This class has two goals: First, it shall render students familiar with theories of political sociology that have become influential in International Relations. Here, we will focus on critical-analytical approaches from a range of authors. The second goal is to put European and African scholarship in relation by including older and recent contributions from both continents, including works that use theories of political sociology for empirical analyses.
Most of the sessions will therefore combine basic reading on key concepts and authors with additional reading in which these concepts can be seen “at work”. Credit points are acquired by oral presentations, jointly or individually, and term papers.

The current attention paid to the wars between Russia and Ukraine on the one hand and between Israel and Palestine overshadows long scholarly traditions in the study of war, both between and within states. In this seminar, we will look at seminal contributions to the study of the causes, courses and consequences of wars, and we will combine this with case-analyses beyond the two currently debated. This seminar will be taught in cooperation with the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kriegsursachenforschung” at the University of Hamburg, with the aim of improving an archive of war documentation (see akuf.de).

This course will provide students with the skills to critically analyze international resource policies and their practical implementation in North Africa and Latin America. The course begins by dealing with fundamental notions of resource sovereignty, sustainable development, and energy transition. It then looks at international and regional governance of natural resources and their trade, with particular attention to hydrocarbons, mining, and ‘renewables’. Finally, it turns to the opportunities and challenges that resource extraction can create to sustainable development, poverty reduction, and societal peace on the national and sub-national level.

Literatur zur Vorbereitung/Preparatory Reading:

Barral, Virginie (2016): ‘National sovereignty over natural resources: Environmental challenges and sustainable development’. In Research Handbook on International Law and Natural Resources. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Bauer, Andrew & Quiroz, Juan Carlos (2013): ‘Resource Governance’. In The Handbook of Global Energy Policy. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell

Assignments and Credits:

MPL (3 CP): Oral presentation plus written elaboration; GPL (6 CP): Term paper; GPL+ (9 CP): Oral presentation and term paper.

The seminar supports MA International Relations students in the process of conceiving, designing, and writing the thesis, complementing the input they receive from their supervisors. The thesis seminar consists of three workshops: In the first workshop students present their thesis topic and initial ideas about how to tackle it. The second workshop gives students an opportunity to present and discuss their fully elaborated research design, i.e. precise statements of their (final) research question, its (normative, scientific, or practical) relevance, its place in the literature, their working hypothesis (or hypotheses), the role of theory in their study, the methods they are employing and the reasons for choosing them, the data they are using, etc. Finally, the third workshop is devoted to discussing results of students’ investigation on the basis of a “writing sample”, i.e. a draft of the introduction or of a key chapter. In each workshop students receive feedback from the instructors and their fellow students helping them to identify problems in their arguments and possible solutions to these problems.

Credits

3 CP: three progress reports

In most parts of the world, political dynamics can no longer be understood as being domestic. To different degrees, political conflict, political forms, and also policy-making is co-determined by transnational dynamics and international actors. This colloquium is a forum for the discussion of such phenomena from different research fields: conflict studies, global social policy, state formation, global political sociology. The colloquium is also intended to bring BA and MA students into contact with PhD candidates and post-doc scholars working on related subjects.

In most parts of the world, political dynamics can no longer be understood as being domestic. To different degrees, political conflict, political forms, and also policy-making is co-determined by transnational dynamics and international actors. This colloquium is a forum for the discussion of such phenomena from different research fields: conflict studies, global social policy, state formation, global political sociology. The colloquium is also intended to bring BA and MA students into contact with PhD candidates and post-doc scholars working on related subjects.
In order to participate in the seminar in a meaningful way, basic knowledge of R is required. If you have not worked with R before, please check out one of the many available online tutorials (e.g. the free Datacamp introductory course in R: https://campus.datacamp.com/courses/free-introduction-to-r) and familiarize yourself with the basic functions of R and the R development environment Rstudio.
For working with large language models we will also use Python.

In this block seminar you will learn to use the statistical software R to produce customisable, publication-quality maps and other data visualisations. No prior knowledge of R is required. Participants are encouraged to use data from their own research projects, but test datasets will also be provided.

