Syllabus SOC W 501 (A) Poverty and Inequality
Winter, 2008
Dr. Gunnar Almgren/ Dr. Diana Pearce
Class Meeting Times: Thursdays 6 p.m.-8:50 p.m., SSW Room 32
Office Hours: By Individual Appointment
Contact Information:
Dr. Almgren mukboy@u.washington.edu or 206-685-4077
Dr. Pearce pearce@u.washington.edu or 206-616-2850
Course Description
This course is a critical analysis of poverty and inequality
in the
Course goal: To
enable students to critically examine the dimensions, causes, consequences and
perpetuation of poverty and inequality in the
Objectives
At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Understand different measures of poverty and inequality, their value and empirical dimensions, and their consequences for the social construction of the problem, policy response, and the political debate.
2. Be familiar with the type, magnitude, and trends of disparities in several dimensions including power, status, health, as well as social and economic inequalities.
3. Understand stratification and inequality by various social dimensions such as race, ethnicity, class, gender, immigration status, disability, age, religion, sexual orientation and family structure.
4. Understand the role of historical oppression and colonization in creating and perpetuating poverty and inequality.
5. Critically analyze competing perspectives on the causes of poverty, particularly individual versus structural explanations, how these theories are invoked in public discourse, and their implications for governmental response.
6. Critically evaluate and apply alternative perspectives on poverty and inequality, both within the US and global contexts, that encompass conflicts between labor and capital, synergistic processes of economic and social stratification, and other critical forces that produce and perpetuate poverty and inequality.
7. Understand
the role of public policy and its implementation in producing, maintaining and
alleviating poverty and inequality in the
General Course Requirements and Policies:
Attendance and
Participation
Students are expected to attend class regularly, do the assigned reading in advance of class, and participate in class discussions and exercises. Course format will include lecture and class and small group discussion. Many of the issues, ideas and arguments considered in the course are inherently controversial. Thus it is expected and critical to everyone’s learning that a tone of open and respectful discussion will be maintained throughout the course. We have much to learn from one another and this intellectual and personal growth is best achieved by encouraging dialogue and seeking to understand diverse points of view.
Papers and Grading
Papers should be typed, double spaced, using a standard 12
point font (e.g., Times Roman). Please number your pages. Use APA (American
Psychological Association) style referencing (with citations in the text, not
in footnotes). The
Grades will be based on the following: comprehensiveness and depth of content; integration of course material; organization and quality of writing; skill of argumentation; ability to articulate ideas; evidence of critical thought; original thinking; depth of analysis; and creativity. As a graduate level course, grades in the "C" range (2.9 or lower) are considered unsatisfactory. Grades in the "B" range (3.0 to 3.6) indicate satisfactory to very good performance. Grades in the "A" range (3.7 to 4.0) indicate excellent to outstanding work.
Please note that unless otherwise instructed, all course assignments are to be submitted
in hardcopy to either instructor directly or via his/her mailbox at the
Students with
Disabilities
The
Inclement Weather
Policy
On rare occasions, it has been necessary for faculty to cancel classes due to road conditions and concerns about safety, regardless of whether the rest of the University is closed. In that event, we will notify Student Services (543-8617) and Student Services will announce cancellations on email and will put the information on the office voice mail after the office closes (543-8617). We will also send out notification on the e-mail list serve that is specific to this course.
These procedures apply only when some classes are canceled on an individual basis while the University remains open.
Students who are unable to get to campus due to safety reasons should contact their instructors by phone or email.
Course readings are assigned from two required texts and a set of required (or in some cases recommended) supplemental readings available from the library e-reserve system.
Texts: Both required texts are available in modestly priced softcover editions at the UW Bookstore:
Schulman, The Betrayal of Work. New Press 2005
Supplemental
https://eres.lib.washington.edu/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=4293&page=docs#
In addition, a hardcopy of the e-reserve readings has been made available via the SSW Library Reserve for short term individual check out.
Assignments
|
Assignment Title |
Percent of Course
Grade |
Due Date |
|
Active Engagement and Participation |
10% |
Weekly |
|
Assignment #1 Sufficiency Standard Exercise |
10% |
January 17th |
|
Assignment #2 Experiential Assignment |
15% |
February 21 |
|
Assignment #3 Poverty, Inequality and Social Policy
Part 1 Descriptive Synopsis of Poverty/Inequality Part 2 Causal Explanations and Policy Implications |
15% 15% |
January 31 March 13 |
|
Assignment #4 Individual Reading Reflections |
35% |
Weekly from Week 2 Through Week 9 |
Assignment Descriptions
“Active Engagement and Participation” requires being
regularly present during class sessions and adequately prepared for
participation in thoughtful and informed classroom discussions of the
observations, concepts and arguments covered in lecture and course. readings.
The detailed descriptions of Assignments 1 through 4 will be handed out
and discussed during class well in advance of their due dates.
