Historically social policy and the welfare state have been projects of (West and North European) nation states, closely linked to the rise of mass democracies. In the absence of a global state and a global democracy, it is not clear what ‘social policy’ could mean on a global scale. Can we reasonably expect that social policy or even a welfare state develops globally? How would global social policy differ from the familiar national forms of Western social policy?
There is evidence of an emerging global social policy. In current debates, ‘globalisation’ mostly refers to economic globalisation, but international organisations and social movements have called for a ‘social dimension of globalisation’. There is a double move towards global social policy: international organizations increasingly attend to ‘social’ issues (what Bob Deacon, the author of the first textbook on global social policy (1997), called the ‘socialisation of global politics’); and state social policy is spreading in countries of the global South. This class deals with the former (international organisations), while my class 'Social protection in developing countries’ (Mondays 16-18h) deals with the latter (Southern countries). The two classes complement each other - if you want to attend both, this would make sense.
The course addresses key issues of global social policy from a sociological perspective. Questions to be investigated include:
• What is ‘global social policy’? What is ‘global’ in ‘global social policy’? What is ‘world society’?
• What ideas and actors are relevant to global social policy in the absence of a world state? (‘socialisation of global politics’, ‘social global governance’)
• What are UN-sponsored social human rights?
• What policies do global actors pursue? We will look at several policy areas such as old-age security and poverty.
• How does global social policy impact on national social policies? (global diffusion of ideas and policies)
• What social policies and what societal structures characterize countries of the global South?
Knowledge on social policy or on global issues.
Students from the global South are particularly welcome.
Browse through the journals “Global Social Policy” and “International Social Security Review” (available in the university library)
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Requirement for participation (“Studienleistung”; 4 Credit Points):
Participants will be expected to read one article for each session. Moreover, participants are expected
• To PUT one question regarding the article, and to ANSWER one question (to be submitted till 12 o’clock on the day of the seminar), for at least 3 sessions, spread across the term. (Of course, you may put/answer more questions if you like, in order to deepen your reading of the article.)
• To submit a brief statement for at least one of the workshop sessions (see the seminar plan) and to present the statement in class.
• To submit a short reflection on the content of the seminar for the final class.
“Submit” means posting the text in the “Forum” of the Lernraum of the eKVV (internet), in the section provided for the respective session.
Requirement for examination (“Prüfungsleistung”; 6 Credit Points):
Written paper (“Hausarbeit”) (MA Sociology: c. 20 pages). No other kind of examination is available. Joint papers by two students are encouraged (double length or double substance). SUBMISSION TILL 11 MARCH 2019.
Zu dieser Veranstaltung existiert ein Lernraum im E-Learning System. Lehrende können dort Materialien zu dieser Lehrveranstaltung bereitstellen: