| Identity, Difference and Inequality

This course introduces key concepts and frameworks through which sociologists examine questions of belonging and inequalities in different human societies. It begins with the much-used concept of identity and situates it in relation to questions of individual and collective belonging and of social and political action. The readings will range on caste, race, gender, sexuality and ethnic identities. The course will then survey the debates on difference and inequality. It introduces the basic distinction that is often made, in social stratification studies, between difference and inequality and between ‘natural’ and ‘social’ inequalities. Students will be familiarized with the processes, institutions, and structures through which inequalities are produced and reproduced.

This segment will offer a general introduction to the course, and will describe the course for an audience that may not be familiar with the contours of that course. This segment could describe the following points: What is this course about? What does it cover? What are the key questions that are asked and explored in and through the course? Where does the course fit into the larger programme ?