Markets, Welfare and Social Movements: Sociological Perspectives

This course covers markets, welfare, and social movements from a sociological perspective. The course is a course package consisting of the two courses 'Markets and Welfare in Contemporary Society: Local and Global Perspectives' (SC1218, 15 credits) and 'Local and global social movements' (SC1215, 15 credits). The first course covers critical themes that reflect the relationship between markets and welfare: different varieties of capitalism and welfare regimes, the labor market, financialization and economization of pensions, health care and education, commercialization of intimacy and emotions, economization and marketization of the environment, welfare crime, safety and security. In the second course, current research and theory on social movements are covered and used to analyze social movements both globally and locally in Scandinavia. The course focuses on processes of identity formation, the creation of new local or global solidarities, and different forms of protest and strategies used by social movement actors when presenting their issues in public. Both courses provide an overview of current research and theory in the field and include opportunities for in-depth studies in minor project work.