ECON4270 – Distributive Justice
Course description
Course content
The course is an introduction to modern theories of justice in the distribution of income and other economic goods.
The subject of social justice, being a normative one, was for many years not considered suitable for academic research. The appearance in 1971 of John Rawls: A Theory of Justice in 1971 changed the prevailing academic climate. Since then, a steady stream of papers and books have appeared. The course will make the student acquainted with the most important modern schools of thought.
We will discuss, in particular, the foundation and consequences of modern utilitarianism and economic welfare theory; John Rawls's theory of the social contract; Amartya Sen's capability approach ; libertarianism as propounded by Robert Nozick.
We will also attempt to analyse, and give content to, notions like equality of opportunity, equality of outcome, economic rewards according to deserts.
Economic rights for women and children will be given more emphasis than in standard textbooks. We will in particular study Martha Nussbaum's proposal of universal rights for women.
The course is not addressed especially to students of economics, but will fit into degrees in e.g. political science and sociology. It is particularly suitable for students of Public administration (Offentlig administrasjon og ledelse), Development economics and Gender studies (Kjønn, feminisme og likestilling).
Learning outcome
Knowledge
You should know
- the main modern theories of distributive justice: in particular, the theories of John Rawls and Amartya Sen, utilitarianism and economic welfare theory.
Skills
You should be able to
- address systematically some important contemporary issues concerned with justice in distribution. Do successful leaders deserve large bonuses? Is it morally defensible to cut back pensions in order to promote economic growth? To what extent should the poor be accounted responsible for their situation?
Competence
You should
- be able to read and understand project reports and journal articles that make use of the concepts and methods that are introduced in the course
- be able to make use of the course content in your own academic work, for example in analyses that are part of the master’s thesis
Admission
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Only students admitted to the course may take part in instruction and tuition and sit for the examination.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisite knowledge
Bachelor degree in Economics, or equivalent. Students with minimum requirements for entrance to higher education in Norway, may register for ECON3270 Distributive Justice
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with ECON1230 – Distributional justice (discontinued)
- 10 credits overlap with ECON3270 – Distributive Justice (discontinued)
Teaching
The course will be taught in English unless all participants are Norwegian speakers.
Lectures: 2 hours per week throughout the semester.
Seminars: 2 hours per week through parts of the semester.
There might occur weeks exempt from teaching.
Examination
A 3-hour written school exam at the end of the semester.
Examination support material
Students may use dictionaries at this exam. Dictionaries must be handed in before the examination. Please read regulations for dictionaries permitted at the examination.
Language of examination
The problem set will be given in English and Norwegian. Answers can be given in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or in English. See § 5.4 in Regulations governing studies and examinations at the University of Oslo.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Explanations and appeals
Resit an examination
The Department of Economics has passed following resolution for ECON-courses: It will no longer be possible for candidates to register for an exam in a lower level course after having passed exams in intermediate and advanced level courses in the same subject area (also where there are no pre-requisites that apply to the intermediate course). Further information can be found here.
Students who might wish to retake the exam later, are not guaranteed that the course is ever repeated with a similar reading list, nor that the exam arrangement will be the same.
Withdrawal from an examination
It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.
Special examination arrangements
Application form, deadline and requirements for special examination arrangements.
Evaluation
The course is subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students to participate in a more comprehensive evaluation.
A periodic evaluation of ECON3270/ECON4270 – Distributive Justice (discontinued) was conducted during autum term 2009. A Norwegian version of the evaluation report that was compiled on the basis of the information retrieved from the evaluation, can be found here
Other
ECON3270 – Distributive Justice (discontinued)is the course code for registration for lecture, seminar and exam for the bachelor's students. ECON4270 – Distributive Justice (discontinued) is the course code for the master's students.