SCLG2611 - Welfare States: A Comparative Analysis

Semester 2, 2011  |  Credit Points: 6

Coordinator: Gyu-Jin Hwang
Phone: +61 2 9036 5015
Email: gyu-jin.hwang@sydney.edu.au

Description

Contemporary developments and debates concerning welfare in Australia are put into a new perspective when considered in comparison with welfare states throughout the world. In this unit of study, students will have the opportunity to compare Australian welfare arrangements and social policies with those in other industrialised countries. How do other countries conceptualise and make arrangements for people who are unemployed, or pregnant or sick, or old? What are the principles that underpin these arrangements and how can we account for the differences between countries? The unit will focus on social policies concerned with health, employment and unemployment, work and family, disability, ageing and childhood. Students will develop comparative analyses with both Western industrialised welfare states and the emerging Asian welfare states. In addition to developing knowledge of particular social policies in particular countries, students will explore the theoretical frameworks that have underpinned comparative welfare state analysis. They will also have the opportunity to interrogate the dominant discourses that have informed social policy development including those concerning rights, citizenship, obligations, reciprocity and social capital.

Assessments

class facilitation (10%), 1x1500wd essay (30%) and1x3000wd essay (60%)

Textbooks

unit reader will be available through the Copy Centre

Classes

1x2hr lecture/week and 1x1hr tutorial/week commencing week 2

Prerequisites

SCLG1001 and SCLG1002

Prohibitions

SCLG2509

Additional Information

this unit is available as a designated 'Advanced' unit for students who are already enrolled in the BA (Advanced) degree program

The information displayed above is indicative only as online information is subject to change without notice. The Faculty Handbook and the University of Sydney Calendar are the official legal source of information relating to study at the University of Sydney