Political Science: Economic Justice

Introduction to the most important ethical debates about our economy. To make questions of economic justice vivid and evocative, includes the application of principles learned to cases about access to higher education, meritocracy, workers' rights, complicity in sweatshops, the impact of economic inequality on democracy, a universal basic income, and other topics. Prerequisite: POLS 1200 or POLS 1012.

Prerequisite enforced by the system: POLS 1012 or POLS 1200; Minimum Sophomore standing. PACE students with permission and override.

This course introduces students to the most important ethical debates about our economy. Consider how the wealth of the ten richest billionaires doubled to $1.5 trillion during the pandemic. They have amassed six times the wealth of the poorest 3.1 billion people in the world. In the United States, the median white household owns eight times the wealth of the median African-American household. Women are paid 16% less than men. Is that fair or just?  This course will explore the values that guide our choices about the institutions, laws, and policies that structure our economy. To provide a foundation, students will learn about equality, freedom, opportunity, efficiency, and rights as goals of the economy. We will examine the justifications for liberal egalitarianism, capitalism, and socialism. We will ask what these values require when addressing gender and racial justice. To make questions of economic justice vivid and evocative, we will apply the principles we learn to cases about workers’ rights, meritocracy, the impact of economic inequality on democracy, a universal basic income, the economic impact of climate change and other topics. Students will gain a strong proficiency in diverse perspectives on economic justice by reading Iris Marion Young, Martin Luther King, John Rawls, Amartya Sen, G.A. Cohen, Elizabeth Anderson, Robert Nozick, Martin Gilens, Susan Moller Okin, and other leading writers.