Dr. Hakan Seckinelgin, Room OLD 2.57

Optional for MSc China in Comparative Perspective, MSc Social Policy and Development, MSc Health, Community and Development, MSc Social Policy and Planning, MSc Human Rights and, depending on the available space, open to students from other departments in the school.

What do the, the Catholic Church, Bill and Melissa Gates, UNICEF and the World Bank have in common? They are in one way or another involved in social policy that goes beyond the nation state. Policy could be seen as the exercise of political power and this political power has often been concentrated within the nation state. Far from the traditional study of policy this includes the effect of globalization on a variety of actors in social policy. This course examines how globalization has changed the way we perceive areas such as health, education, social care and other areas that concern social citizenship. The course examines the international policy environment, particularly intergovernmental organisations; bilateral and multilateral aid agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which influence the social policy environment in developing countries. The impact of the inter-governmental policy process on policy outcomes is examined. The same goes for religious groups, social movements and corporations that all play a role in global social policy. The main goal of the course is not only to open up the understanding of social policy and globalization but also to show the complexity of goals and actors of social policy. It is expected that the students will devote considerable time to reading and preparing for the seminars.

10 lectures and 10 seminars in LT, two revision seminars, ST.

Students will write a long essay and will do seminar presentation.

A detailed reading list will be presented at the beginning of the term. Some introductory texts include: B Deacon, M Hulse & P Stubbs, Global Social Policy: International Organisations and the Future of Welfare States in Transition: National Adaptations in Global Economics (1996); D Held et al, Global Transformations: Politics, Economics and Culture, Polity Press (1999); J Hills, J Le Grand & D Piachaud (Eds), Understanding Social Exclusion, OUP (2002); P Hirst & G Thomson (Eds), Globalisation in Question: The International Economy and the Possibilities of Governance, Polity Press (1996); F Jameson & M Miyoshi (Eds), The Cultures of Globalization, The Duke University Press (2001); J Midgley, Social Welfare in Global Context, Sage (1997); R Mishra, Globalisation and the Welfare State, Edward Elgar (1999); D Nayyar, Governing Globalization: Issues and Institutions, OUP (2002); V S Peterson & A S Runyan, Global Gender Issues, Westview Press 1993.

An assessed essay to be handed in on the first day of the ST (25%). A two-hour written examination in the ST (75%).