Principal investigators: Herbert Obinger (University of Bremen), Carina Schmitt (University Bamberg)

Grant amount: 488.140 EUR

Duration 01/2022-12/2025          

Collaborative Research Center Global Dynamics of Social Policy, German Research Foundation

Project description:

The effect of wars on the dynamics of social policies has been discussed and increasingly analysed in the welfare state literature for Western industrialized countries in recent years. However, the relationship between armed conflicts and welfare state development has hardly been studied for other regions of the world. Moreover, previous research has not systematically distinguished between the effects of different forms of conflict. In this project, we therefore investigate the impact of different conflict types, such as interstate wars, civil wars, and the Cold War, on the generosity and coverage of social policies in a global perspective. The focus is on old-age security, the health care system, as well as on family, unemployment, and war victim benefits. We argue that all violent conflicts tend to negatively affect social policies in the short run, leading to cuts in the scope of generosity and restrictions in the degree of inclusiveness. The medium- and long-term consequences of war, on the other hand, vary (i) in dependence of the type of violent conflict, (ii) in the intensity of the conflict, and (iii) in domestic contextual factors such as the level of economic development.

We examine the impact of armed conflicts on the coverage and generosity of social policies from World War I, as the primordial catastrophe of the 20th century, up to the present. We distinguish between the war preparation phase, the short-term effects on social policies during the conflict phase and the medium- and long-term consequences after the end of the conflict. The influence of interstate wars, civil wars, and the Cold War on social policies is examined quantitatively for a global sample, and in-depth analyses are conducted for selected countries (Angola, Bulgaria, Germany, Peru, Serbia/Yugoslavia). These case studies reconstruct in detail the social policy decision-making processes in different conflict phases and for different conflict types.

Principal Investigator: Carina Schmitt (University Bamberg)

Grant amount: 1.486.000 EUR

Duration: 04/2018-03/2024       

European Research Council, ERC Starting Grant

Project Description:

Social protection has been one of the most popular instruments for promoting human development across the globe. However, the great majority of the global population is not or only partly covered by social protection. Especially in developing countries it is often the very poorest who do not receive essential social benefits. This is highly problematic since inclusive social protection is assumed to be a key factor for national productivity, global economic growth and domestic stability. Social protection in many developing countries can be traced back to colonial times. Surprisingly, the influence of colonialism has been a blind spot for existing theories and empirical studies of comparative social policy. In this project it is argued that the colonial legacy in terms of the imperial strategy of the colonial power, the characteristics of the colonized society and the interplay between the two is crucial in explaining early and contemporary social protection. Hence, the main objective of this project is to systematically understand how colonialism has shaped the remarkable differences in social protection and its postcolonial outcomes. Given the paucity of our information and understanding of social protection in former colonies, an interactive dataset on the characteristics, origins and outcomes of social protection will be developed including comprehensive data on former British and French colonies from the beginning of the 20^th century until today. The dataset will be backed by insights derived from four case studies elucidating the causal mechanisms between the colonial legacy and early and contemporary social protection. The proposed project breaks new ground by improving our understanding of why social protection in some developing countries has led to more inclusive societies while reinforcing existing inequalities in others. Such an understanding is a prerequisite in informing the contemporary struggle against poverty and social inequalit

Schmitt, Carina (Hg.), 2020: From Colonialism to International Aid. External Actors and Social Protection in the Global South, Global Dynamics of Social Policy/1, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-38200-1 (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-38200-1

Schmitt, Carina, 2019: The Coverage of Social Protection in the Global South, in: International Journal of Social Welfare, 29 (1), S. 6 - 19, doi:10.1111/ijsw.12374 (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijsw.12374)

Schmitt, Carina, 2020: The Warfare – Welfare Nexus in French African colonies in the course of the First and Second World War, in: Historical Social Research, 45 (2), S. 217 - 238, doi:10.12759/hsr.45.2020.2.217-238 (https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/66906?locale-attribute=en)

Schmitt, Carina, 2020: External actors and social protection in the Global South: An overview, in: Carina Schmitt (Hg.), From Colonialism to International Aid. Understanding the Role of External Actors in Social Protection in the Global South, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, S. 3 - 18, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-38200-1_1 (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-38200-1_1)

Schmitt, Carina, 2020: The colonial legacy and the Rise of Social Assistance in the Global South, in: Carina Schmitt (Hg.), From Colonialism to International Aid. Understanding the Role of External Actors in Social Protection in the Global South, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, S. 137 - 160, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-38200-1_6 (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-38200-1_6)

Schmitt, Carina; Becker, Bastian; Ebeling, Judith M.; Shriwise, Amanda, 2020: Critical Assessment and Outlook, in: Schmitt, Carina (Hg.), From Colonialism to International Aid. Understanding the Role of External Actors in Social Protection in the Global South, Global Dynamics of Social Policy, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, S. 357 - 376, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-38200-1_14 (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-38200-1_14)

Establishment of a comprehensive interactive, web-based information system on global development dynamics of social policy - Global Welfare State Information System (WeSIS). WeSIS consists of three data components: welfare state indicators, indicators on country-specific characteristics, and indicators on linkages between countries and between countries and international organizations. 

The project also addresses the question of how sociopolitical development dynamics and interdependencies as well as their interrelationships can be measured and mapped in the best possible data-based manner.

Principal Investigators: Andreas Breiter, Ivo Mossig, Carina Schmitt

Grant amount: 929.700 EUR

Duration: 01/2018-12/2021

Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft (German Research Foundation)

Since the beginnings of the welfare state in Western Europe and the formation of the British settler colonies in the 19th century, social protection systems have spread widely around the world. This sub-project focuses on the national and international determinants responsible for the introduction and spread of social security programs around the globe. We focus primarily on social security systems that provide transfer benefits for disability, sickness, old age, and unemployment. We argue that the adoption of a social protection program is influenced not only by political and socioeconomic conditions within a country, but also by a country's economic, political, and cultural relations with other countries. Other international influences on social policy legislative processes include violent relations such as colonialism and war, and countries' membership in international organizations relevant to social policy.

Principal Investigators: Herbert Obinger, Carina Schmitt, Laura Seelkopf

Grant amount: 459.400 EUR

Duration: 01/2018-12/2021

Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft (German Research Foundation)