74834 - Social and Welfare Policies

Learning outcomes

The course aims at introducing students to the most relevant conceptual and theoretical instruments for the study and analysis of social policies and welfare systems. By the end of the course students will be able to: - demonstrate an understanding of which are the historical roots of the European welfare systems; - demonstrate an understanding of the typologies of welfare regimes proposed in the scientific literature; - define and analyse relevant concepts as welfare regime; defamiliazation; decommodification; poverty; marginalisation; universalism; means tested etc.; - analyse pros and cons of specific social policies and the coherence of policy design with policy aims.

Course contents

The course is organized in three sections. The first aims at introducing the basic conceptual instruments of social policy analysis. We then provide an understanding of the intellectual and historical roots of the welfare state, and why welfare states emerged in Europe. The second section deals with the different typologies of welfare regimes proposed in the literature. Furthermore, a description of the different worlds of welfare (European models, Latin America, East Asia and East Europe) will be provided. The third section focuses on the generational perspective and the impact of the Great Recession on the European welfare systems characteristics and outcomes. 

 

Readings/Bibliography

Mandatory readings for students attending at least 80% of  face-to-face lessons

 

Concepts, intellectual and historical roots,

1. Castles FG, Lewis J, Obinger H and Pierson C (eds.) (2010) The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [only the following parts]

- Pierson C and Leimgruber M The intellectual roots. Pp. 32-44

- Kuhnle S and Sander A The emergence of the Western welfare state. Pp. 61-80

- Nullmeier F and Kaufmann F-X Post-war welfare state development. Pp. 81-101

2. Pierson C, Castles FG Naumann IK (ed.) (2014) The Welfare State Reader. Cambridge: Polity Press. [only the following parts]

- Briggs A The welfare state in historical perspective. Pp. 14-27

- Marshall TH Citizenship and social class. Pp. 28-37

- Titmuss R Universalism versus selection. Pp. 38-45

 

Typologies of welfare regimes and the worlds of welfare

1. Esping-Andersen (1999) The social foundations of post industrial economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [only Part I “Varieties of welfare capitalism”]

2. Pierson C, Castles FG Naumann IK (ed.) (2014) The Welfare State Reader. Cambridge: Polity Press. [only the section Esping-Andersen G Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism Pp. 136-150]

3. Orloff, A.S. (1993) “Gender and the social rights of citizenship. The comparative analysis of Gender Relations and Welfare States”, in American Sociological Review, 58(3), 303-328.

4. Castles FG, Lewis J, Obinger H and Pierson C (eds.) (2010) The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [only Part VII: The worlds of welfare. Pp. 569-686]

 

The generational perspective and the impact of the Great Recession

1. Albertini, M. & Kohli, M. (2013) The generational contract in the family: An analysis of transfer regimes in Europe, European Sociological Review, 29(4): 828-840.

2. Arber, S. & Attias-Donfut, C. (2000) The myth of generational conflict. London: Routledge [only the paragraph “the meanings of generations” pp. 2-5]

3. Barbieri, P. & Cutuli, G. “Employment protection legislation, labour, market dualism, and inequality in Europe”, European Sociological Review, 32(4): 501-516.

4. Bell DNF & Blanchflower DG (2011) Young people and the Great Recession. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 27(2): 241-267.

5. Kohli, M. (2006) Ageing and Justice, in Binstock R.H. & George L.K. (Eds.) "Handbook of Ageing and the Social Sciences" 6th edition, San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 456-478 [free dowload here http://www.eui.eu/Documents/DepartmentsCentres/SPS/Profiles/Kohli/AgingJusticeCh25Handbook.pdf]

 

 

 Mandatory readings for students who fail to attend at least 80% of  face-to-face lessons

1. Castles FG, Lewis J, Obinger H and Pierson C (eds.) (2010) The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State. Oxford: Oxford University Press. The following parts: Part 2 “History”; Chapter 17 “Gender”; Part 5 “Policies”; Part 6 “Policy outcomes”; Part 7 “Worlds of Welfare”

2. Pierson C, Castles FG Naumann IK (ed.) (2014) The Welfare State Reader. Cambridge: Polity Press. Part I “Approaches to welfare” and Part II “Welfare Regimes Under Threat” 

3. Albertini, M. & Kohli, M. (2013) The generational contract in the family: An analysis of transfer regimes in Europe, European Sociological Review, 29(4): 828-840.

4. Arber, S. & Attias-Donfut, C. (2000) The myth of generational conflict. London: Routledge [only the paragraph “the meanings of generations” pp. 2-5]

Teaching methods

Face-to-face lessons and periodic exercises, including student presentations. This course is also supported by a dedicated e-learning module available at  https://elearning-cds.unibo.it/

Assessment methods

For students attending at least 80% of  face-to-face lessons

50% multiple written exam(s) and take home exercises during the course  

50% one course paper with a maximum of 4,000 words must be written on a topic to be agreed in advance between the student and the course convener. The paper needs to be sent (by e.mail and in pdf format) within the first 4 weeks after the end of the course (i.e. before January 13, 2018) . Those students who fail to meet the deadline will have to take the exam as non attending students. 

For students who fail to attend at least 80% of  face-to-face lessons

The exam is administered exclusively in written form.

Teaching tools

This course is also supported by a dedicated e-learning module available at https://elearning-cds.unibo.it/

Office hours

See the website of Marco Albertini