SA4C8      Half Unit
Global Social Policy and International Organizations

This information is for the 2017/18 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Hakan Seckinelgin, OLD.2.27

Availability

This course is available on the MSc in China in Comparative Perspective, MSc in Health, Community and Development, MSc in Human Rights, MSc in Social Policy (Social Policy and Planning), MSc in Social Policy and Development and MSc in Social Policy and Development: Non-Governmental Organisations. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Course content

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.

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the MT.

Revision session(s) will be scheduled in the ST.

Formative coursework

Students will write a long essay.

Indicative reading

A detailed reading list will be presented at the beginning of the term. Some introductory texts include: B Deacon Global Social Policy and Governance Sage (2007); R. Baldwin The Great Convergence: Information Technology and The New Globalization. Belnap (2017); H. Seckinelgin he politics of Global AIDS: Institutoinalization of Solidarity, Exclsion of Context. Springer (2017) ; I. Gonzalez-Ricoy and A. Gossies, Instituoons for Future Generations.OUP (2016) ; 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. M. Callon,P. Lascoumes, and Y. Barthe, Acting in an Uncertain World. The MIT Press (2009). D. Carpenter, Reputation and Power: Organizational Image and Pharmaceutical Regulation at the FDA. Princeton (2010).

Assessment

Take home exam (100%) in the LT.

Student performance results

(2013/14, 2015/16 combined)

Classification % of students
Distinction 12.2
Merit 53.1
Pass 32.7
Fail 2

Key facts

Department: Social Policy

Total students 2016/17: Unavailable

Average class size 2016/17: Unavailable

Controlled access 2016/17: No

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course survey results

(2013/14, 2015/16 combined)

1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" score

The scores below are average responses.

Response rate: 94%

Question

Average
response

Reading list (Q2.1)

1.8

Materials (Q2.3)

2

Course satisfied (Q2.4)

1.7

Lectures (Q2.5)

1.7

Integration (Q2.6)

1.7

Contact (Q2.7)

2.1

Feedback (Q2.8)

2.1

Recommend (Q2.9)

Yes

89%

Maybe

11%

No

0%