300453 Social Policy as Real Utopia: Social Justice and Redistribution (S) (WiSe 2022/2023)

We are currently facing multiple crises, ecological, social, and political in character. These crises suggest that the current way of doing things needs to change, but what role can social policy play in these transformations? Historically, social policy has had many uses; it has been used to quell worker unrest by providing concessions to the working class. It has been used to legitimise authoritarian regimes and exclusionary state projects; it has also opened up pathways for women to enter the workforce, equal pay and protections, environmental justice and provided needed support for those living in vulnerable situations. Social policy, therefore, can be both progressive and regressive; it can maintain the status quo and/or open up space for more radical alternatives.

In this seminar students will engage with a variety of concrete policies and policy proposals that seek to create space for more radical shifts in society that can deal with the current crises. We will engage with Erik Olin Wright’s idea of Real Utopias and debates on radical or reformist reforms.

The course is in English and some knowledge of social policy and political concepts is presumed.