300462 Gender Perspective in Comparative Welfare Research (S) (SoSe 2026)

A gender perspective challenges core assumptions in comparative welfare research. The field has traditionally centered on the “standard” beneficiary: the average male industrial worker with dependents. This benchmark often sidelines women in empirical analysis, particularly in historical periods when women’s labor market participation was lower. Yet policies that target or primarily benefit women have distinct trajectories and political dynamics. While many traditional social programmes have faced retrenchment under austerity, work–family policies have expanded over the past two decades, alongside rising female employment and growing women’s representation in parliaments. While male workers' political struggles were instrumental in shaping welfare states by securing social rights, it remains unclear whether women exerted similar influence, given their historically limited access to political resources such as voting rights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
This seminar provides students with the opportunity to critically examine theoretical frameworks and key components of empirical analyses in comparative welfare research from a gender perspective and to test their own theoretical propositions empirically. The course explores the impact of welfare policies on gender relations and assesses women's political influence on the formation of welfare policies within historical continuities. The seminar is structured in two parts. First, it introduces feminist critiques of welfare states and empirical studies that analyze the historical development of social policies for women and the role of women as political actors in these processes. After engaging with the relevant literature, the second part of the seminar culminates in a student-led conference, where participants will present empirical research testing whether conventional welfare research determinants apply to social policies for women or test their own theoretical propositions. Each presentation will be 30 minutes long and will integrate key course themes and insights.