In der medialen Wahrnehmung war 2024 bisher ein Protestjahr. Bauernproteste, Streiks im Personenverkehr und die Welle der Demonstrationen gegen Rechts haben in der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung das Bild entstehen lassen, dass wir es gerade mit einer ungewöhnlich intensiven Phase politischer Proteste zu tun haben.
Aber stimmt dieses Bild? Gab es tatsächlich in den ersten Monaten des Jahrs 2024 mehr Proteste als üblich? Und wenn dies so ist, wieso kam es dazu? Was sind die Anliegen der Protestierenden? Und wer geht da eigentlich auf die Straße?
Um diese Fragen soll es im Seminar gehen – und zwar nicht nur aus einer theoretischen Perspektive, sondern im Rahmen eines Lehrforschungsprojekts, in dem wir versuchen, selbst, durch eigene Forschungsarbeiten, Antworten auf diese und andere für das Thema relevanten Fragen zu finden. Im Seminar werden wir uns einerseits mit einigen zentralen Forschungsansätzen der Bewegungsforschung beschäftigen. Zusätzlich werden wir und mit verschiedenen Methoden beschäftigen Proteste zu erforschen: Protestbefragungen und -beobachtungen zur Analyse aktuell stattfindender Demonstrationen und Protestereignisanalyse zur Untersuchung langfristiger Dynamiken des Protests. Das Seminar wird daher nur zum Teil in Form klassischer Seminarsitzungen stattfinden. Ein Teil der Seminarzeit wird darauf verwendet werden, mit Befragungen, Teilnehmender Beobachtung, Medienauswertungen etc. Wissen über aktuelle Proteste zu generieren.

Political parties are central actors in democracies. In recent decades, established party systems have been re-shaped by the effects of globalisation, de-industrialisation and demographic change, and by the actions of political parties both old and new. This seminar deals with the origins and development of parties and party systems in democracies, as well as changes over time. We discuss connections between parties and citizens, changing lines of conflict, and dynamics of political competition. The aim is to deepen understanding of the role and behaviour of political parties, and enable participants to compare parties and party systems among countries and over time.

Mental health is a central concern of contemporary health care systems and the wider welfare state, but both the coverage of services and the generosity of public benefits vary considerably among jurisdictions. Mental health policies have been completely transformed in Western Europe and North America since the end of the Second World War through the transition from institutional to community-based care. This course deals with the politics of mental health policy in comparative perspective. Its main aim is to enable participants to critically analyse the economic, scientific, and ideological drivers of mental health policies, and their political feedback effects.

In a first step, we discuss different texts on the variety of capitalist development in relation to welfare state development.
The second step is to highlight challenges of welfare capitalism as we know it.
Finally, we discuss some concepts on how to develop welfare state capitalism in the future.

Preparatory literature:
Literature will be provided in Stud.IP

Art der Prüfungsleistung (CP) [credits and exams]:
You can achieve both 3 and 6 CP for the Master in Social Policy.
The seminar will be held as a block seminar on Fridays

