Syllabus query

Go to Search Create/Download PDF View schedule

 Catalan
 English
 Spanish

Academic Year/course: 2021/22

8055 - Master of Research in Sociology and

Demography
31208 - Analysis of Social Inequalities

Syllabus Information
Academic Course:
2021/22
Academic Center:
805 - Masters Centre of the Department of Political and Social Sciences
Study:
8055 - Master of Research in Sociology and Demography
Subject:
31208 - Analysis of Social Inequalities
Credits:
5.0
Course:
1
Teaching languages:

Theory: Group 1: English

Teachers:
Silvia Maja Melzer
Teaching Period:
First Quarter
Schedule:
Go to calendars and timetables

Presentation
Analysis of Social Inequalities will be online this year
Inequality has resurfaced as a prominent topic in both academic and societal
debates. Economic differences have increased in many OECD countries and
there is more attention for the concentration of income and wealth among a
small group of people: the so-called one percent. Whereas some “traditionally”
disadvantaged groups are experiencing rapid improvements in their position in
society (e.g. sexual minorities), gains are less dramatic (e.g. women) or not
always noticeable for others (e.g. ethnic minorities and working class families).

In this course, we will cover to what extent inequalities have indeed changed
over time and how they differ across countries. We will discuss some of the
societal developments often held responsible for these developments such as
globalization, changes in the labor market, as well as demographic changes.
This discussion of recent themes will be backed-up by an overview of the
traditional tools and measures used by sociologists to measure and analyze
inequality. Sociological approaches will be regularly complemented by insights
from economics.

The aim of this course is to make students familiar with sociological academic
research, to be able to judge existing academic research, to ask critical
questions, and to contribute to societal debates in an academically informed
manner.

The first part of the course will focus on how to measure and analyze the extent
of inequality as well as their trends over time. Themes covered include the
philosophical foundations of inequality research; the measurement of inequality
and poverty; trends in income and wealth inequality; the concept and use of
social class in sociological research; and social mobility.

The second part of the course focuses on the mechanisms and ambits that are
central to understanding how inequality is produced between groups in society.
Topics include: inequality of opportunity and the role of families, schools, and
neighborhoods; discrimination; and the role of demographic factors in the
creation of inequalities.

Associated skills
General competences:

• A thorough understanding of the basic conceptual frameworks

employed in inequality research
• Familiarity with the measurement and methods used to examine
inequalities and poverty
• The ability to conduct research using micro-data

Specific competences:

• Ability to evaluate research on inequalities from sociology,

demography and economics.
• Ability to contribute to social debates on prominent issues
• Ability to ask sociologically informed questions

Prerequisites
None, but students are expected to have read the mandatory readings of
session 1 before the course starts.

Contents
Contents

The contents of the course are divided in two major parts. The first
block of lectures deals with the study of stratification and social
inequality in general, as it has developed during the last decades. The
focus in this part is, firstly, on the philosophical and methodological
bases of research on economic inequalities. Secondly, this part will
introduce the essential elements of the analysis of inequalities between
occupational social classes, intergenerational mobility and inequality in
income and wealth. The second part of the course will focus on the
analysis of the mechanisms producing social inequalities, it will focus
on the main spheres within society within which inequality is created
and how these have changed over time. Special attention will be paid
to currently prominent themes such as the accumulation of privileges
at the top of society and discrimination.

Part I: The Study of Social Stratification

Session 1: The philosophical bases of the study of inequality

In this introductory meeting, the aim is twofold. Firstly, we give an
overview of the course and how the different sessions connect and
inform each other. Secondly, students will be introduced to some of
the classic themes in the philosophical debate on inequality - this
introduction will be essential to fully understand the normative
implications of the different conceptions of inequality and its
measurement.
In this first meeting, seminar attendants will be asked to form 8
research groups with the aim of working collectively towards making a
presentation in one of the following eight sessions on the corresponding
topic for that session.

