Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE GDS5007

 
TITLE Gender and Social Justice

 
UM LEVEL 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course

 
MQF LEVEL 7

 
ECTS CREDITS 10

 
DEPARTMENT Gender and Sexualities

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit will commence with a historical and theoretical underpinning of different forms of social differences and how these lead to unequal access to material and immaterial social, cultural and political resources. Theoretical frameworks will help situate the students' understanding of oppression and social justice, as well as the source/s of these oppressions.

While the core aim of the study-unit is to facilitate understanding of the social power dynamics that result in some social groups having privilege, status and access to the resources underlined above, the overarching objective of this study-unit is mainly to explore how effective state practices and policies are in addressing these inequalities, especially if these inequalities emerge from a translocal location.

It will also explore how effective anti-discriminatory legislation is at the national, regional and supranational level in brining about redress and promoting reparation when 'victims' can be identified. At the same time it will help students think of the effectiveness of anti-discriminatory agencies when individuals or groups suffer from multiple forms of injustices, or how effective the state is when discrimination and oppression originate from sources beyond the nation-state.

Study-unit Aims:

This study-unit aims to:
- demonstrate that injustice, violence and exclusion still affect people in their everyday life in different parts of the world;
- examine the processes through which diverse inequalities, exclusions and asymmetries persist and are reproduced in societies and on a global basis;
- critically reflect on the fact that the rule of law, human rights and equal rights might not be effective enough to bring about social justice;
- critically assess how effective equality bodies, states, regional and/or supranational entities are in bringing about social justice;
- question the simplistic understanding that social justice refers only to economic inequalities, identities, or symbolic representations;
- criticise the dichotomous representation of the local and global, personal and political, individual and structural.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- demonstrate an understanding of at least two theoretical approaches associated with the study of social justice issues;
- explain how individual and systemic factors can cause or perpetuate inequity and social justice in at least two different regions of the world;
- demonstrate an understanding of the effectiveness of human rights and equal rights with regards to one social group;
- evaluate the policies and practices adopted by an INGO or NGO to address an equity or social justice issue;
- assess the effectiveness of at least two strategies that have been used to address equity and social justice.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- formulate effective questions to guide their research and inquiry;
- locate and select information relevant to their investigation from a variety of sources;
- analyze and interpret information gathered;
- synthesize findings and formulate conclusions;
- engage in a critical analysis of their own practices and that of institutions or social;
organizations using knowledge and conceptual tools covered during the study-unit;
- evaluate which theoretical and/or practical paradigms can help tackle social inequality and social injustice in different situations;
- decide which, when and how to adopt the appropriate tools to promote social justice.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Main Texts:

- A. M. Jaggar (2014) Gender and Global Justice. Cambridge: Polity Press.
- G. Berik, Y. can der Meulen Rodgers, and A. Zammit (2009) Social Justice and Gender Equality. Rethinking development strategies and Macroeconomic Policies. Abingdon: UNRISD.
- M. S. Islam and M. I. Hossain (2016) Social justice in the globalization of production. Labor, gender and the environmental nexus. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
- K. Meehan & K. Strauss (2015) Precarious worlds. Contested geographies of social reproduction. Athens & London: The University of Georgia Press.
- C.M. Hassenstab & S.R. Ramet (2015) Gender (In)equality and gender politics in Southeastern Europe. A question of Justice. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
- T.D Truong, D. Gasper, J. Handmaker, S.I. Bergh (2014) Migration, Gender and social justice. Perspectives on Human Insecurity. SpringerLink.com (Open Access)
- R. Lister (2008) Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Ltd.
- R. Lister, F. Williams, A. Anttonen, J. Bussemaker (ed) (2007) Gendering citizenship in Western Europe: new challenges for citizenship research in a cross-national context. Bristol: Polity Press.
- Baker, J., Lynch, K., Cantillon, S., Walsh, J. (eds) (2004) Equality. From theory to action. 2nd Edition. Hampshire: Palgrave, Macmillan UK.
- Baker, J., Lynch, K., Lyon, M. (2009) Affective equality: love, care and injustice. Hampshire: Palgrave, Macmillan.
- Resource pack

Supplementary Readings:

- B.R. Johnston (2014) (ed) Life and death matter: Human rights, environment and social justice. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
- G. Pascall (2012) Gender equality in the welfare state? Bristol: Polity Press.
- L. Kenschaft & R. Clark, with D. Ciambrone (2016) Gender inequality in our changing world. A comparative approach. New York & London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
- S. Keenan (2015) Subversive Property. Law and the production of spaces of belonging. Abingdon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
- A. Lewicki (2014) Social Justice through Citizenship? The politics of Muslin Integration in Germany and Great Britain. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
- H. Fenwick (2007) Civil liberties and Human Rights. Routledge-Cavendish, Taylor & Francis Group.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture, Seminar and Project

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Presentation SEM2 Yes 20%
Seminar Paper SEM2 Yes 40%
Project SEM2 Yes 40%

 
LECTURER/S Nadia Abdilla
Claire Lucille Azzopardi Lane
Francesca Bianchi
Josephine Ann Cutajar
Nathalie Grima
Anne Marie Mangion
Francois Mifsud
Janet Mifsud
Stefano Moncada
Carmen Sammut
Kurt Xerri
Silvana Zammit

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit