SYSTEMS OF INEQUALITY
Instructor: Tara Tober
Office Hours: Mondays 2-4, Cabell 503
Class Time: Monday & Wednesday 1-150
Class Location: Minor Hall 125
Teaching Assistants: Brice McKeever and Campbell Buie
Especially in light of the recent economic crisis, issues of inequality and poverty are important topics for
scholars, policymakers, and politicians. This course will examine the intersection of three predominant
systems of inequality (race, class, gender) in the US and abroad. We will discuss sociological theories of
inequality, investigating key research findings and their implications. We will examine how and to what
extent ascriptive characteristics impact a person's life chances, how social structures are produced and
reproduced, and how individuals are able or unable to negotiate these structures.
Required Texts:
David B. Grusky (ed.). 2008. Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective,
Third Edition. Boulder: Westview Press. (Note: it must be the 3rd edition). We will not be reading this
text in its entirety. However, it is an excellent resource for further reading if you are particularly
interested in any of the topics that we cover in this class.
Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild (eds.). 2002. Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex
Workers in the New Economy. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. 2003. Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial
Inequality in the United States. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
All texts are available at the UVA bookstore and are also available online.
Course Components:
Attendance and Participation in Section (15%)
Reading Responses (4 @ 5% each)
Final Essay Assignment (25%)
Exams (2 @ 20% each)
Description of Course Components:
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Attendance and Participation – Students are expected to attend lectures and section every
week. They are also expected to participate in section each week. Participation includes being
prepared for sections (i.e., reading the assigned materials) and contributing to discussion.
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Reading Responses – Students are expected to turn in four reading responses. Students must
use the guidelines for these responses that are posted on toolkit. Reading Responses are due at
the beginning of section and should cover that week’s readings. Reading Response 1 can be
turned in during week 1, 2, or 3. Reading Response 2 can be turned in during week 4, 5, or 7.
Reading Response 3 can be turned in during week 8, 9, or 10. Reading Response 4 can be turned
in during week 11, 12, or 13 (note the Monday due date for week 13). Responses will not be
accepted past the due date range. Please see the Semester Schedule calendar posted on collab
for due date details. Students are expected to properly cite the readings in their responses,
using APA format. Keep in mind that the Grusky reader is an edited volume (i.e., an anthology
of excerpts from previously published works) and should be cited as such.
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Exam #1 – The first exam will be held in class on Wednesday, Oct 7th.
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Essay Assignment – students will be given a choice of essay questions. Further details will be
given in class. Late essay assignments will be marked down by 2/3 of a letter grade for every
day they are late, including weekend days. For example, an A paper that is one day late will
receive a B+. This assignment is due in class on November 30th. Students are expected to
properly cite the readings in their essays, using APA format. Keep in mind that the Grusky
reader is an edited volume (i.e., an anthology of excerpts from previously published works) and
should be cited as such.
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Exam #2– The second exam will be in class, on Monday, December 7th.
Absences:
- Students will be evaluated separately for attendance and participation in section. Unexcused
absences will be given a zero. Excused absences include illness (with note from doctor), athletic
commitment (schedule should be given to TA at the beginning of the semester), or some type of
emergency (which will be dealt with on a case by case basis). Note: Your participation grade can
only be as high as your attendance grade. For example, it is not possible to have a C for
attendance, but an A for participation.
Course Schedule:
Wed, 8/26
Introduction to the Course
WEEK 1:
Mon, 8/31
Is There Inequality in America?
Read:
GR – Poverty, Work, and Policy: The United States in Comparative Perspective (327-339)
GR – Inequality in Earnings: Trends and Implications (61-66)
GR – Ain’t No Makin It: Leveled Aspirations in a Low Income Neighborhood (528-537
[stop at heading “Reproduction Theory Reconsidered” unless you would like to
read it], 539 [begin at “From Ethnography to Theory”] -542)
Wed. 9/2
How do we Measure Inequality?
Read:
GR – Measuring the Status of Occupations (187-190)
GR – Occupational Prestige in Comparative Perspective (191-194)
GR – Occupational Grading and Occupational Prestige (195-201)
WEEK 2:
Mon, 9/7 – Wed, 9/9
Measuring Inequality Continued: Social Mobility and Social Reproduction
Read:
Collab – “Intergenerational Social Mobility: The United States in Comparative
Perspective.”
