| CODE | EST2230 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Social Policy and the European Union | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | European Studies | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit gives exposure to core social policy concepts such as liberty, equality, social justice and so forth, as well as exposure to principal theoretical perspectives relevant to contemporary EU social policy, namely: Social Democracy, New Right, Third Way, Environmentalism and Postmodernism. Further to this, the relevance of these core concepts and theories are discussed with reference to the European Social Model in the framework of the EU2020. The study-unit concludes with a discussion of select social policy issues concurrently debated in the EU context. Contents: Part 1: Social Policy: core concepts and principal theoretical perspectives Core Concepts: social policy; needs; citizenship; community; liberty; equality and social justice Principal Theoretical Perspectives: Social Democracy; New Right; Third Way; Environmentalism and Postmodernism Part 2: The European Social Model and the EU2020 Part 3: Social policy issues concurrently debated in the European Union - these include students' presentations on each theme - Transport - Energy - Gender and Sexual Identities - Lifelong Learning - Community Involvement - Ageing Society - Pensions - Poverty - Migration - Work and Employment Study-unit Aims: The study-unit aims are to guide and support students in using working knowledge gained through the first part of this study-unit in identifying social policy concepts and theories at stake in concurrent EU social policy - particularly the EU2020 - and engage in a critical discussion of issues concurrently debated in EU social policy. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: a. Synthesize social policy concepts characterizing contemporary EU social policy, particularly the EU2020; b. Identify influences that different theoretical perspectives have on contemporary EU social policy, particularly the EU2020; c. Assess select issues in contemporary EU social policy. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: a. Identify policy concepts at stake in contemporary EU social policy debate; b. Engage in theoretically-grounded critical analyses of policy debates within the EU. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Book: - Lister, R. 2010. Understanding theories and concepts in Social Policy. The Policy Press. Bristol. Papers/Articles: - Benton, N. and Petrovic, M. 2013. How Free is Free Movement? Dynamic and Drivers of Mobility within the European Union. Migration Policy Institute Europe. Brussels. http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/MPIEurope-FreeMovement-Drivers.pdf. - Briguglio, M., Brown, M. and Aquilina, D. "A Civil society Perspective of Sustainable Energy Policy and Green Jobs in Malta as a Small EU State" in Rizzo, S. (ed.) Green Jobs from a Small State Perspective. Case Studies from Malta. 2011. Green European Foundation. Belgium. - Brown, M. “A Policy on Community Involvement in State Primary Schools in Malta: a preliminary insight into the perceptions of College Principals” in Vassallo, M.T. (ed.) 2012. Public life in Malta: Essays on governance, politics and public affairs in the EU’s smallest member state. Public Policy Department of the University of Malta. - Clasen, J. and Goerne, A. "Exit Bismarck, Enter Dualism? Assessing Contemporary German Labour Market Policy" in Journal of Social Policy, 2011, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 795–810. - European Commission. 2010. Communication from the Commission – Europe 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:2020:FIN:EN:PDF. - Formosa, M. "Older Persons and Green Volunteering: the Missing Link to Sustainable Future?" in Green Jobs from a Small State Perspective. Case Studies from Malta. Rizzo, S. (ed.) Green European Foundation. Belgium. - Mabbett, D. "Supplementary Pensions between Social Policy and Social Regulation" in West European Politics, 2009, Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 774–791. - Mabbett, D. “The Development of Rights-based Social Policy in the European Union: The Example of Disability Rights” in JCMS, 2005, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 97–120. http://sid.usal.es/idocs/F8/ART6979/deborah.pdf - Micallef R. " Poverty in the European Union: Public Opinion Perceptions" in Vassallo, M.T. (ed.) 2012. Public life in Malta: Essays on governance, politics and public affairs in the EU’s smallest member state. Public Policy Department of the University of Malta. - Murray, L. "Deliberative Research for Deliberative Policy Making: Creating and Recreating Evidence in Transport Policy" in Social Policy and Society, 2011, Vol.10, No.4, pp. 459-470. - Woodard, A. E. 2009. “Too late for gender mainstreaming? Taking stock in Brussels” in Journal of European Social Policy, 2008, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 289 – 302 . - Woolfson, C. “Social dialogue and lifelong learning in new EU member states” in Journal of European Social Policy, 2008, Vol. 18, No.1, pp. 79 – 87. http://esp.sagepub.com/content/18/1/79 Further Reading: - Alcock, P, May, M. & Rowlingson, K. 2012. The Student’s Companion to Social Policy. Wiley-Blackwell. Sussex. - Hantrais, L. 2007. Social Policy in the European Union. Palgrave. New York - Lavalette, M. & Pratt, A. (Eds.) 2006. Social Policy: Theories, Concepts and Issues. SAGE. London - Wallace, H., Pollack, M.A. and Young, A.R. 2010. Policy-making in the European Union. 2010. Oxford University Press. Oxford |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Independent Study | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Jennifer Azzopardi |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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