Module Title: The Welfare State: Past, Present and Future
Module Leader: Dr Margarita Gelepithis
Module Description:
This course explores how welfare states can be reformed to protect citizens from the economic risks they face in the information age. It is structured in two parts.
The first part charts a critical history of the liberal democratic welfare state. Seminar I examines the post-WWII compromise known as ‘embedded liberalism’ whereby the disruptive effects of economic openness were tempered by compensatory welfare state institutions. We consider how different countries came to vary substantially in how they protected male breadwinners against the risks of industrial employment. Seminar II considers the challenges posed by demographic ageing and the shift to service employment. We examine the retrenchment of social rights, and the expansion of private insurance and asset-based welfare. Seminar III explores how welfare states sought to modernize around the turn of the century in response to new labour market risks and changing gender roles. We discuss the rise of policies emphasizing education and work-care reconciliation, critically examining this now dominant ‘social investment’ approach to social protection.
The second part of the course turns to contemporary debates. How can welfare states respond to the emerging challenges posed by digitalization, artificial intelligence, and climate change - in democracies deeply shaped by populism and nationalism? Seminars IV – VI consider whether contemporary risks are best addressed by universal or contributory entitlements; whether redistributive state spending should target ‘left behind’ communities; and the changing role of private insurance. The course concludes by asking whether welfare state reform can help foster democratic support for transition to an ecologically sustainable form of twenty-first century capitalism.