Social Europe – Impacts, changes and challenges

Elective Course

This course explores and compares typologies of social rights in Europe and globally. It analyses the ideational foundations, structural conditions, and cultural contexts shaping different typologies of welfare regimes.   The concepts of social citizenship and rights are vital parts of European political thought and intersects with broader political questions of the relationship between states and individuals that shape the societal discourse. Social policies and welfare provisions have shaped European societies and economies and affect diverse areas such as social mobility, gender equality, educational attainment, health attainment, integration and poverty alleviation.  The course will consider the outcome of social policies on different demographic groups and economic development. It will also explore the challenges that welfare states are currently encountering and the debate over its future direction.