Module Content and Indicative Topics 

The question of how we define equality, who counts as equal or whether a society can be completely egalitarian in its organisation preoccupies democratic politics and political theory. Does equality imply totally identical levels of material wealth and chances? Or does it entail the equal right to cultural or social differences? Are freedom and equality compatible? How do those considered unequal demand equality without simply inverting hierarchical relations or replicating them by granting others the authority to decide if they count as equal or not? This module will explore these questions through a range of philosophical, anthropological and political writings.We begin with Rousseau’s Discours de l’inégalité which refutes any natural or divine foundation for social inequalities and affirms universal freedom and equality as the most legitimate basis for social organisation.That refutation underlies Abbé Sieyès’s influential revolutionary pamphlet that calls for equal political representation in government for all orders in French society.We shall then explore the anti-colonial writings of the anthropologist Michel Leiris and Simone de Beauvoir’s foundational feminist 

essay Le Deuxième Sexe. The module closes by looking at Jacques Rancière’s recent and original theory of active equality: equality is not something that is distributed or ensured by social institutions but is always declared and demonstrated by those who are not counted as equal by their communities. 

Teaching Delivery 

The module will be delivered through short talks and seminar discussion. Students will be expected to prepare reading questions in advance of the seminar. 

By the end of the module, you should be able to: 


	Understand and analyse literary, philosophical and political theoretical texts from different historical periods on the question of equality. 
	

	Appraise critically different concepts of equality and understand their implications for sex/gender, race, class. 
	

	Understand questions relating to human difference, race, sex and gender. 
	

	Read complex philosophical and literary French text and thereby improve proficiency in French. 
	

	Construct coherent arguments in both written and verbal forms. 
	

	Carry out independent research in preparation for the seminars and assessed work. Recommended Reading 
	
In preparation for the module, we advise reading the following core texts. These can be found in the UCL Library: 

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discours de l’inégalité(Paris: Folio, 2006) 

Emmanuel Sieyès, Qu’est-ce que le tiers état? (Paris: Flmmarion, 2009) 

Simone de Beauvoir, Le Deuxième sexe (sections from vol. 1 and 2) (Paris: Folio, 1973) 

Pape Ndiaye, La condition noire (Paris: folio, 2008)  

Jacques Rancière, La Mésentente (Paris: Galilée, 1995)* 

*Extracts to be provided by the tutor via moodle. 

 