All countries and regions increasingly share social problems and challenges. The actions and policies of one country not only affect the well-being of its own citizens but that of other countries, either directly or indirectly. Students will gain knowledge about these global social problems and policies and develop competencies to respond to human needs emerging from interdependence between countries and societies. The course aims to make students knowledgeable about the broad field of global social policy by analyzing theory, social policy change, and social policy outcomes.
Structurally, the course is divided in four parts. The first introduces classic social policy, discussing the main concepts and theories developed in the Western world during the 19th and 20th century. We will also illustrate the main explanations proposed in the literature to investigate welfare state development and Esping-Andersen's welfare regime typologies (and the main critiques to his comparative framework). The second introduces social policy in Latin America, Eastern Europe and East Asia. We will mix a general understanding of welfare regimes in these continents with a more specific appraisal of some national case. The third highlights the main challenges (namely new social risks, family changes, economic crises) for welfare states in the Post-Fordist era and analyses how different countries are coping with social change. The fourth and last part of the course considers welfare states as an independent variable: alternative welfare state configurations have different effects on redistribution and the economic competitive advantage of countries.
Emanuele FERRAGINA,Andrew ZOLA
Cours magistral seul
English
Autumn 2024-2025
The first exam (mid-term exam) is a multiple choice test to be completed in 30 minutes during lecture 6. The test will include ten questions. Each question counts for two points (30% of the total grade)
The second is a commentary of text (final exam).
Students will be able to retrieve the text from Moodle. The size should not exceed 800 words. The text will refer to aspects of global social policy discussed during the course. The commentary has to be submitted on Moodle (70% of the total grade).
Barrientos, A. (2013). Social Assistance in Developing Countries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Emmenegger, P. et al. (eds.) (2012) The Age of Dualization. The Changing Face of Inequality in Deindustrializing Societies, New York: Oxford University Press.
Haggard, S. and Kaufman, R. R. (2008) Development, Democracy and Welfare States. Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe, Princeton: Princeton University Press.