Produce an analytical paper, between 8-12 pages long, that examines our understanding of power and inequality through one mechanism reproducing inequality

Description
Task: Produce an analytical paper, between 8-12 pages long, excluding (optional) cover page and
(mandatory) bibliography. This final paper will examine our understanding of power and inequality through
one mechanism reproducing inequality (ie. the relationship between wealth and school inequalities; the
relationship between gender and labor market inequalities, etc). You may choose any mechanism of
inequality that is of interest to you. If you are unsure which topic to choose, or are stuck between topics, the
instructor will provide early feedback.
In this assignment, you must use academic sources (peer-reviewed journal articles or edited volumes only) in
order to build an argument and ground a policy suggestion. The intention is to explore the relationship
between a mechanism of inequality and its consequences – and provide at least one concrete policy solution
to address that inequality.
Your argument must be firmly situated within empirical evidence, and must be focused on addressing some
form of inequality in a manner that is directed at social justice. For example, you cannot argue that food
insecurity perpetuates educational inequality (and so schools should provide nutrient-rich meals to attendees)
without first 1) explaining the importance of nutrition to children, and 2) connecting systematic disadvantage
to justice (ie. poor nutrition correlates to lower academic performance, which is further disadvantaging kids
in impoverished districts). You also must display critical thinking in your policy suggestion, to minimize
collateral injustice. For example, you can argue that mentorship mitigates discrepancies in high school
graduation rates so mentorship programs must be implemented – as long as you show how mentors would not
add to the Youth Control Complex (Rios, 2011).
In the paper you must:
Cite at least 10 academic sources (peer-reviewed journal articles or edited volumes; no more than 3 may be
from class)
Have a clear argument
Provide at least one policy suggestion (rooted in evidence, not opinions)
Responses will be graded on:
Concrete thesis
Evidence from appropriate type/number of sources
Professional academic writing (cohesive literature review and thesis, not series of short-answers)
APA, Chicago-Turabian, MLA, or ASA style citations