Handbook

Inequality is one of the most significant challenges of the 21st century, at the core of political upheavals such as the Brexit vote and the Trump phenomenon.  In this course you focus on Australia in its global context to explore the modern history and politics of inequality in a range of its manifestations. How and why did inequality rise and fall over time? How has it been understood? How was inequality influenced by race, gender, sexuality, age and disability? When and why did it become a political issue? You examine how and why egalitarianism became a cherished national characteristic in Australia, analyse its limits and probe ways people in the past sought to strengthen it.