Mandatory Readings

 Sen, A. (1992) Inequality Reexamined. Oxford: Oxford

University Press. [the following chapters: Introduction
Questions and Themes; 1. Equality of What; 2. Freedom,
Achievement and Resources]
 Marmot, M. (2015). The health gap: The challenge of an
unequal world. Bloomsbury. [the following chapters: 1.The
organization of Miser; 2. Whose Responsibility?, 3. Fair Society,
Healthy Lives]
 Brown H. (2020). Understanding the role of policy on
inequalities in the intergenerational correlation in health and
wages: Evidence from the UK from 1991–2017. PLOS
ONE 15(6): e0234737

Additional Readings

 Dworkin, R. (2000) Sovereign Virtue. Cambridge: Harvard

University Press. [the following chapters: 1 Equality of Welfare;
2 Equality of Resources; 3 The place of Liberty]
 Roemer, J. (2011) Equality: Its justification, nature and
domain'. Pp 23-38 in Handbook of Economic Inequality. Oxford:
Oxford University Press

Session 2. Trends in Income and Wealth Inequality

Income and wealth inequality have received renewed interest by social

scientists over the last two decades. In many countries, both have
increased dramatically and have been held responsible for a wide
variety of societal developments. In this session we review and discuss
trends in economic inequality in OECD countries and discuss some of
the narratives that are on offer to explain these.

Mandatory Readings

 Brandolini, A. & Smeeding, T.M. (2008) Income Inequality in

Richer and OECD Countries'. in: The Oxford Handbook of
Economic Inequality. Pp. 71-100; Oxford: Oxford University
Press (draft).
  Pikkety, T. (2014) Capital in the 21st Century. Chapter 12:
Global Inequality of Wealth in the Twenty-First Century. Pages
430-452. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Additional Readings

 Esping-Andersen, G. and Myles, J. (2011). Economic Inequality

and the Welfare State. Chapter 14 in The Oxford Handbook of
Economic Inequality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Blau, F.D. & Kahn, L.M. (2011). Inequality and Earnings
Distribution'. Chapter 8 in The Oxford Handbook of 3 de
6 Economic Inequality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Oesch, D., & Menes, J. R. (2011). Upgrading or polarization
Occupational change in Britain, Germany, Spain and
Switzerland, 1990-2008. Socio-Economic Review, 9 (3): 503-
531.
 Redbird, Beth, and David B. Grusky (2016). Distributional
Effects of the Great Recession: Where Has All the Sociology
Gone. Annual Review of Sociology, 42, 185-215.
 Nolan, B. & Marx, I. (2011) Economic Inequality, Poverty, and
Social Exclusion. Handbook of Economic Inequality. Oxford:
Oxford University Press
 Pew Research Centre: The Many ways to Measure Economic
Inequality. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-
tank/2015/09/22/the-many-ways-to-measure-economic-
inequality/
 Stephen Jenkins and Philippe van Kerm (2011) The
measurement of economic inequality. Pp. 40-54; Sections 1-4
only. Handbook of Economic Inequality. Oxford: Oxford
University Press
 Whelan, C. T., Layte, R., & Maître, B. (2004). Understanding
the mismatch between income poverty and deprivation: a
dynamic comparative analysis. European Sociological Review,
20(4), 287-302.

Session 3. Social Class: The Rise and Fall of a Concept

This week we will discuss the concept most closely associated to

sociological inequality research: social class. The concept is normally
used to describe different groups of people that share similar roles
within a capitalist economy. In its most classical conception it was used
to distinguish between those with and without capital. It has been
argued that membership of such a class is a crucial trait that has an
important influence on people's opportunities, living conditions, or
even taste for music or food. In the last decades many sociologists
have been involved in a discussion whether the concept of social class
is still relevant for people's lives, or whether other traits such as income
and education are more relevant today.

