Gender, State and Welfare in a Global Economy

One of the most pressing questions facing comparative social scientists concerns the role of the welfare state in mediating social inequalities in a global economy. While some scholars argue that the welfare state will whither in the face of shrinking state budgets and neoliberal austerity measures, others argue for the continued relevance and durability of welfare state institutions in democratic societies.

Despite these debates, most scholars agree that social welfare institutions face significant demographic, social, and economic challenges in the current political economy. Of particular salience among these challenges is the future relationship of the state to women and families. Scholars have long identified the complex and often contradictory construction of women's roles within modern welfare states. While some policy arrangements focused nearly exclusively on supporting male breadwinners, other arrangements constructed women as needing social support as wives and mothers. While contemporary policy arrangements are being modified and reformed - sometimes in radical ways - the relationship between the state and gender relations continues to challenge scholars and policymakers alike. This course will confront these challenges through engagement with sophisticated theoretical models, cutting-edge empirical research, and a critical comparative analysis of policy arrangements and their outcomes.

Central questions motivating the course will be

1. How useful are classical models of welfare regime change in explaining contemporary trends in developed democracies in Western Europe as well as in transitional democracies in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond?
2. What mechanisms are driving changes in both the policy logic and the politics of welfare states in East and West and what are the gendered outcomes of these political processes?
3. How are regulatory and policy-based restructuring efforts aimed at increasing individual autonomy via paid employment impacting women, men, and families and how do these impacts vary by class and race?
4. What are the impacts of cross-national variations in work-family policy arrangements on workers and how do these impacts vary by gender, class, and race?
5. How do state institutions manage regulatory and punitive practices, from incarceration to immigration, in gendered ways? What are the impacts of these institutional logics on men, women, and families and how do these impacts vary by race and class?
6. What are the most pressing needs for comparative social research in the area of gender, states, and welfare in a global economy?