Division of Sociology
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
HS2008: Social Class and Inequality
AY 20014/15 Sem 2
Lecture: Wednesdays, 1030am-1230pm (HSS Auditorium)
Tutorials: Wednesdays, 130pm, 230pm (TR+65); 330pm, 430pm (TR+152)
A/P TEO You Yenn
Tel: 6316 8933
Email: yyteo@ntu.edu.sg
Mailbox: HSS05-32
Office: HSS-05-46 (consultations by appointment)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The contemporary context is one of rising wealth/income inequality and narrowing
social mobility. Class privilege or disadvantage and their reproduction shape
people’s wellbeing in profound ways. Addressing inequalities along class lines is a
challenge many societies, including our own, face.
In this course, we aim to better understand how class formation and inequalities
work, and how they might be ameliorated.
The course is divided into four parts: first, we ask what social class is and how
sociologists have approached its study. We also map out trends in inequality
globally and locally. Second, we turn to asking how class matters in shaping
people’s experiences in everyday life. Third, we investigate the various sites and
means through which class privilege/disadvantage are reproduced. Finally, we
consider recent movements against inequality and visions of a more equitable world.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
This is a class designed for Sociology majors with some background in classical
theories in Sociology.
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Students are expected to attend all classes and complete all required reading and
writing assignments in a timely manner. You are also expected to actively
participate in class discussions.
Students will be evaluated in these areas:
1. Reading memos (10%)
Please make sure all readings are completed by the time of our weekly lectures.
Over the course of the semester, you are required to submit FOUR memos on the
readings. Your memo should be between 400-500 words.
You can choose which weeks you want to submit a memo, but the memo submitted
has to be based on the readings for that week, i.e. if you submit a memo in Week 6,
they should be based on the readings assigned for Week 6.
In your memo, use the questions posed in the course outline to reflect on the authors’
main arguments. Also consider what sort of evidence they used, and how the
readings for that week relate to each other.
Please submit your memo via Turnitin by 10pm on Tuesday.
You will receive credit for each of the four memos that you turn in.
2. Team interviews/essay: How Class Matters (30%)
Due: March 10, 1pm (both hard and soft copies)
In this assignment, conduct two interviews and write an essay reflecting on how
class matters using your interview data.
In groups of 2 or 3 (formed within tutorial groups), interview 2 (or 3, if you have 3 in
your group) people who can be categorized as being of different class background.
Talk to them about their lived experiences in one of these areas: work/employment;
school/education; family; consumption/leisure; dreams/aspirations.
Write an essay, between 1800-2000 words, reflecting on how class matters to their
experiences.
Your essay should address the following (you may organize your essay generally in
the order of the questions posed below, but do NOT formulate your essay in the
form of Q&A):
-
What aspect of their experiences did you choose to focus on (i.e.
work/employment, etc)?
How did you decide whom to interview, i.e. what indicators/proxies of
“class” did you use?
2
-
-
-
What questions did you ask your interviewees? (Include a detailed list with
specific questions you asked)
Drawing from the readings in the course, or additional sociological sources,
what similarities and/or differences did you expect to find between your
respondents?
What were two or three main findings regarding how class matters? How do
the readings in this course help you interpret your findings (i.e. how do your
findings complement or depart from the theorists’ findings)?
If this were to be developed into a bigger project, what would you do
differently or similarly?
In addition to your team essay, you will each be asked to fill in a peer review form,
where you can reflect on the quality and fairness of your collaboration.
3. Attendance and participation (10%)
You should participate, ask questions, and challenge the material. The success of the
class depends on your active and informed engagement.
During class, please refrain from using your electronic devices for purposes other
than taking notes.
4. Final examination (50%)
The final examination will consist of essay questions, covering the entire semester’s
material. Students are expected to grasp key concepts and be able to use specific
examples discussed in the course to illustrate them.
OTHER CLASS POLICIES
Deadlines/penalties: Unless you have a legitimate and documented excuse for not
being able to turn in an assignment on time, deadlines will not be extended and late
assignments will result in lowered grades. Assignments turned in late will be
marked down by 1/2 of a letter grade per day. I require both hard and soft copies to
be turned in by the stipulated times.
Academic integrity: All members of the NTU community are responsible for
upholding the values of academic integrity in all academic undertakings. At the
beginning of the semester, students are required to submit a signed declaration
guaranteeing the originality of all graded and non-graded work throughout the
semester. Students are expected to have fully read current academic policies
regarding
academic
honesty
at
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/ai/ForStudents/Pages/index.aspx. I require all students to
submit their assignments via Turnitin.
