Course syllabus

Equality and Inequality: Anthropological Perspectives

Issues of equality and inequality affect all of us, both in the details of our everyday lives and in our general understandings of who we are and how we fit in the societies in which we live. In this course we will explore the causes, consequences and forms of equality and inequality from a comparative perspective. We will consider whether there are egalitarian societies and whether inequality is inevitable. The course will cover types of inequality such as gender inequality, forms of leadership, peasant inequality, caste, and social class, as well as differences between economic and political equality, and between equality of opportunity and equality of results.

Course Personnel

​Lectures

Tuesdays 4-6pm in Room 032, Clock Tower Building

Wednesdays 11am-12noon in Room 315, Arts 1 Building

Course Readings

Students are required to read Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction by James Fulcher (Oxford University Press, 2004). As the title suggests, this is a very accessible, and very short, introduction to capitalism. Copies of the book are available for sale at the University Bookshop. The book is also available in electronic form through the Library’s website.

Other course readings will be available online.

Assessment