Dr Alexandra Kaasch

Lecturer in Social Policy

Academic Profile

I re-joined the Department in September 2012. Previously I held a post-doctoral researcher position at the University of Bremen (2008-2012), and obtained my PhD from this department in 2011.

My research and teaching interests are in the fields of comparative and global social policy.

I am editor of the Global Social Policy Digest, and the Global Social Policy Observatory (www.gsp-observatory.org).

Research

My research has focused on national, comparative and global social policy issues. In my PhD I studied global social policy prescriptions on (national) health systems by international organisations. Following this study, I engaged with conceptual and theoretical implications for the study of global social policy.

During my time at Bremen University, I was part of a comparative social policy research project. We investigated crisis-related social policy change in small open economies. My main focus was on the Swedish welfare state in a comparative perspective.

Currently, I am engaged in research and publications on global health policy, global social governance and theory-building in global social policy.

Teaching

I teach and supervise students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. I use a mixture of lecturing, inquiry-based learning, and critical discussions. I think it is important for students to learn how to analyse and discuss specific issues from a variety of different perspectives, and to employ approaches combining different academic disciplines, different policy levels, and different cultural traditions. This includes an understanding of one’s owns views and opinions as only one way of looking at, understanding and describing a problem, while being open and respectful with regard to others’ perspectives and interpretations. I am particularly interested in opening up students’ minds with regard to social problems and social policy making across different levels and scales, and the meaning(s) of transnational and global social policy.

I currently convene and teach on the following modules:

• SCS651 Global Social Policy and Governance
• SCS2002 Varieties of Welfare
• SCS2007 Social Policy in a Global Context
• SCS656 MA Global and International Social Policy Dissertation
• SCS6330 MA Social Research Dissertation

Postgraduate Supervision

I welcome enquiries from students considering pursuing doctoral studies in the broad field of global and comparative social policy studies. Topics could include, for example, international social policy actors (international organisations, civil society organisations, and others), global social policy ideas and discourses, global health policy, global social justice and redistribution, global social rights, global social problems.

To find out more about our PhD programmes, go to:
Studying for a PhD in Sociology

Publications

Kaasch, A. (forthcoming): Contesting Contestation in Global Social Policy. Special Issue ‘Conceptual and Theoretical Contributions to Global Social Policy’ Global Social Policy 13.1

Starke, P./ Kaasch, A./ Van Hooren, F. (forthcoming): The Welfare State as Crisis Manager. Responses to Major Economic Crisis in Small Open Economies. Palgrave MacMillan

Obinger, Herbert, Peter Starke & Alexandra Kaasch (2012) Responses to Labor Market Divides in Small States Since the 1990s, in: Patrick Emmenegger, Silja Häusermann, Bruno Palier & Martin Seeleib-Kaiser (Eds.), The Age of Dualization. The Changing Face of Inequality in Deindustrializing Societies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 176-200

Kaasch, A./ Senkal, A. (2011): The World Bank’s Approach to Fighting Poverty by Way of Health Policy. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Poverty Alleviation Strategies: Experiences and New Ideas. 13-15 October 2010 Istanbul

Singla, P./ Kaasch, A. (2011): From Titmuss to Anderson: A Comparative Analysis of the Indian and Swedish Welfare States. Proceedings of DSW International Conference on “Relevance of Policy Reforms on Development: Challenges before Emerging Economies”, February 24-26 2011 at DSW, JMI, New Delhi India

Starke, P./Kaasch, A./van Hooren, F. (2011): Explaining the Variety of Social Policy Responses to Economic Crisis: How Parties and Welfare State Structures Interact, TranState Working Paper No. 154, Bremen: Collaborative Research Center "Transformations of the State".

Kaasch, A. (2010): The OECD and Global Health Governance. In: Martens, K./ Jakobi, A. (eds.): Mechanisms of OECD Governance – International Incentives for National Policy Making. Oxford University Press

Deacon, B./ Kaasch, A. (2008): The OECD’s Social and Health Policy: Neo-liberal Stalking Horse or Balancer of Social And Economic Objectives? In: Mahon, R./ McBride, S. (eds.): The OECD and Global Governance. UBC Press

Kaasch, A./ Islam, Kazi Maruful/ Kohlmorgen, Lars (2008): Multi-Level Governance and Global Health. In: Brunnengräber, A./ Burchardt, H.-J./ Görg, C. (eds.): Multi-Level Governance in der transnationalen Politik. Nomos

since 2005 regular contributions to the Global Social Policy Digest on: global social policies (global redistribution, regulation, rights), global social governance, health, education, food, ‘habitat, land, housing’