Global Social Policy in a Changing World

The course is broken down into 10 units over 10 weeks, each requiring approximately 10 hours of study time. The following topics are covered:

Part I The Welfare State
1. The Study of Social Policy and the Welfare State
2. The Development of Welfare States
3. Worlds of Welfare
4. Analysing Welfare State Change: From Retrenchment to Recalibration
5. De-industrialisation and New Social Risks

Part II New Challenges for the Welfare State
6. Globalisation and the Welfare State
7. Changing Family Structures and Family Policy
8. Climate change and social policy responses
9. Ageing population
10. Migration and the Welfare State

Course aims

This course aims to:

• provide an introduction to theories, empirical research and debates about the origins, evolution, and functions of welfare states in different countries
• discuss how we can classify and analyse different welfare states in a comparative way, and how we can measure and explain welfare state change
• give an overview of research and policy debates about “new social risks”
• Review and critically discuss how welfare states are related to globalisation, labour markets, family structures, population change and migration
• enable participants to critically discuss key questions concerning the functioning and development of welfare states in different countries thus enabling them to develop their own perspectives and contribute to current public debates about welfare provisioning

Level and demands

This course is open to all and no prior knowledge is required.

This course is offered at FHEQ level 4 (i.e. first year undergraduate level) and you will be expected to engage in independent study in preparation for your assignments. Our 10-week Short Online Courses come with an expected total commitment of 100 study hours.

English Language Requirements

We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements please follow this link: https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/english-language-requirements

IT requirements

This course is delivered online; to participate you must to be familiar with using a computer for purposes such as sending email and searching the Internet. You will also need regular access to the Internet and a computer meeting our recommended minimum computer specification.

Teaching methods

There are several kinds of activity that students will be asked to complete while on this course. Some of these will be ongoing throughout the course, whereas others will relate to the topic of a particular week. Activity types include:

• Readings of book chapters and articles
• Listening/watching podcasts/vodcasts
• Group discussions in unit-specific group forums (e.g. discussing a specific case study / policy)
• Interactive analysis and debate through our ‘InfoMap’ tool which allows students to answer questions or gather information from the perspective of a particular country and share this information with other students via a map interface.
• Participating in online surveys and polls
• Adding terms to glossary wiki
• Adding a resource to the ‘resource bank’
• Reading of newspaper clippings / webpages

Assessment methods

You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.

Miss Laura Silva

Laura Silva is a Junior Lecturer at LIVES and the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lausanne. Her research examines how socio-spatial inequalities and welfare state contexts shape people’s health, education, and political attitudes across the life course.

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework. All those enrolled on an online courses are registered for credit and will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

See more information on CATS points

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so.

Fees

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Concessionary fees for short courses

Textbooks

There is no mandatory textbook for this course. For those interested, this book is a good reference with a global perspective.

Aspalter, C. (ed.) (2017). (2nd ed) The Routledge International Handbook to Welfare State Systems, Taylor and Francis

Module code: O26P434SOV

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