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Dr Sarah Goff

This course is available on the MSc in Gender, MSc in Gender, Development and Globalisation, MSc in Gender, Policy and Inequalities, MSc in Human Rights, MSc in Human Rights and Politics, MSc in Inequalities and Social Science and MSc in Political Theory. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access) and demand is typically very high. Priority is given to students in the MSc Political Theory programme, and students from outside this programme may not get a place.

This course is capped at 3 groups.

The course starts with the general questions of why equality matters and what is to be equalized. It then introduces some of the major debates in the contemporary egalitarian literature: equality of opportunity versus equality of outcome; luck egalitarianism versus relational equality; and equality versus sufficiency. Throughout the course, and particularly in the latter half, we consider concrete social problems and dilemmas faced by those who are committed to the ideal of equality. Topics covered this year include discrimination and policies that aim to reduce inequalities between social groups.

This course is delivered through a combination of seminars and lectures totalling a minimum of 20 hours in the Michaelmas Term. This year, some or all of this teaching will be delivered through a combination of online and on-campus lectures and seminars.

There will be a reading week in Week 6 of the MT for private study and assessment preparation.

Students will submit a short formative essay (up to 1500 words) and will be given feedback on this before submitting their assessed coursework.

Samantha Brennan, 'Feminist Ethics and Everyday Inequalities' Hypatia 24, 2009;  Derek Parfit, 'Equality and Priority' Ratio 10, 1997;  Ronald Dworkin, Sovereign Virtue: The Theory and Practice of Equality (Harvard University Press, 2000);  Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom (Oxford University Press, 1999);  Elizabeth Anderson, 'What is the Point of Equality?' Ethics 109, 1999;  Harry Frankfurt, ‘The Moral Irrelevance of Equality’ Public Affairs Quarterly (2000);  and Deborah Hellman, When is Discrimination Wrong? (Harvard University Press, 2011).

Essay (100%, 4500 words).

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.