Since the new millennium there has been a tremendous expansion of social protection policies in the Global South. Until recently, however, this empirical trend received limited attention among political science scholars and theoretical understandings of the developments were limited. At DaWS, we contribute to the knowledge of social policy developments in low- and middle-income countries through various studies, often in collaboration with international researchers from both the Global North and South. Studies include for instance: comparative case studies that test and adjust welfare state theories to new contexts; historical case studies that highlight the importance of past trajectories for current social protection expansion; the relationship between social policies and the Sustainable Development Goals of reducing poverty and inequality; the role of redistributive policies for social justice; and the policy bargains between political leaders and domestic as well as international actors.
Contact: Marianne Ulriksen