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Identity and Policy

O.P. Jindal Global University via Coursera

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Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Effort

7 weeks, 9 hours a week
Sessions

Self-Paced
Level

Beginner
Subtitles

English

Found in

Overview

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Explore the powerful relationship between identity, society, and public policy. This course is designed for learners interested in public policy, political science, governance, economics, social sciences, and social justice who want to understand how identity shapes individual choices, institutions, political outcomes, and policy decisions. Build a strong foundation in identity and policy by examining how identity is formed, expressed, and shaped by social context, norms, and ideals. Explore biological, socio-cultural, economic, and political dimensions of identity and understand how these dimensions overlap. Learn how identity groups influence economic outcomes, social relationships, political participation, representation, and public life. Develop analytical tools to examine issues such as discrimination, underrepresentation, social integration, political representation, and collective action. Examine affirmative action as a policy response to inequality and underrepresentation. Explore different approaches, including preferential treatment, quota systems, school integration, reservations, and early intervention, while considering their advantages, limitations, and outcomes. Develop skills to critically evaluate public policies across different social and political contexts. Analyze how identity overlaps can create spillover effects and why the same policy may produce different outcomes across communities. Explore identity politics, nationalism, national identity, immigration, and the internal and international consequences of identity-based politics. Gain a deeper understanding of how identity influences policymaking and contemporary governance.

Syllabus

Meaning of Identity
- This module introduces the concept of identity. It elaborates on the multidimensionality of identity and places it in a social context. You will learn about the norms and ideals associated with any identity and demonstrate the idea using illustrations from everyday life and different contexts.
Dimensions of Identity
- In this module, you will learn about the numerous dimensions of identity along which individuals categorize themselves. The module focuses on the traditional ways of identifying oneself and introduces the new dimensions which have gained salience in the current world. You will learn how social context determines the subset of identity one chooses to manifest at any given time and how the norms essentially overlap across dimensions.
Consequences for Society
- In this module, you will learn how identities and identity groups affect society. The module begins with an introduction to a set of tools for the analysis and their application in understanding the consequences of identity formation at various levels of society. Starting at the personal level, the module examines the levels of social integration and discusses how some counterintuitive decisions can be rational.
Policy Response: Affirmative Action
- In this module, you will learn about the various forms of affirmative action as a policy response to the underrepresentation of minorities in government positions and educational institutes. You will learn the concepts and the essential need for affirmative action policies. You will explore the common ways various societies have implemented affirmative action policies, elaborated with illustrations from worldwide examples.
Policy Outcomes: Critical Analysis
- In this module, you will critically analyze the affirmative action policies for minorities and socio-economically backward communities. You will learn how to evaluate these policies in terms of short-run and long-run outcomes. You will gain insight into how the same policy can have very different outcomes when applied to different identity dimensions, elaborated with illustrative examples.
Identity Politics
- This module focuses on identity politics. You will gain an in-depth understanding of cultural and political environments conducive to identity groups asserting themselves. You will explore worldwide examples to recognize why some cultures are more receptive to identity-based politics and eventually identity-based policies while others are not. You will also learn about the short-term and long-term consequences of such policies.
National Identities and Nationalism
- In this module, you will explore identities that manifest at the national level. You will learn about the history of national identities and nationalism. You will explore the internal and external consequences of nationalism and their consequences on immigration. You will also learn how within-country identity dimensions come together at the national and international levels.