Welfare States in the Current Era: Origins, Issues and Challenges - Not offered in AY 2022-23

The course aims to examine welfare states and current welfare policies in a comparative perspective. In order to achieve this, different approaches on the relationship between welfare, market and state are analyzed. In the first part of the course fundamental concepts, origins and typologies of welfare state are reviewed. This part tries to answer the questions of what a welfare state is, why it exists and how they differ across countries. The second part covers a variety of issues such as active and passive labor market policies, pensions, health care, work and life balance, and redistribution. Given the complexity of welfare state, we are not able to cover all of the policies but the course captures the highly relevant areas and provides a comparative perspective. In the final part of the course, welfare state challenges are examined to understand the impact of globalization, migration and post-industrialization on social policy. At the end of this part we will be able to understand the extent and reasons of retrenchment, liberalization and privatization of social expenditures. Throughout the class both theoretical and empirical material are covered.