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2022/2023

Social Policy, Family and Migration

Code: 102145 ECTS Credits: 12
Degree Type Year Semester
2500262 Sociology OB 2 A

Contact

Name:
Massoud Sharifi Ahmadipour
Email:
massoud.sharifi@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Other comments on languages

The basic readings of the course use three languages: Catalan, Spanish and English  

Teachers

Thales Speroni Pereira Da Cruz
Massoud Sharifi Ahmadipour

Prerequisites

None

Objectives and Contextualisation

The main goal of the course is to introduce students to the study of social conditions that favor or hinder the wellbeing of people, by understanding the processes of production and reproduction and distribution of resources within a society (state, market, family and civil society/community)

The course presents the vertebral axis of the subject "Social Policy" from the articulation of three parts. The first part emphasizes social policy in the most general sense, based on the approach to its history and the international comparison of the different welfare regimes.

The second part is set in the family and in the post-industrial transformations of this institution, paying special attention to family policies, on the basis of a critical look at their impacts from a gender perspective

Finally, the third part focuses on current international migrations and the challenges posed by  governability of human mobility, on one hand (which highlight the ineffectiveness of the unilateral policies of states),  and by the management of inclusion and cultural diversity in increasingly plural societies, on the other.

Competences

  • Analysing the problems arising from the implementation of public policies and conflict situations by recognising the complexity of the social phenomena and political decisions affecting democracy, human rights, social justice and sustainable development.
  • Applying the concepts and approaches of the sociological theory, specially the explanations of social inequalities between classes, between genders and between ethnic groups, to the implementation of public policies and to the resolution of conflict situations.
  • Assessing the contributions of sociological approaches to the study of culture, education, interaction between society and environment, social policy, and work.
  • Demonstrating a comprehension of the analysis of social phenomena presented in English, as well as observing their strengths and weaknesses.
  • Demonstrating a comprehension of the approaches of the sociological theory in its different aspects, interpretations and historical context.
  • Describing social phenomena in a theoretically relevant way, bearing in mind the complexity of the involved factors, its causes and its effects.
  • Developing self-learning strategies.
  • Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  • Searching for documentary sources starting from concepts.
  • Students must be capable of assessing the quality of their own work.
  • Students must be capable of managing their own time, planning their own study, managing the relationship with their tutor or adviser, as well as setting and meeting deadlines for a work project.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Comparing the different theoretical approaches concerning social policy.
  2. Comparing the reading of social policies from several ideologies of the social reality of Spain and Catalonia.
  3. Comprehending the social interpretations of social policy in accordance with these approaches.
  4. Defining the sociological concepts that interpret social policy.
  5. Defining the underlying social phenomena of social policies and conflicts about social needs.
  6. Demonstrating a comprehension of the analysis of social phenomena presented in English, as well as observing their strengths and weaknesses.
  7. Developing self-learning strategies.
  8. Distinguishing sociological concepts about social policy.
  9. Distinguishing sociological concepts, as well as the methods and techniques of social investigation commonly used to analyse social policy.
  10. Distinguishing the explanations of the access inequalities and the impact of social policies between classes, between genders and between ethnic groups that these actors take for granted.
  11. Distinguishing underlying social policies of specific conflicts.
  12. Expressing the debates regarding these approaches, that refer to social policy.
  13. Relating the concepts, methods and techniques used to analyse social policy with general theoretical and methodological debates.
  14. Relating the debates regarding these approaches, that refer to social policy, with the historical context in which they emerged.
  15. Relating them with the debates about state, social change and inequality.
  16. Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  17. Searching for documentary sources starting from concepts.
  18. Students must be capable of assessing the quality of their own work.
  19. Students must be capable of managing their own time, planning their own study, managing the relationship with their tutor or adviser, as well as setting and meeting deadlines for a work project.

