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Geography of Inequality

Code: 104260
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Contemporary History, Politics and Economics OP 3
Contemporary History, Politics and Economics OP 4

Contact lecturer

Name :
Antonio Miguel Solana Solana
Email :
antoniomiguel.solana@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Jordi Coch Codinach
Antonio Miguel Solana Solana

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

In order to take this course, you must have a level of Catalan and/or Spanish equivalent to or higher than B2.


There are no other prerequisites.

Objectives

The aim of this module is to examine, from both a theoretical and practical perspective, global inequalities and their local implications through the lens of social geography. The course will begin with a theoretical exploration of the concept of ‘inequality’ and will go on to examine the spatial distribution of wealth and poverty, as well as the geographies of exclusion and discrimination. Topics related to gender, social class and ethnic inequalities will be studied, as well as the interaction between globalisation and unequal development, historical trajectories and spatial patterns of inequality, migration and human and social mobility; particular emphasis will be placed on the relationships between social inequality and environmental inequality. Examples from both the Global North and the Global South will be presented. The four main themes structuring the course are:


a) To understand the main theoretical and conceptual contributions on issues related to social and environmental inequality and vulnerability, from a specifically territorial and environmental perspective. Particular emphasis will be placed on the economic and political factors underpinning the process of social and territorial inequality.

b) To diagnose, accurately and precisely, the phenomena of territorial inequality, social vulnerability and poverty.

c) To be able to assess, using quantitative methods, the scale and characteristics of the phenomenon.

c) To propose measures to reverse situations of territorial inequality, social vulnerability and poverty through the appropriate use of territorial and social policies.

Learning outcomes

  1. Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  2. Manage and apply data to solve problems.
  3. Consider problems of inequality, population distribution and urbanisation in the world, among other things.
  4. Explaining the structure of today's world from a geographical point of view.
  5. Propose viable projects and actions to boost social, economic and environmental benefits.
  6. Examine how different social, economic, political and environmental processes create and transform spaces and social relationships.

Contents

1. Conceptualization of inequality and social vulnerability


1.1. Key concepts: Inequality, Poverty and wealth and Vulnerability.


1.2. Intersectionality


1.3. Inequality measures and indicators. Alternatives?


1.4. Social/environmental/climate/spatial justices. The right to the city


2. The global scale of territorial inequality. Social inequality, territorial inequality: the perspective from political economy and unequal geographic development


2.1 Evolution of global inequality: Long view (history) and short view (recent past)


2.2 The inequality transition. Welfare and redistribution policies


2.3 Neoliberal policies and the growth of social inequality


a) Expulsion


b) Neoimperialism


c) Offshore


Topic 3. Global change, environmental change: inequality and vulnerability


3.1. External debt, ecological debt and unequal economical and ecological exchange. Toxic imperialism and colonialism


3.2. Global (climate) change and inequality/vulnerability


3.3. (Neo)extractivism and land and resource grabbing. Biopiracy


3.4. Territorial and urban segregation. Environmental racism


3.5. Environmentalism of the poor and alter-globalization movements


3.6. (Socio)-environmental justice and climate justice


Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Classes in classroom 40 1.6 4, 6
Personal study + compulsory readings 60 2.4 1, 2, 3, 5, 6
Tutorials and evaluation 10 0.4 2, 5

Master classes.
Debates.
Group work / challenge base learning
Reading of articles.
Oral presentations.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Oral presentation of the different phases of the project (in group) 15 6 0.24 4
2 partial exams of evaluation 30 3 0.12 1, 4
Classroom participation 10 5 0.2 4, 5
Essay (from required readings) (individual) 15 8 0.32 6
Project (in group) 30 18 0.72 1, 2, 3

CONTINUOUS AVALUATION


Assessable activities

2 partial evaluation exams: 30% (15%-15%)

Work/course project (group): 30%

Oral presentation of the different phases of the project (in groups): 15%

Essay on compulsory readings (individual): 15%

Classroom participation: 10%


The first day of the class will be discussed in detail the evaluation activities. They will be uploaded to Moodle and will be discussed in the classroom.


On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.


To pass the subject, the two exams and the course work/project must be passed with a minimum of 5 each evidence, in order to calculate the final grade for the subject.


Students will obtain a “Not assessed/Not submitted” course grade unless they have submitted more than 30% of the assessment items.


There will be a re-evaluation of all those presented tests that have not passed the 5. The re-evaluation of the theoretical exams will be in the form of an exam. The re-evaluation of the rest of the activities will consist of referring the evidence.


The following activities are excluded from the recovery process: oral presentations and tasks related to daily teaching activity.


Erasmus and exchange students who request to advance an exam must present a document from their home university justifying their request.


In the event of a student committing any irregularity (copying, plagiarism, unauthorized use of IA, etc.) that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.


The use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for bibliographic and/or information searches and text correction in this course. Students must clearly identify which parts have been generated using this technology, specify the tools used, and provide a critical reflection on the influence of these technologies on the process and final result of the activity. Failure to be transparent about the use of AI in this evaluable activity will be considered a lack of academic honesty and may result in a partial or total penalty on the grade for this activity, or greater sanctions in serious cases.


In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasiblealternatives.


