Are you concerned about injustice and inequality?
Then sign up for Global Perspectives on Justice and Welfare, and join an international network of students from Brazil, India, Georgia, Denmark, South Africa, and other countries in the EU, all interested in sharing perspectives on social justice transcending the North-South divide.
This hybrid course combines online flexibility with interactive, real-world learning. You’ll dive into engaging materials, connect with students worldwide, and participate in exercises that bring the topics to life.
Why take this course?
- Gain insights into social, economic, and political challenges impacting justice and welfare worldwide.
- Engage with real-world issues through case studies, interactive workshops, and international expert videos.
- Learn to recognize and critique ‘institutions’ that create inequality and poverty.
Aim of this course
The course promotes comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives to deepen students' understanding of rule of law and welfare states globally. The course provides participants with conceptual knowledge and analytical skills to explore the legal, political and social conditions that shape (in)equal access to rights and welfare across contexts. The course brings together participants from different countries and across law and social science disciplines to enable cross-country interaction, exchanges and understanding.
The course builds on our successful course 'JUST SOCIETY: The Rule of Law and Equal Access to Welfare', offered in 2023 and 2024. Read more about this prior course here.
Who is eligible?
Students, who are enrolled at University of Southern Denmark, can sign up for this course through SDU student self-service.
Read more about how to register for courses here.
Student, within the EU, can sign up for this course, if they are studying at on of our EPICUR alliance partners.
You sign up via the EPICUR website, found here
The EPICUR alliance partners are currently:
- Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
- University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
- University of Freiburg, Germany
- University of Natural Resources and Life Science, Austria
- University of Strasburg, France
- University of Upper Alsace, France
We are (as previously) offering this course to students from the following institutions:
- University of Brasilia
- Ilia State University and Tbilisi University
- National Law School of India University Bengaluru
- University of Johannesburg
Registration is done through your own institution.
Please contact Marianne S. Ulriksen (mu@sam.sdu.dk) if you are unsure of your point of contact.
Course description
Across the world, welfare states are emerging due to strong social rights movements and effective social policies, yet in many countries, inequal access to fundamental rights and welfare policies continues to be prevalent. Some vulnerable groups do not have access to social protection benefits; some cannot dispute administrative decisions in a court of law; and low-income groups often carry the largest burden of financing welfare in largely regressive tax systems.
In this course, participants will compare the development and characteristics of the rule of law and welfare states globally and analyse the conditions that shape (in)equal access to rights and welfare. This is done together with participants from different countries and various disciplinary backgrounds such as law, political science, public administration, sociology and social work.
The course comprises three modules: a main module, a thematic module and a project module which collectively provide course participants with knowledge, skills and competences to deepen their understanding of the rule of law and its intersection with welfare state development applying comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives.
Flexible and engaging learning format
The course blends so-called short online learning modules (which we call nanos) with onsite and online teacher-facilitated discussion seminars and and a case study workshop. Nanos break “normal” teaching into short accessible units that allow you to learn about equal access to welfare whenever and wherever. They comprise a mix of short video lectures and various kinds of readings, always supported by guided engagement, as well as individual and group-based exercises.
Learning activities include a mix of individual tasks such as reflection exercises, short written assignments, independent group-work where students engage across disciplines and country lines as well as peer-to-peer feedback. These independent exercises are combined with teacher-facilitated online seminar, along with continuous online feedback from teachers on exercises and written assignments via the online learning platform.
The course comprises three modules: a main module, a thematic module and a project module:
- Main module: The course’s main module provides course participants with a conceptual foundation with which to analyse contemporary welfare states. Taking the Nordic Model of Welfare and the Rechtsstaat as a starting point, course participants are introduced to central theoretical concepts in comparative welfare studies and principles of the Rule of Law and administrative law and constitutional rights, and to development of and challenges to the Rule of Law and welfare states globally. building on this foundation, course participants are introduced to comparative and interdisciplinary approaches to the analysing the rule of law, rights and welfare policies; and they apply these to deepen their understanding of historic and contemporary development of the rule of law and the welfare state in their home countries and other emerging welfare states.
- Thematic module: In the second part of the course, participants will focus on a specific right or welfare policy as they opt into one of the following thematic tracks: 1) anti-discrimination at work, 2) social protection and social law, or 3) equitable taxation. In each of these tracks, students examine, theoretically and empirically, selected legal, political or social conditions that shape (in)equal access to rights or welfare policies within the chosen theme.
- Project module: Following the thematic module, course participants will conduct independent, problem-based case study research under the supervision of course convenors.
We believe the course is great! But if you do not believe us, you might listen to previous students,
Common questions
That depends.
For students within EU, the course is free of charge.
Students from outside EU might be charged a small fee, depending on the agreement with you institution.
Firstly, you need to either be a student as University of Southern Denmark, a student of at one of our EPICUR alliance partners or a student at on of our of the four partner universities outside Europe. Please check the "Who is eligible" above.
Secondly, the course is available to everyone with a BA-degree from law or social sciences, and is primarily target MA-students and alumni from these universities.
Yes.
One of the unique aspects of this course, is the possibility to learn from peers across the Globe. We therefore aim to make sure that you continuously interact with students from other countries throughout the course.
Although the course primarily takes place online, you will have the possibility to interact through live online seminars, exercises on the platform and the hybrid Case Study Workshop.
This course is primarily online, with elements of in-person activities:
- The induction workshop: You will have the opportunity to interact in person with peers at the hybrid induction workshop.
- Hybrid Case Study Workshop: In May, we facilitate a hybrid Case Study Workshop. All students are welcome to participate in-person if possible. If not, we also offer online live elements enabling all students to participate throughout the five days workshop.