Content

PART ONE: SOCIAL POLICY

Teacher: Phd. Massoud Sharifi

 

Block I. Theoretical foundations of social policy

1. What is social policy?

2. Social policy and social structure

 

Block II. Points of interest

3. Welfare regimes

4. Sociopolitical changes and Welfare States. New social risks

5. From the State of Protective Welfare to the Social Investment Welfare State

 

Block III. Origin and evolution of social policy and the Welfare State in Spain

6. The "Authoritarian" Welfare State in Spain

7. Social policy in the Constitution and during the transition

8. The deepening of neoliberal policies

9. Social policy in the Autonomous Communities and local administrations

 

 

SECOND PART: FAMILIES

Teacher: Phd. Massoud Sharifi

 

 Block I. Substrate of family policies

 

1. Production regimes, social policies and family models

2. Family diversity and equal opportunities from a gender perspective

3. Concept and dimensions of family policies

  

Block II. Family policy instruments

4. Economic support policies for families

5. Parental licenses

6. Child care and education for children 0-6 years old

 

Block III. Results of family policies

7. Fertility guidelines

8. Child welfare and gender equity

9. Intergenerational mobility and sustainability of the welfare state

 

 

THIRD PART: MIGRATORY POLICIES

Teacher: Phd. Paola Contreras and Phd. Thales Speroni

 

Block I. Introduction to international migration

1. International migration as a social phenomenon

2. Evolution of migration flows in Spain

 

Block II. Immigration, Public Policies and Citizenship

3. Migration management in Spain and the EU

4. Integration andrecognition policies: debates, models and trends in Europe

5. Political participation and citizenship. The representation policies

 

Block III. Policies and Governance of migrations: the Catalan case

6. The "Catalan integration model" under discussion

7. The role of local administrations in the implementation of social policies. Local management of migration and diversity

 

Methodology

The course development is based on the following teaching methodology:
a) "Master classes", where students can reach the conceptual bases of the subject
b) Seminars/exercises aimed at the discussion of basic texts. 
c) Teamwork (three people) on three proposals of Problem Based Learning (PBL), to choose one. Group follow-up within the tutorial hours.
d) Sexist, racist or LGTBQphobic comments o examples should be avoided during the sessions 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Master classes and Seminars 105 4.2 2, 5, 6, 10, 8, 9, 11, 19, 13
Type: Supervised      
Tutoring (individual and groups) 45 1.8 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 8, 9, 11, 12, 19, 13, 14, 15
Type: Autonomous      
Readings. Teamwork. Preparation of written tests (exams) 150 6 1, 3, 4, 12, 14, 15

Assessment

The course will be passed if the final grade of the different evaluation activities reaches the grade of 5.

 

The average grade of the three written tests (individual) and the resolution of the PBL case must have a minimum grade of 4 to be able to make average.

 

Students who do not reach an average grade of 4 (from the sum of the three written tests), will have the option to repeat only one of the three tests on the day of recovery. The recovery does not contemplate that the student who reaches an average grade, equal or superior to 5 (from the sum of the three written tests) can improve the grade, even if he has failed any of the three tests.

 

The students that during the course have done an adequate follow-up of the PBL and do not exceed the minimum grade of the group evaluation ( lower than 5), may opt for the recovery and re-deliver the work.

 

In the evaluation report only those who have not carried out the evaluation activities corresponding to 50% of the grade will have the qualification of "not submitted".

At the beginning of the course, a calendar will be published in the moodle classroom with the course schedule, and the dates of the different evaluation activities 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Group evaluation (teams of 3 people): Report PBL 20% 0 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 8, 9, 11, 12, 19, 13, 14, 15
Group evaluation (teams of 3 people): Tutoring PBL 5% 0 0 18, 17, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9, 11, 12, 19, 13, 14, 15, 16
Individual evaluation: 3 writtten tests/ exams (one for each block) 60% (20% par test) 0 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 8, 9, 11, 12, 19, 13, 14, 15
Individual evaluation: readings 15% 0 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 8, 9, 11, 12, 19, 13, 14, 15

Bibliography

FIRST PART: SOCIAL POLICY

 

Esping-Andersen, G. (2000). Capítulo 5: Un nuevo examen comparativo de los distintos regímenes del bienestar. En Fundamentos sociales de las economías postindustriales (p. 101-127). Editorial Ariel.

González de Durana, A. A., & Rodríguez Cabrero, G. (2019). El Papel de Las Políticas Sociales a La Salida de La Crisis: Los Servicios Públicos y Las Prestaciones Sociales Entre La Regresión y Las Reformas. En G. F. Maíllo (Ed.), VIII Informe sobre exclusión y desarrollo social en España, 2019 (p. 329-390). Caritas Española : Fundación Foessa.

