Social and Labour Market Policies

The course aims to analyze the evolution of the Italian welfare state in a comparative perspective, with a particular attention both to recently adopted reforms - aimed at tackling demographic, socio-economic and politico-institutional challenges - and to future prospects. To this end, the course is structured into three parts. The first part, after introducing some basic concepts and notions on social policies, outlines - in a comparative perspective - the historical evolution of welfare systems: the major features of the Italian welfare model are illustrated. The comparative exploration of the Italian case is then developed and three social policy sectors are investigated more in depth: pension, health care and social assistance policies. The focus will be placed on the challenges addressed by policy-makers and on recent reforms, with particular attention to identify the major political dynamics and the role of social and political actors in the "recalibration" processes of the national welfare system. The course examines also the ongoing transformations of the Italian social protection system in the light of the "second welfare" perspective by taking into consideration the role played by non-public actors in the following areas: corporate, philanthropic, and community welfare.

The first two modules are dedicated to the introduction of the welfare state and its historical evolution, and to the study of pension, health, social assistance policies as well as the second welfare.

The third module focuses on the study of the social dimension of the European Union (EU). In this module we analyse the main challenges posed to the national welfare systems by the integration process and the increasing role played by the EU institutions in the social policy sector following the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon and in response to the multiple crises that hit Europe in the last decade.
More precisely, the lectures will focus on the following topics:
- the political system of the EU: main institutions and policy-making process;
- the widening and deepening of the European integration and the constraints posed to the domestic welfare systems;
- the lines of tension between the economic integration of the EU and the logic of solidarity of member states;
- the concept of European solidarity and its main analytical dimensions;
- the potential reconciliation between the economic and the social dimensions of the EU through the analysis of the proposal of building a European Social Union (ESU) and its main components.
During the lectures data, at both the aggregate and the individual level, supporting the arguments detailed above will be shown, and recent EU-level policy initiatives aimed to strengthen European solidarity will be discussed.