Weekly
Schedule
|
Week and Topic |
Lecture/Discussion
Content Offered |
|
|
Week 1 Jan 10 How Social Stratification
Works in |
Course Overview Stratification by in |
Massey, D. S. (2007). Chapter 1 “How stratification
works,” Categorically Unequal: The American stratification system. |
|
Week 2 Jan 17 Conceptualization and
Measurement of Poverty |
Conceptualization and
Measurement of Poverty in Historical Perspective Conventional Measures of
Poverty Reframing the Measurement
of Poverty |
Pearce, Diana
(2007.) The Self-Sufficiency
Standard for Bradshaw, J., & Finch,
N. (2003). Overlaps in Dimensions of Poverty. Journal of Social Policy, 32(4), 513-525. Read one
of the following: (1) Edin, K. and L. Lein (1997), Ch. 1, p. 1-8, skim
ch. 2, p. 20-59, Making Ends Meet. (2) Ehrenreich, Barbara. (1999). Nickel-and-Dimed: On (not) getting
by in Samuelson, R. J. (2007).
“Importing poverty.” Greenstein, R. (2007).
“Misreading the poverty data.” |
|
Week 3 Jan 24 Characteristics of the Poor
and Dimensions of Inequality |
Characteristics of the Poor
and Transformations in the Nature of Poverty Dimensions of Inequality:
Health, Wealth and Social Space |
Marmot, M. (2002). The
Influence of Income on Health: Views of an Epidemiologist. Health Affairs 21 (2): 31-46. Kawachi, Daniels, and
Robinson (2005) . Health Disparities
By Race And Class: Why Both Matter. Health
Affairs 24 (2): 343-352. Pearce, Diana. 2006. Overlooked and Undercounted: Welfare, Work and Wages in |
|
Week 4 Jan 31 Theories of Poverty: Why
are Some People Poor and Why are there Poor People? Week 4 Continued- |
Theoretical Narratives of
Poverty and their Influences on Policy Q: Is Gender (single parenting & labor mkt
gender dynamics) structural or individual? |
Murray, Charles, A. (1984). "Incentives to Fail", pp.
154-166, Chapter 12 In Losing ground: American social policy, 1950-1980. Recommended: Massey and Pp. 114-147. Mullaly. (1997). Structural
Social Work Theory. In Structural
Social Work. Portes, Ferna´ndez-Kelly
and Haller. Segmented assimilation on the ground: The new second generation
in early adulthood. Ethnic and Racial
Studies. 28 (6) November 2005: 1000-1040. Teitz, Michael, B., &
Chapple, Karen (1998). The causes of inner-city poverty: Eight hypotheses in
search of reality. Cityscape: A Journal
of Policy Development and Research, 3, 3, 33-70. |
|
Week 5 Feb 7 Poverty and Inequality in
International Context |
How is Poverty the
Same/Different Internationally |
Klaus Deininger
and Lyn Squire, "Economic Growth and Income Inequality: Reexamining the
Links" Finance and Development (March 1997) pp. 38-41 (4
pages) http://www.worldbank.org/fandd/english/0397/mar97.htm Recommended: |
|
Week 6 Feb 14 The Origins of the American
Welfare State |
The Role of Race and Gender
in the Shaping of the American Welfare State |
Quadagno. Unfinished
Democracy. In The Color of Welfare.
NY: Katz. The Invention of
Welfare. In The Price of Citizenship.
NY: Henry Holt and Co. 2001. |
|
Week 7 Feb 21 The Contemporary American
Welfare State: Structure, Policy and Programs |
The Three Tiers of the
Welfare State, How Social Security Works and the “Crisis” in Social Security |
Schulman Hays, National
Women’s |
|
Week 8 Feb 28 Critiques of the Welfare
State and Welfare Reform |
Deconstructing American Deconstructing Welfare
Reform |
Schulman Gilens. Racial Attitudes,
the Undeserving Poor, and Opposition to Welfare. In Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of
Antipoverty Policy. Recommended: Almgren,
Yamashiro, and Soss, Schram, Vartanian; and O'Brien. Setting the Terms of Relief: Explaining
State Policy Choices in the Devolution Revolution. American
Journal of Political Science, Vol. 45, No. 2. (Apr., 2001), pp. 378-395. |
|
Week 9 Mar 6 |
Strategic Responses to
Poverty |
US
Department of Health and Human Services (2003). Healthy Marriage Matters to
ACF. Center for American
Progress. April, 2007. From Poverty to Prosperity: A National
Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half (Report and Recommendations of the Center
for American Progress Task Force on Poverty) http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/pdf/poverty_report.pdf,
p. 1-5, 26-63. Hills,
J. and J. Waldfogel (2004). "A third way in welfare reform? Evidence
from the Krugman
editorial on Zuberi,
Dan. 2006. Differences
That Matter: Social Policy and the
Working Poor in the Christopher, Karen. (2002). “Family-Friendly |
|
Week 10 Mar 13 |
Student Presentations of Assignment #3 |
Schulman, Ch.8 Also Recommended: The pulp fiction novel or
gossip magazine of your choice! |