Who deserves to be healthy? At what cost to the community? And what role does the state play in this equation? Access to health and healthcare has in recent years become increasingly politicised across Europe and beyond, fuelled not least by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also by broader dynamics of rising social inequality, multifaceted strain on national healthcare and welfare systems (i.a. through demographic change, digitisation and globalisation), and increasing polarisation of political discourses more generally. This research seminar sheds light on the political regulation and politicisation of both individual and public health. Its scope expands over the entire European multi-level governance system, thus taking into consideration polities, policies and politics from the supranational and national down to the regional and municipal level. The course is also open to comparative insights from other world regions.
In the first part of this two-semester research seminar, we approach the larger themes of health politics and health politicisation from a theoretical, systemic and empirical perspective. In so doing, we aim at gaining a fundamental understanding of the state of research as well as of relevant factors and developments shaping the politics and politicisation of health in the past and present. More specifically, we examine
a. different political and theoretical conceptions of health, both as regards individual and public health;
b. the wide variety of actors involved in the politics of health and healthcare access, including political, corporatist and civil society actors;
c. different healthcare systems and their underlying institutional and normative frameworks;
d. …and whatever else we as course collective deem interesting and relevant in the study of the politicisation of health.
Fundamentally, this research seminar builds on and gains from the input and interactive engagement of its participants. It is intended to be tailored to their interests, and to build on their various sets of skills, expertise, and experience.
*NOTE*: If you are an *international/exchange student* and would like to take this course, but need less than the indicated 12 ECTS or feel unsure about participating in merely one part of this two-semester course, please feel free to enrol nonetheless, and we will find a solution suiting your individual requirements.
If you are a *non-English native speaker* and are unsure whether taking a full research seminar in English might be overpowering, please feel free to indicate any insecurities that might hinder you from choosing this course, and we will together seek to find a good solution for you as well.
Generally, please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions regarding this course.
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Diese Veranstaltung gehört zum Anmeldeset "Anmeldung gesperrt (global)".
