Entry requirements

90 credits in political science (A+B+C) or the equivalent and 30 credits in social sciences, or 90 credits in social and political studies (A+B+C) and 60 credits in political science (A+B). Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, students will be able to:

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key concepts, theories, and debates in contemporary research on the welfare state broadly defined;
• explain, with reference to contemporary research, how welfare state institutions and markets interact to shape life chances and inequality across social divisions such as class, gender, and migration background;
• analyse how welfare state institutions in different parts of the world are shaped and transformed over time, through processes of political contestation, institutional feedback and change, and structural transformations;
• reflect on normative questions related to welfare politics, including issues of fairness, equality, and need;
• critically assess strengths and weaknesses in competing theoretical perspectives and empirical findings in the literature;
• Independently formulate and analyse a research question in welfare state research, applying relevant theories and concepts;
• communicate arguments clearly and coherently in written and oral formats.

Content

Inequality, Interests, and Institutional Change

This course addresses central debates in contemporary welfare state research from a global perspective, with a particular focus on the politics of social and economic inequality. It examines how and why different types of welfare-state institutions have developed across countries and world regions, and how institutions and markets interact to shape life chances and socio-economic outcomes across social groups.

In line with contemporary research, welfare-state institutions are understood broadly to include not only social insurance and income-support programs, but also family policy, education, and labor market institutions. A central theme of the course is that these institutions constitute arenas of distributional conflict, where competing interests, ideas, and coalitions shape policy design and outcomes that, in turn, feed back into politics. The course therefore pays particular attention to the normative issues at stake in welfare politics, the role of the welfare state in ongoing transformations of labor markets and political competition, as well as the gendered dimensions of welfare and work.

The course also situates welfare state development in a global context by exploring how it varies across countries with different political and economic regimes, as well as how domestic welfare politics is impacted by international dynamics such as migration, economic integration, climate change, and war. Throughout the course, students engage with key theoretical perspectives on welfare state development, and current debates about the purpose, scope, and future of the welfare state.

Instruction

The teaching in the course will take two main forms; lectures and seminars. During the lectures, the teacher will present the course material to students in order to guide and facilitate their reading of it. Weekly seminars will allow students the opportunity to discuss the readings with the teacher and their peers, thereby facilitating an active and self-initiated learning process. The seminars will be prepared by the students, mainly through short reading reports. Language of instruction will be English but it is possible to submit reading reports and the final essay in Swedish.

Assessment

Course examination will be conducted in three different ways: 1) active participation in seminars, 2) submission of reading reports, and 3) a final paper. The course grade will be based on a combination of the three examination forms. If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

**Grading system

**Grades awarded Fail (U) - Pass (G) - Pass with Distinction (VG).

Other regulations

A detailed study outline will be presented when the course starts.