Moreira, A., Léon, M., Moscarola, F. C., & Roumpakis, A. (2021). In the eye of the storm…again! Social policy responses to COVID-19 in Southern Europe. Social Policy & Administration, 55(2), 339-357.

Moreno Fernández, L., & Mari-Klose, P. (2016). Bienestar mediterráneo: Trayectorias y retos de un régimen en transición. En E. del Pino, M. J. Rubio Lara, & J. Adelantado Gimeno (Ed.), Los Estados de bienestar en la encrucijada: Políticas sociales en perspectiva comparada (2a ed. ampliada, p. 139-160). Tecnos.

Orloff Ann Shola. (2009). Gendering the Comparative Analysis of Welfare States: An Unfinished Agenda. Sociological Theory, 27(3), 317-343.

 

SECOND PART:  FAMILIES AND SOCIAL POLICY

 

Allen, K. R., & Henderson, A. C. (2016). Family Systems Theory. En Family Theories: Foundations and Applications (p. 103-123). John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Ayuso Sánchez, Luis & Bascón Jiménez, Milagrosa (2021). El descubrimiento de las políticas familiares en España: entre la ideología y el pragmatismo. Revista Española deInvestigaciones Sociológicas, 174: 3-22.

Berger, L. M., & Carlson, M. J. (2020). Family Policy and Complex Contemporary Families: A Decade in Review and Implications for the Next Decade of Research and Policy Practice. Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(1), 478-507.

Daly, M., & Ferragina, E. (2018). Family policy in high-income countries: Five decades of development. Journal of European Social Policy, 28(3), 255-270.

Flaquer, L. (2016). La família davant els reptes de la Segona Transició Demogràfica. En S. Giner & O. Homs (Ed.), Raó de Catalunya. La societat catalana al segle XXI (p. 359-376). Institut d’Estudis Catalans/Enciclopèdia Catalana. 

 

 

 

THIRD  PART:  MIGRATORY POLICIES

 

Castles, Stephen. 2006 "Factores que hacen y deshacen las políticas migratorias". A: Alejandro Portes y Josh Dewind (coords.) Repensando las migraciones. Nuevas perspectivas teóricas y empíricas, México, Miguel Ángel Porrúa/INM/UAZ. (pp. 33–66).    Disponible a: https://revistas.comillas.edu/index.php/revistamigraciones/article/view/4262/4084

Oso, L., López-Sala, A., & Muñoz-Comet, J. (2021). Migration Policies, Participation and the Political Construction of Migration in Spain . Migraciones. Publicación Del Instituto Universitario de Estudios Sobre Migraciones, (51), 1–30. Disponible a: https://revistas.comillas.edu/index.php/revistamigraciones/article/view/16736/14789

Rodriguez, Dan (2007) “Inmigración y modelos de incorporación: contextos, claves del debate y tendencias de futuro (Prólogo)”.  A: John Biles, Ines Michalowski i Lara Winnemore, Políticas y modelos de acogida. Una mirada transatlántica: Canadá y Alemania, Francia y los Países Bajos,  Barcelona: CIDOB   (pp. 8-37)                                                              Disponible a:  https://www.cidob.org/publicaciones/series_pasadas/documentos/migraciones/politicas_y_modelos_de_acogida_una_mirada_transatlantica_canada_alemania_francia_y_los_paises_bajos

Sánchez, Blanca. (2011) “La política migratoria en España. Un análisis de largo plazo”. REIS,  Monográfico nº 1 (pp.  243-268).                                                           Disponible a:  http://revintsociologia.revistas.csic.es/index.php/revintsociologia/article/viewArticle/393

Zapata, Ricard &  Blanca  Garcés (coords.) (2008). La gestió municipal de la immigració a Catalunya. Barcelona: Associació Catalana de Municipis.     (pp. 11-23; 129-171).                                                                                                                          Disponible a: https://www.acm.cat/sites/default/files/publicacions/fitxers/llibre_gestio_municipal_immigracio.pdf

 

 

 

 

Software

Not applicable