Collab – “Generic Processes in the Reproduction of Inequality”
WEEK 3:
Mon, 9/14 - Wed, 9/16
Classical Theories of Inequality – Marx, Weber, Durkheim
Read:
GR – Marx (74-90)
GR – Weber (114-131)
GR – Durkheim (159-164)
GR – Some Principals of Stratification (30-32)
WEEK 4:
Mon, 9/21 – Wed, 9/23
The Bell Curve
Read:
COLLAB – A summary of The Bell Curve
COLLAB – Responses to The Bell Curve: Gould, Hauser, Duster, Taylor
GR – Inequality by Design (49-52)
Note: If you would like to do a reading response for this week’s readings,
there is a special set of questions posted on COLLAB
WEEK 5:
Mon, 9/28 - Wed, 9/30
Education – The Great Equalizer?
Read:
GR – The Process of Stratification (486-491, read up until “Path Coefficients”)
GR – Laureau, Introduction to Unequal Childhoods (926-935) read before COLLAB piece
COLLAB – Lareau’s Unequal Childhoods
WEEK 6:
Mon, 10/5 – Off for Fall Break!
Wed, 10/7 – Exam #1
WEEK 7:
Mon, 10/12 - Wed, 10/14
Inequality at the Extremes – the Upper Class
Read:
GR – The Ruling Class (268-274)
GR – The Power Elite (275-284)
GR – Who Rules America? (290-295)
GR – Bobos in Paradise (304-310)
WEEK 8:
Mon, 10/19 - Wed, 10/21
Inequality at the Extremes – the Under Class
Read:
GR – Nickel-and-Dimed (317-326)
GR – American Apartheid (349-358)
GR – Incarceration, Unemployment, and Inequality (388-392)
GR – Does Changing neighborhoods Change Lives? (393-399)
GR – Flat Broke With Children (407-416)
WEEK 9:
Mon, 10/26 - Wed, 10/28
Racial Inequality, Part I – The Interaction of Race and Class – How Interrelated Are They?
Read:
GR –The New Second Generation (658-669)
GR – Black Identities (669-672)
GR – Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? (673-677)
GR – Stereotype Threat and African-American Student Achievement (678-682)
GR – Black Wealth/White Wealth (709-715)
WEEK 10:
Mon, 11/2 - Wed, 11/4
Racial Inequality, Part II – Color-Blind Racism
Read: Racism without Racists, chapters 1-9. If you were offended by or disagree with
this book, I strongly suggest you read chapter 10, which responds to questions the
author received from readers.
WEEK 11:
Mon, 11/9 - Wed, 11/11
Gender Inequality, Part I – Inequality in the Workplace and at Home
Read:
GR – Is the Opt-Out Hypothesis Convincing? (739-746)
GR – Orchestrating Impartiality (747-758)
GR – Getting A Job (759-769)
GR – Rethinking Employment Discrimination and Its Remedies (770-777)
GR – The Gender Pay Gap (843- 859)
WEEK 12:
Mon, 11/16 - Wed, 11/18
Gender Inequality, Part II – Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers
Read: Global Woman: 1-54, 85-168, 190-229
WEEK 13:
Mon, 11/23
Heterosexism and Heteronormativity
Read:
COLLAB – “Dude You’re a Fag”
COLLAB – “Family Relationships of Lesbians and Gay Men”
Recommended Reading:
COLLAB – “Trading on Heterosexuality”
Wed, 11/25 – Off for Thanksgiving Break!
WEEK 14:
Mon, 11/30 - Wed, 12/2
Consequences of Inequality
Read:
GR – Health, Income, and Inequality (904-912)
GR – Social Justice and Social Divisions (1016- 1022)
GR – Globalism’s Discontents (1036-1043)
GR – The New Geography of Global Income Inequality (1044-1055)
GR – Does Poverty Cause Terrorism? (1056-1062)
Essay Assignment due in class on Monday, November 30th
WEEK 15:
Mon, 12/7 – Exam #2