Social Protection - SPY00142M

«Back to module search

Module summary

Social protection is about enabling individuals to deal with risks they can hardly manage by themselves, in order to create conditions for a degree of social well-being. Social protection may look different from country to country, but there are a range of underlying principles and challenges that apply in any case, and that are explored systematically in this module.

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Online Teaching Period 2 2023-24

Module aims

While social protection can be seen as a synonym for the welfare state, it has also become a key policy tool in the fight against global poverty, resulting in a significant increase in the number and scope of social protection programmes around the world. With this growth has emerged a myriad of debates around the philosophy, design and challenges in developing robust social protection systems in developing contexts, in addition to more long-standing debates around the strengths and weaknesses of different social protection approaches in mature welfare states. 

This module explores these debates, providing a foundational overview of the theoretical and conceptual frameworks that underpin the social protection agenda. It also examines the practical components of designing and implementing social protection programmes, including exploring policy instruments such as targeting and selection, conditional versus unconditional benefits, or food versus cash transfers.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module, students should be able to:

 

• critically analyse the theoretical and conceptual frameworks and current debates surrounding social protection

• evaluate  and critically analyse the main policy instruments used in social protection programmes

• compare and contrast the main approaches to designing and implementing social protection programmes, and to evaluate their merits and challenges

• make informed proposals to address shortcomings of social protection schemes, whilst being aware of their complexity

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

None

Module feedback

Feedback on summative assessments will be provided within 20 working days, consisting of written comments and a marking matrix.

Indicative reading

Bender, K., Kaltenborn, M. and Pfleiderer, C. (2013). Social Protection in Developing Countries, Reforming Systems. Routledge. 

Kvist, J. and Saari, J. (2007). The Europeanisation of social protection. Policy Press.