Entry requirements

General entry requirements + English 6

Progression level in relation to degree requirements

-

Course contents

This course introduces critical social science perspectives on the welfare state and social inequalities in Sweden, with a particular focus on gender equality and disparities based on class and ethnicity. It provides an overview of theories of welfare systems and compares Swedish social policy with other welfare models. Special attention is given to the Swedish labour market model and to how inequalities related to gender, class, and migration shape welfare and everyday life in contemporary Sweden. The content of the course addresses historical developments as well as current debates on institutional change, equality, and welfare policy.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student will be able to:

1. Describe and critically examine the history and contemporary development of the Swedish welfare state.
2. Critically discuss theoretical and empirical issues within welfare research.
3. Apply social science theories to analyse work, social inequality, and transformations in the welfare state.

Learning activities

Teaching is conducted through lectures, seminars, and film screenings.

Assessment

All learning outcomes are assessed through a Portfolio.

Course literature

Andreasson, Jesper & Herz, Marcus (2022). Family Practices, Deportability and Administrative Violence: an Ethnographic Study on Asylum Seekers’ Family life in the Swedish Migration Context. Families, Relationships and Societies, 11(2), 157–174.

Arts, Wil & Gelissen, John (2002). Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism or More? A state-of-the-art report. Journal of European Social Policy. 12(2), 137–158.

Barth, Erling, Moene, Karl O. & Willumsen, Fredrik (2014). The Scandinavian model - an Interpretation. Journal of Public Economics, 117, 60–72.

Bengtsson, Erik (2019). The Swedish Sonderweg in Question: Democratization and Inequality in Comparative Perspective. c.1750–1920, Past & Present, 244(1), 123–161.

Bengtsson, Erik (2013). Essays on Trade Unions and Functional Income Distribution. Gotenburg University. Gothenburg Studies in Economic History 9. (50 s.)

Berger, Tor & Frey, Carl (2016). Structural Transformation in the OECD: Digitalisation, Deindustrialisation and the Future of Work, OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers. No. 193, OECD Publishing. (52 s.)

Borchorst, Anette & Siim, Birte (2009). Woman-friendly Policies and State Feminism: Theorizing Scandinavian Gender Equality. Feminist Theory, 2, 207–224.

Carlén, Stefan & de los Reyes, Paulina (2024). Precarious employment in Swedish retail 1990–2019: An intersectional analysis of patterns and consequences. Economic and Industrial Democracy 2025, 46(4), 1188–1213.

Dahlstedt, Magnus & Neergaard, Anders (2019). Crisis of Solidarity? Changing Welfare and Migration Regimes in Sweden. Critical Sociology, 45(1), 121–135.

Eldén, Sara & Anving, Terese (2019). Nanny families: Practices of care by nannies, au pairs, parents and children in Sweden. Bristol University Press. (171 s.) ISBN: 978-1529201536

Esping-Andersen, Gösta (1990). The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press. (kap. 1, 26 s.)

Eydal, Guðný Björk, Gíslason, Ingólfur V., Rostgaard, Tine, Brandth, Berit, Duvander, Ann-Zofie & Lammi-Taskula, Johanna (2015). Trends in Parental Leave in the Nordic countries: Has the Forward March of Gender Equality Halted? Community, Work and Family, 18(2), 167-181.

Isaksen, Lise Widding & Näre, Lena (2019). Local Loops and Micro-mobilities of Care: Rethinking Care in Egalitarian Contexts. Journal of European Social Policy, 29(5), 593–599.

Isaksen, Lise Widding (Ed.). (2010). Global Care Work: Gender and Migration in Nordic Societies. Nordic Academic Press. (237 s.)

Kjellberg, Anders (2021). The shifting Role of Unions in the Social Dialogue. European Journal of Workplace Innovation, 6 (2), 220-244.

Lundh, Christer (2024). Wage Formation and Institutional Change in the Swedish Labour Market 185 – 2000, in Lundh, Christer, Olofsson, Jonas, Schön, Lennart, Svensson, Lars (eds.) Wage Formation, Labour Market Institutions and Economic Transformation in Sweden 1860-2000, Lund University. Lund studies in economic history 32, s. 92–142.

Lundqvist, Åsa (2011).* Family Policy Paradoxes. Gender Equality and Labour Market regulation in Sweden*, 1930-2010. Policy Press. (168 s.)

Lundqvist, Åsa (2015). Activating Women in the Swedish Model. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 22(1), 111–132.

Roman, Christine (2019). Gendered and Classed experiences of Work–family Conflict Among Lone Mothers in Sweden. Community, Work & Family, 22(3), 302–318.

An additional selection of approximately 700 pages of scientific literature and reports will be assigned in consultation with the course instructors

Course evaluation

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

Interim rules

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

Additional information

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format. The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.