300436 Global Social Policy and Governance (30-M24) (BS) (WiSe 2021/2022)

The historical roots of state social policy lie in western (European) welfare statism. Comparative social policy research has thus also traditionally focused on European and OECD countries. According to common explanations, welfare state emergence and development are closely linked to economic growth, industrialization, party systems and the rise of (mass) democracy. Since the 1940s, and increasingly in recent decades, however, there has been an expansion of social policy over the Global South. This development has been accompanied by increasing scholarly interest in the forms and roots of social policy outside the OECD world. The seminar will investigate:
a) In how far does social policy and welfare in the Global South differ from the Western and European case(s)? In many countries of the Global South, informal forms of employment persist. While formal social security has been expanded in recent decades, many countries in the Global South focus on poverty alleviation as well as on social security for specific groups, such as employees in the public sector.
b) In how far can theories and concepts of comparative social policy research developed for western and European cases be applied to countries of the Global South? What are new theoretical additions that deal with and are able to explain particular cases of social policy in the Global South? This relates e.g. to applications of the "three worlds of welfare capitalism" or the welfare regime approach to the Global South, perspectives stressing historical (including colonial) legacies, but also explanations that turn to the influence of global and transnational actors such as international organizations and the associated diffusion of policy ideas.
By highlighting how our perspectives on social policy in the Global South and in developing contexts differ from those developed for industrialized cases and affluent democracies, we also think about in how far theoretical and conceptual research tools influence our research results, i.e. adopt a reflexive position towards our guiding concepts and overall knowledge of social policy.
Students will learn
• how social policy in the Global South/in development context differs from social policy in OECD countries/the Global North;
• a variety of explanations of (social) policy development, suitable (not only) for cases of the Global South;
• how our theories and concepts developed in comparative social policy research for western and European cases can be applied – or have to be modified – to fit contexts of the Global South;
• how to adopt a reflexive position on how theory, concepts and research tools influence results;
• to apply what they learnt themselves in a concise research study of their own, and receive feedback from the lecturer and their colleagues.

Requirements for participation, required level

As a minimum, you should have completed some courses in political science or sociology. It is also advisable to have prior knowledge of social policy, or to be willing to read up on key concepts and issues.

If you are less familiar with the foundations of (comparative) social policy research, consider reading or skimming through these texts:
Leisering, Lutz. 2013. Nation State and Social Policy: An Ideational and Political History. Introduction to the Book Series “German Social Policy”. In Kaufmann, Franz-Xaver (ed. by Leisering, Lutz), Thinking about Social Policy: The German Tradition, pp. 1-22. Berlin & Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
Kaufmann, Franz-Xaver. 2013. Thinking about Social Policy: The German Tradition. Berlin & Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.