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PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. JANUARY 14
Introduction to the course: requirements and
expectations
** NO TUTORIALS/READINGS FOR THE WEEK **
2. JANUARY 21
Sociologists study class and inequality
What questions do sociologists pose about social class and inequality? What are some
possible ways of measuring and tracking class and inequality? Why should we care about
class inequality?
•
•
Lareau, Annette. 2008. "Introduction: Taking Stock of Class." Pp. 3-24 in Social Class:
How does it work?, edited by A. Lareau and D. Conley. New York: Russell Sage
Foundation.
Gornick, Janet and Markus Jäntti. 2013. "Introduction." Pp. 1-47 in Income inequality:
economic disparities and the middle class in affluent countries, edited by J. Gornick and
M. Jäntti: Stanford University Press.
3. JANUARY 28
Class structure and inequality trends: wealth,
poverty, and everything in between
What are some global trends in income and wealth inequality? Why does it matter that
inequality is on the rise?
Film: Inequality for all (2013)
•
•
•
•
OECD. 2014. "Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising." Organisation of
Economic
Co-operation
and
Development.
http://www.oecd.org/social/soc/49170768.pdf
Stiglitz, Joseph E. 2013. "Inequality Is a Choice." in The New York Times. New York.
Standing, Guy. 2014. The Precariat. Contexts 13(4), 10-12.
Bhaskaran, Manu, Seng Chee Ho, Donald Low, Kim Song Tan, Sudhir Vadaketh,
and Lam Keong Yeoh. 2012. "Inequality and the Need for a New Social Compact."
Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore.
PART 2: HOW IS CLASS EXPERIENCED IN EVERYDAY LIVES?
4. FEBRUARY 4
Work and occupations
What are people’s experiences of work and how do they differ? How are different occupations
structured and rewarded differently, and with what consequences?
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•
•
Ehrenreich, Barbara. 2011. "Nickel-and-Dimed: On (not) Getting by in America." Pp.
136-146 in The inequality reader: Contemporary and foundational readings in race, class,
and gender, edited by D. Grusky and S. Szelényi: Westview Press.
Clawson, Dan and Naomi Gerstel. 2014. Unequal Time: Gender, Class, and Family in
Employment Schedules: Russell Sage Foundation. Introduction and Chapter 1.
5. FEBRUARY 11
Familial formation, leisure and consumption,
dreams and aspirations
How does class matter in shaping how people form and perform families? How does it shape
their leisure and consumption practices? How does class shape dreams and aspirations?
•
•
Clawson, Dan and Naomi Gerstel. 2014. Unequal Time: Gender, Class, and
Family in Employment Schedules: Russell Sage Foundation. Chapters 8 and 9.
Pugh, Allison J. 2009. Longing and belonging: Parents, children, and consumer culture.
University of California Press. Chapters 1, 3, and 5.
6. FEBRUARY 18
Class in the classroom
How does class matter in schools? How do kids from different class backgrounds experience
and enact class identitites at school? What roles do schools play in the construction of class
identities?
•
•
Bettie, Julie. 2000. Women without Class: Chicas, Cholas, Trash, and the
Presence/Absence of Class Identity. Signs 26(1), 1-35.
Khan, Shamus Rahman. 2011. Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul's
School. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. Introduction and Chp 2.
PART 3: HOW ARE CLASS INEQUALITIES REPRODUCED?
7. FEBRUARY 25
Revisiting
grand
theories:
exploitation, domination
capitalism,
What is the nature of capitalism? What are the underlying dynamics of contemporary
capitalist societies?
•
•
•
Marx, Karl. 2011. "Classes in Capitalism and Pre-Capitalism." Pp. 36-47 in The
inequality reader: Contemporary and foundational readings in race, class, and gender,
edited by D. Grusky and S. Szelényi. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Weber, Max. 2011. "Class, Status, Party." Pp. 56-67 in The inequality reader:
Contemporary and foundational readings in race, class, and gender, edited by D. Grusky
and S. Szelényi. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Wright, Erik Olin. 2005. "Conclusion: If "class" is the answer, what is the question."
Pp. 180-192 in Approaches to class analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
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•
Press.
Standing, Guy. 2011. The precariat: The new dangerous class. London and New York:
Bloomsbury Publishing. Chapter 2. (Also revisit short piece by Standing assigned in
Week 3).
