ILRGL 5815

The Welfare State and Its Contradictions for Workers

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

Is the welfare state a protector from capitalism or an accomplice to capitalism? Social safety nets and capitalist markets have a complicated relationship for workers. Healthcare, retirement pensions, unemployment insurance - these provisions protect workers from the risks of getting sick, old, and fired. These same provisions are also tremendous sources of capital, invested into the very employers and asset-managers who pose risks to workers. This contradiction is not an American thing, but extends to social democracies like the Netherlands who steward one of the largest national capital-funded pensions. This course uncovers these complexities of the welfare state, with special theoretical and empirical attention to labor. Geographically it will focus on the United States, with frequent international comparisons to examine the commonalities and differences of welfare states. And lastly, it will be equal parts sociology and history, illuminating the origins, transformations, and inequalities of the welfare state in the United States.

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