Mandatory readings:

 Weeden, K.A. and Grusky, D.B. (2012). The Three Worlds of

Inequality. American Journal of Sociology, 117, 1723-1785.
 Weeden, K.A. (2002). Why do some occupations pay more than
others? Social closure and earnings inequality in the United
States. American Journal of Sociology, 108, 55-101.
 Bourdieu, 1984 [1979]. Chapter 1: A Social Critique of the
Judgement of Taste. In: Bourdieu, 1984. Distinction: A Social
Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Routledge.

Additional readings:

 Chan, T.W. and Goldthorpe, J.H. ( 2007). Class and Status: The
Conceptual Distinction and its Empirical Relevance. American
Sociological Review, 72, 512-532.
 Weber, M., 1922. Class, status, party. In: Levine, R. (ed.).
(2006). Social Class and Stratification: Classis Statements and
Theoretical Debates (2nd edition). Lanham: Rowman &
Littlefield. Readable on Google Books.
 Wright, E.O., 1997. Class Analysis. In: Wright, E.O.,
(1997). Class Counts: Comparative Studies in Class
Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/Published%20writing/Class-
Counts-chapter-1.pdf

Session 4: Intergenerational mobility

So far we have concentrated on how well-off individuals are in society

and how such well-being is distributed across the population. In this
session we will move from so called cross-sectional inequality to the
study of inequality of opportunity.
Opportunities in life are highly dependent on one's social origins, and
it differs from country to country whether individuals from lower
socioeconomic backgrounds manage to do better than their parents,
also called social mobility. In this session we discuss approaches from
both sociology and economics to the study of income and occupational
mobility across generations.

Mandatory readings:
  Breen, R., & Jonsson, J. O. (2005). Inequality of opportunity in
comparative perspective: Recent research on educational
attainment and social mobility. Annual Review of Sociology, 31,
223-243.
 Torche, F. (2005) Unequal but fluid: Social mobility in Chile in
comparative perspective American Sociological 4 de 6 Review,
70(3): 422-450.
 Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black
Boys The Upshot, New York Times, 19th of March
2018. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/19/upsho
t/race-class-white-and-black-men.html

Additional readings:

 Blanden, J. (2013). Cross-country rankings in intergenerational

mobility: a comparison of approaches from economics and
sociology. Journal of Economic Surveys, 27(1), 38-73.
 Chetty, R., Grusky, D., Hell, M., Hendren, N., Manduca, R., &
Narang, J. (2017). The fading American dream: Trends in
absolute income mobility since 1940. Science, 356(6336), 398-
406.
 Engzell, P., Mood, C., Jonsson, J. O. (2020). It’s All about the
Parents: Inequality Transmission across Three Generations in
Sweden. Sociological Science 7: 242 - 267

Session 5: Research Design and Datasets in the Study of

Inequality

In this session we will discuss the various research designs employed

in the study of inequality. The variety of questions asked in the study
of inequality requires different types of research designs and datasets
which will be discussed in class.
We discuss various forms of longitudinal and cross-sectional datasets
that lend themselves for the study of inequality and its underlying
mechanisms.

Mandatory Readings:

 Firebaugh, G. (2008). Chapter 1. Seven Rules for Social

Research. Princeton University Press

Additional Readings:
  Bryman, A. (2012). Social Research Methods. 5th Edition.
Chapter 2, Chapter 7, Chapter 17

Part II. Searching for the Causal Mechanisms

Session 6: Inequality of Opportunity I: Families and Schools

In this session we discuss two of the main domains where children's

life opportunities are shaped: families and schools.
Families constitute the economic and social conditions during children's
early development, and home is the place where attitudes are formed.
Education is a key feature of modern societies and is often seen as the
main channel through which inequality of opportunity can be reduced.

Given that inequality of opportunity is an outcome that is central to

sociologists' interest in systematic differences in life outcomes, this
field of study has produced some of its central and most widely used
concepts such as, for instance, cultural and social capital. In this
session we look at how characteristics of families and educational
systems are related to life chances of individuals from disadvantaged
groups and how families with more socioeconomic resources often
manage to prevent their offspring from performing badly in educational
systems.

