Justice and Equality
GOVT 348
Spring 2022 not offered
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To what extent and in what ways does justice require that people have (roughly) equal life prospects? That issue has become increasingly urgent as inequality has increased rapidly during the last 40 years or so. Although inequality in the US has grown faster than in most other (already developed) countries, the increase in inequality is widespread. At the same time, at the global level there has been a reduction of inequality as economic growth has delivered hundreds of millions of people from deep poverty. This class will examine the relationship between equality and justice. Our principal concern will be to assess how, in what ways, and among whom justice requires equality, but we will also look at the dynamics of inequality--how inequality has developed historically, the factors explaining the recent surge of inequality within countries while equality of life prospects has lessened globally, how growing inequality may be affecting domestic politics, and the policies that could address the issue of equality. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS GOVT |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (GOVT)(GOVT-Theory) |
Major Readings:
: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Major readings have not yet been finalized. The following list represents the type and range of works that may be included.
John Rawls, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement
Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia
Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Spirit Level: Why Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better
Dean Baker, How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy were Structured to Make the Rich Richer
Branko Milanovic, Global Inequality
Walter Scheidel, The Great Leveler: Violence and the History in Inequality from the Stone Age to the 21st Century
Jan-Werner Muller, What is Populism?
Yascha Mounk, The Age of Responsibility
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Examinations and Assignments:
Examination and Assignments:
Assignments:
two 6-8 pp papers
term paper
final exercise |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
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