** RECESS **
8. MARCH 11
Intersections: class doesn’t work alone
How can we think about class as a principle of division, but not the only one? How does it
interact with other principles of division, such as ethnicity, gender, and sexuality?
•
•
Collins, Patricia Hill. 2013. On Intellectual Activism. Philadephia: Temple University
Press. Chapter 19.
Khan, Shamus Rahman. 2011. Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul's
School. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. Chapter 4.
9. MARCH 18
Cultural capital and the reproduction of privilege
and disadvantage
What is cultural capital? How does the concept help us explain the reproduction of privilege
or disadvantage?
•
•
•
Lareau, Annette. 2002. "Invisible inequality: Social class and childrearing in black
families and white families." American Sociological Review 67: 747-776.
Macleod, Jay. 2011. "Ain't No Makin It: Leveled Aspirations in a Low-Income
Neighborhood." Pp. 567-583 in The inequality reader: Contemporary and foundational
readings in race, class, and gender, edited by D. Grusky and S. Szelényi: Westview
Press.
Khan, Shamus Rahman. 2011. Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul's
School. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. Chapter 1 and 5.
10. MARCH 25
States and policies
How do states shape class formation and inequalities? How does class matter in social policy?
How does social policy reduce or enhance class differences?
•
•
Hays, Sharon. 2011. "Flat Broke with Children: Women in the Age of Welfare
Reform." Pp. 196-207 in The inequality reader: Contemporary and foundational readings in
race, class, and gender, edited by D. Grusky and S. Szelényi. Boulder, Colorado:
Westview Press.
Teo, Youyenn. 2014. "Not everyone has maids: work-life balance policies and their
class differential effects in Singapore." Paper presented at XVIII International
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•
Sociological Association’s World Congress of Sociology, Yokohama, Japan.
Barr, Michael D. and Zlatko Skrbis. 2008. Constructing Singapore: Elitism, Ethnicity and
the Nation-Building project. Copenhagen: NIAS Press. Chapters 6-7.
** NO CLASS APRIL 1 **
PART 4: HOW DO CLASS INEQUALITIES MATTER FOR THE WORLD
TODAY?
11. APRIL 8
Alternative visions of the world
Do alternatives to inequality exist? What do they look like? How will they come about?
•
•
•
•
Low, Donald and Lam Keong Yeoh. 2014. "Beware the inequality trap." Pp. 113-119
in Hard Choices: Challenging the Singapore Consensus, edited by D. Low and S.
Vadaketh. Singapore: NUS Press.
Teo, Youyenn. 2015. "Interrogating the Limits of Welfare Reforms in Singapore."
Development and Change 46(1): 95-120.
Shanmugaratnam, Tharman. 2015. "Budget Speech 2015--Building Our Future,
Strengthening Social Security." Singapore: Ministry of Finance.
Ackerman, Bruce, Anne Alstott, and Philippe Van Parijs (ed.). 2006. Redesigning
Distribution: Basic Income and Stakeholder Grants as Cornerstones for an Egalitarian
Capitalism. Verso. Chapters 1 and 2.
12. APRIL 15
•
Review: what have we learnt? So what?
Catch up on readings
MAY 4
**FINAL EXAMINATION**
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Assignment Cover Sheet
Academic Year and Semester:
AY 14/15, Sem 2
Course code and Title:
HS2008, SOCIAL CLASS AND INEQUALITY
Student’s Name(s) (official):
__________________________________________
Course Coordinator’s Name:
TEO YOU YENN
Academic Dishonesty
All members of the NTU community are responsible for upholding the values of
academic integrity in all academic undertakings. Students should not plagiarise or
pass off as their own, the writing or ideas of another, without acknowledging or
crediting the source from which the ideas are taken. NTU takes a serious view of any
form of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic
dishonesty are considered serious offences for which disciplinary penalties will be
imposed.
Declaration
I have read and understood the NTU Academic Integrity Policy (available online at
http:// academicintegrity.ntu.edu.sg/policy/) and declare that all graded and nongraded assignments will be my/our group’s own work and will not involve
plagiarism or collusion. The sources of other people’s work will be appropriately
referenced. Quotation marks will be used around materials written verbatim from
other sources; citations will clearly indicate paraphrasing of other sources.
I will not submit any work for this course/module that is (in whole or part) graded
work for another course/module.
Student’s Signature: _____________________________
Date: ___________________
No assignments will be marked until the student has submitted this form.
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