 Mandatory Readings:
 Bourdieu, P. (1986) The forms of capital', in: Richardson, J.
(Ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of
Education, New York: Greenwood
 Lareau, A. (2002). Invisible inequality: Social class and
childrearing in black families and white families. American
sociological review, 747-776.

Additional Readings:

 Bernardi, F. (2014). Compensatory advantage as a mechanism

of educational inequality: A regression discontinuity based on
month of birth. Sociology of Education, 87, 74-88.
 Coleman, J. S., (1988). Social Capital in the Creation of Human
Capital. American Journal of Sociology, 95-120. 5 de 6
 Heckman, J.J., 2006. Skill formation and the economics of
investing in disadvantaged children. Science, 312, 1900-1902.
 Jackson, M., Erikson, R., Goldthorpe, J. H., & Yaish, M. (2007).
Primary and secondary effects in class differentials in
 educational attainment: The transition to A-level courses in
England and Wales. Acta Sociologica, 50(3), 211-229.

Session 7: Inequality of Opportunity II: Household decisions

and bargaining processes

Besides families and schools, the third main domain within which
opportunities are shaped are neighborhoods.
Neighborhoods are important for social networks, access to public and
private resources, and can affect feelings of security and stress. We
discuss how the geographical concentration of disadvantage can cause
a spill-over of disadvantages from one to other domains.

Mandatory Readings:

 Lundberg, S., & Pollak, R. (1996). Bargaining and distribution in

marriage. The Journal of Economic

Perspectives, 10(4), 139–158.

 Natascha N. & Melzer, S.M. (2016). Explaining Gender

Inequalities that Follow Couple Migration. Journal of Marriage
and Family 78(4): 1063-1082.
 Hu, Y. (2019). What About Money? Earnings, Household
Financial Organization, and Housework. Journal of Marriage and
Family, 81(5), 1091-1109.

Additional readings:

 Deere, C.D. & Doss C.R. (2006). The gender asset gap: What
do we know and why does it matter? Feminist Economics, 12:1-
2, 1-50
 Abraham, M., Auspurg, K., Hinz, T. (2010).Migration Decisions
Within Dual-Earner Partnerships: A Test of Bargaining
Theory. Journal of Marriage and Family 72: 876 – 892
 Eismann, M., Henkens, K. & Kalmijn, M. (2019). Origins and
Mechanisms of Social Influences in Couples: The Case of
Retirement Decisions. European Sociological Review 35, 790–
80.

Session 8: Inequality of Opportunity III: Neighborhoods

Besides families and schools, the third main domain within which
opportunities are shaped are neighborhoods.
Neighborhoods are important for social networks, access to public and
private resources, and can affect feelings of security and stress. We
discuss how the geographical concentration of disadvantage can cause
a spill-over of disadvantages from one to other domains.

Mandatory Readings:

 Wilson, W.J. (1987). The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City,

the Underclass and Public Policy. Chicago: Chicago University
Press. (Chapter 2: Social Change and Social Dislocations in the
Inner City).
 Sharkey, P. (2010). The acute effect of local homicides on
children's cognitive performance. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, 107(26), 11733-11738.

Additional readings:

 Desmond, M. (2012). Eviction and the reproduction of urban

poverty. American Journal of Sociology, 118(1), 88-133.
 Edin, K. and Kefalas, M., (2011). Promises I Can Keep: Why
Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage. Berkeley (CA):
University of California Press. Chapter 1.
 Sharkey, P., & Faber, J. W. (2014). Where, when, why, and for
whom do residential contexts matter Moving away from the
dichotomous understanding of neighborhood effects. Annual
Review of Sociology, 40, 559-579.

Session 9: Inequality of Opportunity III: Workplaces

Inequalities at the labor market have been explained for a long time
mainly focusing on individual differences. More recent research is
driven by the understanding that all crucial decisions regarding
employment, earnings, and the location of employees in jobs occur
within workplaces. Such decisions usually take place within social
interactions, as job interviews, and are dependent on two parties: the
employee and the employer usually embodied though a supervisor or
manager. With the focus on processes within workplaces and the
interplay of employers’ and employees’ decisions the research focuses
on workplaces provides a new avenue to broaden our empirical and
theoretical understanding on the genesis of social inequality. In this
session we discuss how social inequality is influenced by the interplay
of employees’ and employers’ choices. We discuss mechanisms behind
labor market segregation and which policies and practices could help
politicians to combat discrimination more effectively.

