230103 SE Population Change, Social Change and Welfare-State Development (2015S)

This course deals with the relationship between population change, social change, and welfare-state development in Europe. Population change, in particular low fertility and population aging, have received much attention in politics, the media, and in research. It is assumed that population change will have substantial impacts on the sustainability of welfare states. Less attention has been paid to the relationship between welfare-state development and social changes, such as changes in gender relationships, in family forms, and in migration dynamics. This course explores the dynamics of population and social changes and their interrelationship to welfare states. The main focus will be on European countries in a comparative perspective.
The course consists of three main parts: First, we will discuss the main theories of population development and social changes to gain insight into the relationship between population structures, population dynamics, and social changes. Second, we will look at population changes and social changes in European countries to detect similarities and differences in population and social dynamics across Europe. We will examine to what extent theoretical assumptions explain recent population and social changes in Eastern and Western Europe. Third, we will deal with the main concepts of European welfare states and look at the linkages between the premises of welfare-state regimes and population and social structures. We will discuss and assess the interrelationship between population and social changes and welfare-state changes. The main aim of the course is to provide insight into theoretical explanations of population and social changes in modern societies, to depict current changes, to explore the range of the theoretical explanations in light of recent/current population and social changes, and to interrelate population and social changes with welfare-state changes in Europe.