Social Policies and Inequalities

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

The pedagogical strategy consists in promoting the active participation of students, giving a reasonable margin of choice for individual contributions and valuing the collective discussion of topics proposed by students under the program. All work is organized according to a pedagogical plan prior agreed by the group, so that the topics correspond most closely to the scientific interests of the students and their thesis projects.

Learning Outcomes

The central objective is to discuss the challenges that social policies are currently facing in result of the retrenchment of welfare state, the neo-liberalistic orientation in welfare reforms, the devastating effects of non regulated economy global, the increase in inequalities and poverty at world level, amongst other processes.  An additional objective is the analysis of social policies in Portugal, their particularities within the European social model and its proximity to the policies of Southern Europe and Latin America.

Among the skills to be acquired this unit includes the understanding of the process of building up the welfare state and the recognition of the existence of different regimes and models between them based on contextual differences (path dependency), the relationship of the crisis and the reform of public welfare with a change in the circumstances of these systems, and identification of signals that allow us to understand the meaning of the changes underway.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. The state and social policies.

2. Social inequalities.

3. The role of social policies in reducing inequalities.

4. Inequalities and social policies in Portugal.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Synthesis work: 100.0%

Bibliography

BOTTOMORE, Tom (1992) “Citizenship and social class, forty years on”. In T.H. Marshall and Tom Bottomore, Citizenship and Social Class, London: Pluto Press.

CASTEL, Robert (2009) La Montée des Incertitudes. Travail, Protections, Statut de l'Individu. Paris: Seui.

ESPING-ANDERSEN, Gosta (ed.) (1997) Welfare States in Transition. London: Sage

GOUGH, Ian; WOOD, Geof (eds.) (2004) Insecurity and Welfare Regimes in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Social Policy in Development Contexts. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press

PAUGAM, Serge (org.)(2007) Repenser la Solidarité. L'Apport des Sciences Sociales. Paris: PUF.

TURNER, Bryan (ed.) (1993) Citizenship and Social Theory. London. Sage