The Swedish model: Principles, outcomes and challenges for social work, 15 ECTS

This course is intended as a general introduction to the emergence and development of the Swedish welfare state with a focus on the welfare states importance for social work. The course consists of three parts. A first where the historical context and political circumstances that form the basis for the Swedish model is highlighted. This part covers key areas of political economy and welfare policy, social rights, relationships and power relations in the labor market, gender aspects of welfare policy, welfare state organization and distributional outcomes and changes in conditions in the Swedish model. A second part will cover central parts of the national welfare law, in particular Swedish social welfare legislation. The part of the course covers key aspects of the Swedish welfare law in relation to international law and human rights, with particular focus on children’s rights. The course deepens the student’s skills and ability to integrate welfare law in the context of relevant scientific, social and ethical aspects of social work and to argue and come to reasoned conclusions about welfare law based on different theoretical perspectives. A third part study social exclusion. Social exclusion is understood as a multidimensional process leading to different forms of exclusion that prevents people to fully participate in and share activities and possibilities that citizens normatively mostly share. Social exclusion is analyzed with intersectional perspectives including class, gender and ethnicity. The goal is to understand processes leading to exclusion and to understand processes towards inclusion.