Mandatory Readings:

 Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald and Dustin Avent-Holt.(2019).

Relational Inequalities. An Organizational Approach. Oxford
University Press. [the following chapters: 1.Generating
inequalities (entire chapter p. 1-16); 2. Observing Inequalities
(entire chapter p. 19-41); 3. Relational Inequality Theory
(entire chapter p. 43-67)]

Additional Readings:

 Avent-Holt, Dustin and Donald Tomaskovic-Devey. (2012).

Relational Inequality: Gender Earnings Inequality in U.S. and
Japanese Manufacturing Plants in the Early 1980s. Social
Forces 91(1):157-180.Esping Andersen, G. (2007). Sociological
explanations of changing income distributions, American
Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 50: 639-58.
 Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald, Martin Hällsten, and Dustin Avent-
Holt. (2015). "Where do Immigrants Fare Worse? Modeling
Workplace Wage Gap Variation with Longitudinal Employer-
Employee Data." American Journal of Sociology 120(14):1095-
1143.
 Silvia Maja Melzer, Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Reinhard
Schunck, and Peter Jacobebbinghaus. (2018). A Relational
Inequality Approach to First- and Second-Generation Immigrant
Earnings in German Workplaces. Social Forces: 97(1): 91-128.

Session 10: Groups and Discrimination

The three classical' groups studied in sociology are defined by class,

gender and ethnicity. In this class we will discuss how different
disadvantaged groups experience discrimination and how their position
in society has changed over time. Some groups have experienced much
more rapid changes (sexual minorities), as compared to others (e.g.
ethnic minorities). We discuss how group boundaries are defined and
how they form obstacles for those involved.

Mandatory Readings:

 Alba, R. (2005). Bright vs. blurred boundaries: Second-

generation assimilation and exclusion in France, Germany, and
the United States. Ethnic and racial studies, 28(1), 20-49.
  England, P. (2010). The Gender Revolution: Uneven and
Stalled. Gender & Society, 24, 149.

Additional readings:

 Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg

more employable than Lakisha and Jamal A field experiment on
labor market discrimination. American economic review, 94(4),
991-1013.
 Goldin, C., & Rouse, C. (2000). Orchestrating impartiality: The
impact of" blind" auditions on female musicians. American
economic review, 90(4), 715-741.
 Heath, A. F., Rothon, C., & Kilpi, E. (2008). The second
generation in Western Europe: Education, unemployment, and
occupational attainment. Annu. Rev. Sociol, 34, 211-235.
 Rosenfeld, M. J. (2017). Moving a Mountain: The Extraordinary
Trajectory of Same-Sex Marriage Approval in the United
States. Socius, 3, 2378023117727658.

Teaching Methods
Each session will be organized as follows:

1. Lecture by the professor (about an hour and a half)

 Small break -

2) Presentation and debate moderated by speaker(s) of each “research group”

Evaluation
The students will obtain their credits and grade on the basis of the following
requirements:

1) Active participation in class: 15%

2) A final paper of ten pages (max) based on a small empirical study. 70%.
3) Group presentation of the day’s debate: 15% (15 minutes for each student
and 30 min for the joint discussion)

The paper needs to be sent in pdf, more detailed instructions and guidelines will
be provided in class. Late submissions will be penalized.
Participation in class will be encouraged and highly valued. The quality of
interventions will increase if the student covers not only the mandatory reading
but also the optional ones. In addition, each student will have to make a
collective presentation during the course as part of one of the 9 “research
groups” formed in week 1, one for each of the topics covered in the central
weeks of the course.

Bibliography and information resources

Readings can be downloaded on Moodle (Aula Global).