MSc Inequality and Society

In this module, you'll explore theories and approaches to understanding how economic and social inequalities and exclusion arise and shape contemporary social life in the 21st century. You'll learn how they can play an important role in, and be a major obstacle to, effective engagement in civil life and the successful working of many private, public, and third-sector organisations.

Plan, construct, and implement a researchable problem as a social researcher, examining the different methods used by social researchers to analyse our social world. You'll learn important software to help your research further, such as SPSS for quantitative research and NVivo for qualitative research. You'll also complete a comparative research study, a research proposal, and a practical skills assessment using what you've learned so far. You'll then use these skills to develop yourself as a social researcher and to take these skills further to social research organisations, government departments, the private sector, charities, and further study.

This module will allow you to gain a critical understanding of how theories of social cohesion, integration, and community have developed over time. You'll explore how issues like inequality, exclusion, globalisation, and shifting demographics shape social relationships today, applying key theories and real-world evidence to make sense of current challenges facing communities locally and globally.

What are the physical and mental health inequalities faced by people across the course? In this module, you'll examine historical and current inequalities in both physical and mental health in the UK and globally. Focusing on how inequality is treated from the perspective of the effects of social class, gender, ethnicity and other factors, as well as the interrelationship between them, you'll complete an essay which will develop your analysis of health inequalities at a local or global level. This is ideal for those wanting to work in the statutory, public, and charity sector, working to address health inequalities at all stages throughout the life course.

What does it mean to be LGBTQI+ (or 'queer') today in the social world? What are the structural barriers and inequalities faced by queer people across the globe? Why does global homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia exist? Probe these questions which will form the basis of this module as struggles over LGBTQI+ identity politics, human rights, and inequalities have become more prominent in world politics. You'll examine key debates, movements, and changes around an increasing awareness of sexuality and gender identity and explore the issues faced by queer lives, communities, cultures, and societies both locally and across the globe. You'll finish the module by completing a research report for the United Nations Independent SOGI Expert, which is ideal for those wanting to work for national or global bodies in human rights, charity work, international development, and social justice campaigns.

In this module, you'll explore intersectionality as both a theory and a tool for driving change in today’s diverse organisations. You'll examine how overlapping identities – such as race, gender, class, sexuality, and disability – shape experiences of exclusion, and learn how to apply this understanding in professional practice. Through real-world case studies and current social issues, you'll develop the skills to make inclusive, informed decisions and lead meaningful change. Assessments are designed to build your confidence and critical thinking for future careers.

This module will help you enhance your knowledge of why activists, social justice, and resistance groups develop as a site of resistance against wider forms of inequality and discrimination. You'll build your knowledge of theories of social change and the movements and campaigns seeking to achieve this change, including their own impacts, successes, and failures. You'll also focus on local to global issues as you explore case studies of movements, using examples such as the Arab Spring, #MeToo, migrant rights, climate change activists, anti-poverty, FairTrade, and human rights. You'll distinguish the forces working to curtail and oppress activist and social justice networks and their levels of success in doing this. You'll finish the module by developing a skills toolkit in exploring how activism methodologies work and through writing a campaign pack for an activist or social justice movement. This is ideal for those seeking to work in campaigning, social justice, human rights, and advocacy of oppressed voices.  

In this module, you'll explore the ways in which the concepts of wealth and worth frame the organisation of contemporary social life. You'll interpret and evaluate how sociological theory and research have made sense of increasing wealth inequality through the notions of neoliberalism and the embedding of competition into every sphere of social life. You'll develop and apply your knowledge by exploring case studies on the impacts of wealth management policies and evaluations of people's "worth" across a range of social contexts. You'll then apply critical evaluative skills through engagement with theoretical concepts, current research data, policy documentation, and public/political commentary on issues relating to wealth distribution, social inclusion/exclusion, and economic crises.

What's the relationship between sex, gender, citizenship, and the state? In this module, you'll examine how we live in societies and nation states with differing legal frameworks which shape our everyday interactions. You'll explore the politics of gender in our global world and some of the most pressing social issues, such as human trafficking, sex work, transgender identities, pornography, and gender-based violence. Investigating theoretical approaches to gender such as masculinities, post-structuralism, black feminism, and materialist feminist theories, you'll complete an academic poster review assessment and finish the module with a firm grasp of gender-based issues and human rights. This is ideal for those seeking to work in fields such as global and local human rights, gender-based issues, international development, and the third sector.

This module will allow you to develop a critical approach to the understanding of 'race' and assess the social implications of contemporary practices of racism, and persistent racial and racist ideas. You'll explore theoretical approaches to notions of 'race' and ask key questions, such as: How are racial ideas conceptualised and justified through a variety of biological, social, and cultural discourses? How did 'race' and ethnicity come to be defined and embedded in the context of colonial and post-colonial rule? What are the often-complex relations between ideas of 'race', the production of difference and identity, and the pervasiveness of social exclusion? Why does 'race' remain such a powerful determinant of individual and collective identities, in the UK and globally? You'll explore indicative topics such as multiculturalism, caste, the construction of the 'migrant', decolonisation, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Afrophobia. You'll finish the module by producing an anti-racism(s) pack to add to your employability skills, which is ideal for those who wish to work in education, the third sector, equality and diversity, and social justice campaigns.

The study of the body in its many forms continues to develop as an interdisciplinary knowledge base. As we continue to push for acceptability of diversities and broader equality, the 'othering' between the impaired and the 'able-bodied' still stands. This module will allow you to develop existing knowledge of disability, illness, and impairment, using a variety of theoretical frameworks that stand outside of the dominant healthcare model. By exploring the use of institutions as a mode of social control and a way to perpetuate 'othering', this module creates a space to consider alternative explanations of disability and impairment by empowering the voices of those with lived experience. You'll finish the module by preparing a case study based around lived experience and participatory methodologies, then proposing alternative means of how to tackle the social phenomena at the heart of your case study.

Become a specialist and use your research training, theory, and subject knowledge to investigate an area of inequality or inequalities in the social world, either locally or globally, and investigate solutions to them. You'll learn emancipatory research techniques and methods and use these new skills in gathering data to change our social world. You'll then present your research findings and solutions from your research at an MSc conference in front of your peers and staff. You'll be able to use the skills and knowledge gained from this to work in education, social research, business, charity, or public sector organisations at a local, national, or global level, or to take your studies further to PhD level.