SINGLE AVALUATION


It will consist of 3 evidences that will be carried out on the same day:

1.- Exam on the contents and concepts of the subject (50%)

2.- An exam on the compulsory readings of the course (25%)

3.- An oral presentation (15 minutes) on a case of social/territorial/environmental inequality. At the beginning of the test, the teacher will provide the material to be able to build the case and the guiding questions that the student must answer. The student will have one hour to prepare a ppt presentation that will serve as a guide for the oral presentation that she will do next (25%)


To pass the subject, the student must pass a minimum of 5 each of the 3 evidences.


The same recovery system will be applied as for the continuous evaluation.


It is essential that students who choose this assessment method contact the lecturer by 15 November 2026 to agree on the reading list and the guidelines for preparing the oral presentation. Any student who does not contact the lecturer by that date will not be able to be assessed via this option.

Bibliography

Bibliography

Topic 1. Conceptualizing Inequality and Social Vulnerability


  1. Bauman, Zygmunt (2014). Does Richness of the Few Benefit Us All? Cambridge: Polity Press.
  2. Jelin, Elizabeth; Motta, Renata; Costa, Sergio (2020). Rethinking Inequalities: How Global Asymmetries Are Produced and Entwined. Opladen: Barbara Budrich Publishers.
  3. Federici, Silvia (2004). Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation. Brooklyn: Autonomedia.
  4. Mollett, Sharlene; Faria, Caroline (2013). "Messing with gender: Race and gender in feminist political ecology". Geoforum, 45, 116-125.
  5. Secchi, Bernardo (2013). A Tale of Two Cities: Rich and Poor in the Contemporary Metropolis. Dordrecht: Springer.
  6. Soja, Edward W. (2010). Seeking Spatial Justice. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  7. Stiglitz, Joseph E.; Sen, Amartya; Fitoussi, Jean-Paul (2010). Mismeasuring Our Lives: Why GDP Doesn't Add Up. New York: The New Press.
  8. Solana, Miguel; Badia, Anna; Cebollada, Àngel; Ortiz, Anna; Vera, Ana (2016). Espacios globales y lugares próximos (Setenta conceptos para entender la organización territorial del capitalismo global). Barcelona: Icaria.


Topic 2. The Global Scale of Territorial Inequality


  1. Bauman, Zygmunt (1998). Globalization: The Human Consequences. New York: Columbia University Press.
  2. Escalante González, Fernando (2016). Historia mínima del neoliberalismo (Una historia económica, cultural e intelectual de nuestro mundo, de 1975 a hoy). México: Turner.
  3. Firebaugh, Glenn (2003). The New Geography of Global Income Inequality. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  4. Harvey, David (2006). Spaces of Global Capitalism: Towards a Theory of Uneven Geographical Development. London: Verso.
  5. Mbembe, Achille (2019). Necropolitics. Durham: Duke University Press.
  6. Milanovic, Branko (2016). Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  7. Piketty, Thomas (2015). The Economics of Inequality. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  8. Sassen, Saskia (2014). Expulsions: Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  9. Srnicek, Nick (2017). Platform Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  10. Urry, John (2014). Offshore. Cambridge: Polity Press.


Topic 3. Global Change, Environmental Change: Inequality and Vulnerability


  1. Bauman, Zygmunt (2004). Wasted Lives: Modernity and its Outcasts. Oxford: Polity Press.
  2. D’Alisa, Giacomo; Demaria, Federico; Kallis, Giorgios (eds.) (2014). Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era. London: Routledge.
  3. Göbel, Bárbara; Góngora-Mera, Manuel; Ulloa, Astrid (eds.) (2014). Desigualdades socioambientales en América Latina. Bogotá: Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
  4. Hay, Iain; Beaverstock, Jonathan V. (eds.) (2017). Handbook on Wealth and the Super-Rich. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  5. Islam, Nazrul; Winkel, John (2017). Climate Change and Social Inequality. DESA Working Paper No. 152.
  6. Martínez Alier, Joan (2002). The Environmentalism of the Poor: A Study of Ecological Conflicts and Valuation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  7. Martínez Alier, Joan (2015). “Ecología política del extractivismo y justicia socio-ambiental”. INTERdisciplina, 3(7).
  8. Martínez Alier, Joan; Oliveras, Arcadi (2003). Who Owes Whom? Ecological Debt and Deep Ecology. London: Sustainable Mediterranean.
  9. Pardo Buendía, Mercedes; Ortega, Jordi (2018). “Justicia ambiental y justicia climática: el camino lento pero sin retorno, hacia el desarrollo sostenible justo”. Barataria. Revista Castellano-Manchega de Ciencias Sociales, (24), 83–100.
  10. Pearce, Fred (2012). The Land Grabbers: The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth. Boston: Beacon Press.
  11. Pulido, Laura (2016). “Flint, Environmental Racism, and Racial Capitalism”. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 27(3).
  12. Roberts, J. Timmons; Parks, Bradley C. (2009). “Ecologically unequal exchange, ecological debt, and climate justice: The history and implications of three related ideas for a new social movement”. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 50(3–4), 385–409.
  13. Shiva, Vandana (1997). Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge. Boston: South End Press.
  14. Svampa, Maristella (2019). Neo-extractivism in Latin America: Socio-environmental Conflicts, the Territorial Turn, and New Narratives on Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  15. Wacquant, Loïc (2008). Urban Outcasts: A Comparative Sociology of Advanced Marginality. Cambridge: Polity Press.


Software

Word, excel, powerpoint. Representation techniques and territorial designs.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE