SPOL38270 Gender Inequality & Soc Pol

Academic Year 2023/2024

Throughout this module, students will develop their understanding of many dimensions of the relationship between gender and social policy. In the first section of the course, students will become familiar with the fundamental concepts necessary for gender policy analysis, including how gender operates as a social structure and its intersectional relationship to other social structures such as race, class and disability. Students will develop their understanding of the concept of patriarchy in both its familial and non-familial meanings and ideas about post-patriarchal welfare states. Students will learn about prevailing approaches to measuring gender inequalities, including indicators.

Next, we will focus on gendered typologies of welfare states and the importance of varieties of capitalism to gender inequalities in work, organisations and families. We will examine the rise of the social investment approach in the context of both high- and middle-income countries. We will also review care policies for children and adults in high-income countries, paying particular attention to work and family policies in Sweden and the United States. The module offers a comparative overview focusing on the institutional roles of employers, welfare states, state feminism and organised women’s movements in reducing gender inequalities and promoting egalitarian welfare ideologies.

In the final part of the module, we will focus on how the concept of care is becoming increasingly significant for policymakers and private sector employers. We will reflect on how global migration patterns intersect with care and welfare regimes. Finally, we will explore how social policy can evolve to account for women’s expanding responsibilities in the context of public health and environmental crises.