged to develop their own perspectives on these issues, while maintaining a critical reflexivity.

On successful completion of this course students should be able to demonstrate:

1. analyse the philosophical underpinnings of the concept of social justice and sociological perspectives on inequalities of class, gender and ethnicity;
2. critically examine the role of identity politics in contemporary society;
3. apply sociological, philosophical and interdisciplinary perspectives to selected case studies of contemporary inequality, both in Australia and more widely;
4. apply intermediate level library and information-retrieval skills, including an ability to identify sources on a given topic independently.