Welfare States in the Face of the Challenges of Globalization and Migration

2021/2022

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

4

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

School of International Affairs

Course type:

Elective course

When:

1 year, 2, 3 module

Instructor

Sinyavskaya, Oksana

Course Syllabus

Abstract

" Welfare States In the Face of the Challenges of Globalization and Migration " is aimed at providing a systemic understanding of the challenges faced by welfare states in countries with different levels of economic development, and of the directions of the transformation of welfare states in the 21st century in response to these challenges. As a result of the course, students should: • know modern theories of the origin, transformation and diversity of welfare states in developed and developing economies of Europe, Americas and Asia; understand the role of global processes in the transformation of modern welfare states; • be able to critically evaluate social policy in terms of its ability to solve social problems and respond to the strategic challenges of socio-economic development; analyze the economic and socio-political arguments for and against specific social reform; • have skills of analytical work on the study of social processes and comparison of social policy models, as well as methods of evaluating the effectiveness of social programs.

Learning Objectives

• To introduce main concepts applied in social policy analysis and different approaches to study welfare states
• To give students the basic knowledge of historical development trajectories of welfare states in different parts of the world
• To apply the different theoretical approaches to explain patterns of welfare state development and reforms across nations
• To provide an understanding of various effects of demographic, social and economic factors on welfare state trajectories in the 21st century

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Analyzes expected and unexpected results of social policy, its impact on poverty and inequality.
• Analyzes the major steps in welfare states development and different theoretical explanations of welfare states growth and expansion.
• Describes new social risks connected with post-industrialization, globalization and political challenges on welfare states.
• Describes the importance of demographic shits and their role in welfare states dynamics.
• Describes the new directions of social reforms and the role of international actors on the future of the welfare states around the world.
• Describes the reasons for creating welfare state and the risks connected with introducing social policy.
• Explains the differences of welfare states and the main works and approaches in welfare states studies.

Course Contents

• Introduction, the idea and concept of welfare state
• Welfare state outcomes, distributional impacts of different social policies
• Emergence and development of welfare states in early and late industrialized countries: theoretical explanations
• Welfare state typologies: established and emerging welfare states
• Demographic challenges to welfare states
• Post-industrial development, globalization and the future of welfare states in XXI century
• Is convergence between welfare states possible? New directions of social reforms and the role of international actors

Assessment Elements

• Written home assignments
  The current control includes two written home assignments (800-1200 words each). It is to be prepared at home and delivered in class.
• Work in seminars
• Class attendance
• Written test
  The exam is in the form of the written test. The exam is held on June 17 (Wednesday) from 15:10 on the Zoom platform at the link: https://zoom.us/j/94748739504. The exam lasts 1.5 astronomical hours (90 minutes). Students need to connect to the exam session in Zoom 10 minutes before the start (at 15:00) in order to test the platform. The student's computer must meet the following requirements: the presence of a working camera and microphone, support for Zoom. To participate in the exam, the student is obliged: to put his/her photo on the avatar, to be at the exam on time according to the schedule, and turn on the camera and microphone for the whole period of the exam. The written test includes multiple-choice and open questions. Grade is proportional to the number of the correct answers to the multiple choice and open questions that cover the content of the course and literature included in the mandatory list of the course. There are two test variants. At 15:00 (10 minutes before the exam time) the teacher sends the students (by uploading a file to the chat on the Zoom platform) the list with a distribution of students according to test variants. At 15:10, when the exam begins, the teacher uploads two test files to the chat on the Zoom platform and repeats aloud the distribution of students according to their variants. The student sends the finished work to the teacher by e-mail to the address: osinyavskaya@hse.ru. The name of the file should contain student’s surname and name. Works must be submitted no later than 1.5 astronomical hours after the start of the exam. During the exam, students are forbidden to: turn off the camera and microphone, use notes and tips. A short-term communication disruption during the exam is considered a communication disruption of less than 5 minutes. If the communication failure last less than a minute, students can continue the same test. In case of a short-term communication failure from 1 to 5 minutes, the student (immediately after the restoration of communication) gets the opportunity to fill out another version of the written work. A long-term communication disorder during the exam is considered a violation of more than 5 minutes. In case of a long-term communication disruption, the student cannot continue to participate in the exam. The retake procedure involves the use of complicated tasks.

Interim Assessment

• 2021/2022 3rd module
  0.4 * Work in seminars + 0.2 * Written home assignments + 0.1 * Class attendance + 0.3 * Written test

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Kennett, P., & Lendvai-Bainton, N. (2017). Handbook of European Social Policy. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1577575

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Butler, I., & Drakeford, M. (2005). Scandal, Social Policy and Social Welfare (Vol. Rev. 2nd ed. consultant editor, Jo Campling). Bristol, UK: Policy Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=221106