This concentration area will cover a key arena of contemporary debates on the role of inequality for social and political cohesion, economic and social sustainability. The concentration area runs over two semesters, with a two-hour unit running in summer semesters followed by four-hour units running in winter semesters. Although the two units are assessed separately, they should be interpreted as an integrated unit where lessons from the two-hour unit carry over to the four-hour unit course.

In this first semester, the concentration area will start with introducing students to standard work on the causes of earnings, wage and wealth inequality of and negative socio-economic consequences for individuals and society. It will then critically question and move beyond a narrow focus on individual or household income to various forms of group inequality (gender, ethnicity/race, territories, neighborhoods) and none-monetary forms of inequality, rounded off by discussions on power relations, the role of the media, and the decisive role of institutions.

In keeping with the requirements of a socio-economic approach, this requires a trans-disciplinary focus drawing not only on economics but also on sociology, political science, philosophy, political economy, feminist theory and geography.

Students may miss one session (and one of the short written assignments) without penalty.

There are four portions to students’ grades:

• Class participation: 20%
• Short written assignments: 30%
• Individual research idea: 10%, deadline: May 17, 2024
• Group project proposal: 40%, deadline: June 17, 2024