Distributive politics characterize income redistribution and the allocation of public goods and services (e. g. health care, education, social security, but also particularistic goods) to individuals or groups and are based on taxes and transfers. Wealth and resources are unequally distributed in society. The question that distributive politics consequently address asks: who gets what, who benefits – who loses? Distributive politics illustrate the very heart of politics and a vibrant field of research which just gained new momentum in the last years. We will study principles of resource allocation from political actors (parties) to individuals (voters), considering the electoral payoff for political parties and voters. Which groups are targeted by political parties with public goods provision: core or swing voters, the rich or the poor, the median voter or particular groups (clients), the winning coalition or the selectorate? Do voters respond to non-programmatic inducements such as vote buying? When does income inequality lead to upheaval and regime change? We will start with the discussion of classical concepts and theories in comparative political economy before we move towards the analysis of current issues in this field of research in the course of the seminar.
Distributive politics refer to two central aspects in the political sphere: 1) political accountability and 2) political responsiveness. The first aspect studies how far voters are able to hold political actors accountable for their actions and, thus, takes into account the political consequences of distributive politics (e. g. political survival, distributive conflict). The latter considers the redistributive effect of distributive politics. Do these policies reflect the demand of the voters (mostly, the median voter) or rather particular groups, and do they maximize welfare? We will start with the clarification of classical concepts, such as core and swing voters, and theories of distributive politics (I). In section II we study income inequality and distributive conflicts that emerge from unequal distribution of wealth, finding out which incentives are at work at the individual level to either push for or against redistribution. We investigate micro theories on redistribution in democratic and non-democratic countries and tease out the important role of regime type. In section III we move on to distributive politics that are based on favoritism (political clientelism) and voter intimidation. Here, we study the effects of vote buying on political accountability and political participation with a particular focus on the case of Argentina and we investigate the redistributive effects of clientelistic resource allocation regarding electoral outcomes for the incumbent and the quality of democracy in general. Finally, we will delve into the new research field on voter intimidation (through violence and coercion) as an electoral strategy to influence voting behavior looking at field experiments for the case of Nigeria and the politician’s incentive for the case of electoral intimidation in Imperial Germany.

Preparatory Reading:
Przeworski, A., Stokes, S. and Manin, B. (1999) Democracy, Accountability and Representation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Acemoglu, D. and J. Robinson (2005) The Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kitschelt, H. and Wilkinson, S. I. (2007) Patrons, Clients, and Policies: Patterns of Democratic Accountability and Political Competition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Assignments and Credits:
6 CP: Term paper
3 CP: In-class presentation and written report of presentation topic

This course critically explores how welfare states address, perpetuate, or deepen social inequalities, focusing on migration, gender, and labor market dynamics. Through interactive debates and case studies, students will analyze policies shaping access to resources, rights, and opportunities across different social groups. We will examine pressing issues such as the treatment of migrants in welfare systems, gendered labor market inequalities, and the future of social protections in a changing economy. Engaging with contemporary policy debates, students will assess how welfare states navigate tensions between inclusion, fairness, and economic sustainability. The course emphasizes active participation, encouraging students to develop advocacy strategies and critically engage with opposing perspectives. By the end, students will have a nuanced understanding of how welfare policies shape—and are shaped by—social inequalities.
Successful completion of the course requires active participation in all assigned components. For students aiming to receive 3 CP, this includes the completion of reading assignments, the research assignment, and participation in class debates. For those pursuing 6 CP, an additional requirement is the submission of an 8–10 page essay that explores a relevant issue in social policy with depth and originality.

Der Uni-Abschluss ist (bald) geschafft und der Berufseinstieg steht an? Großartig! Doch wie findet ihr die passenden Arbeitgeber*innen, bei der ihr euch wohlfühlt und fair behandelt werdet? In diesem Seminar erhaltet ihr wertvolle Einblicke aus der Praxis, um Warnzeichen frühzeitig zu erkennen.
Als erfahrene Gewerkschaftsvertreter*innen wissen wir, worauf es bei der Jobsuche und in Bewerbungsverfahren ankommt. Wir erarbeiten uns im Seminar gemeinsam Redflags wie überzogene Anforderungen, unrealistische Versprechungen oder fragwürdige Unternehmenskulturen rechtzeitig zu erkennen.
Das erwartet euch:
• Analyse von Stellenanzeigen: Entlarvt versteckte Hinweise auf unattraktive Arbeitgeber
• Vorbereitung auf Bewerbungsgespräche: Lernt die richtigen Fragen zu stellen und die falschen zu erkennen
• Bedeutung von Betriebsräten: Erfahrt, warum eine starke Arbeitnehmervertretung wichtig ist
• Tarifbindung von Unternehmen: Faire Löhne und Arbeitsbedingungen als Grundlage
• Wie Einblicke ins Betriebsklima und den Arbeitsalltag, ohne vorherige Vertragsunterschrift, gewonnen werden können
Startet gut informiert und ohne rosarote Brille in euren Berufseinstieg! Wir bereiten euch umfassend darauf vor, was euch bei potenziellen Arbeitgeber*innen erwartet.