Rasmus Schjødt

Check out the launch of our new working paper on what Uganda can learn from the development of social pensions in other countries in Southern and Eastern Africa.

RAISE is developing a course on Social Justice with our partner in Georgia.

We are looking for a few good academic papers with a focus on the intersection between social justice and authoritarianism to translate into Georgian.

Any recommendations?

I’ve found it’s more visually appealing to just paste in his head at the inflection points

We former USAID officials warned that the illegal, reckless obliteration of our agency would cause people to die.

🌍 Universal Social Protection: A Precondition for Social Development🤝
The USP2030, in partnership with socialprotection.org is launching a global campaign to raise awareness and mobilize action for Universal Social Protection (USP) — a key driver of social justice, equality, and resilience. +

“Social policies have changed the world. Their scope is in principle unlimited & they represent a field where new & radical thinking is always possible.
We need both old & new concepts to continue the story of making human lives better without undermining our or others’ future viability.”
OUT NOW ↓

Take Trump Seriously About Greenland The Danes seem to believe him, and so should Americans.

“I realize that this entire discussion seems like utter lunacy. War against … Denmark? But Trump insists that he must be taken seriously. Americans and their elected representatives, across the political spectrum, should oblige him,” @radiofreetom.bsky.social writes:

Job Opportunity at the University of Southampton: Research Fellow in Political Process Preferences in Europe (PoPPiE) We are delighted to welcome applications for the position of Research Fellow within a new ERC-funded research group on Political Process Preferences in Europe (PoPPiE): Rethinking Conceptual, Ontologi...

The ERC have given me 5 years to figure out what Europeans really think about democracy. If you would like to come and join me in the endeavour, then I am currently hiring a postdoc @sotonpolitics.bsky.social.

Deadline: 30 April | Details here: jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... #polisky

International School Meals Day: #TBT to our #SPpodcast episode on school feeding programmes! ️▶ Hit play: bit.ly/SPpodcastEp29

Did you know that around 418 million children worldwide benefit from school meals? 🍽️🧵

Future-Proofing Social Protection | by Florian Juergens-Grant & Luca Pellerano - Project Syndicate Florian Juergens-Grant & Luca Pellerano explain why employers’ contributions should be determined by capital intensity, not just labor stock.

Because social-insurance contributions depend on wages, labor-intensive firms now shoulder a larger financing burden, which lets many profitable companies off the hook, note @floriangrant.bsky.social and Luca Pellerano.

I Used to Teach Students. Now I Catch ChatGPT Cheats | The Walrus I once believed university was a shared intellectual pursuit. That faith has been obliterated

A worthwhile reflection. thewalrus.ca/i-used-to-te...

NEWS: The USAID official put on leave for disseminating two memos about Rubio's failure to push through life-saving foreign aid was in the process of writing a THIRD memo when fired. We obtained it. It's far more alarming than the first two.

www.thebulwark.com/p/what-a-wee...

This.

The potential that two-party, first-past-the-post systems present for an extremist faction within a party to co-opt the party is a far greater threat than such factions potentially winning smaller numbers of seats on their own and being shutout by other party coalitions

Had a first go at creating a starter pack for social policy research. I’m new here and have surely missed lots so please say if you’d like added or removed!

Just joined Bluesky? Here is an aspirational starter pack on social policy! I hope it is a useful nudge to connect the network: go.bsky.app/AvJWyV4

I'll also post this piece by Val Bunce and Sharon Wolchik

The TL;DR is that it takes years of investment in mobilization (messaging isn't nearly enough!) by the opposition to overcome competitive authoritarianism. The Democratic Party needs to get a move on it.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Introduction. Ruins of the Welfare State: Material Legacies of Soci... A Stroll through the City of Arts in Giza In the Giza neighborhood of Cairo, scattered along the newly refurbished Khatam al-Mursalin Street, lies an impressive collection of buildings dedicated to...

We think of ruins as ancient, but the ruins of the welfare state in Egypt and Sudan are both more recent and more ubiquitous. Great special issue from one of my favorite journals.

journals.openedition.org/esma/3297

En af de særligt sårbare målgrupper der rammes af indefrysningen af USAID er mennesker med handicap.

Der er brug for handling, støtte til at sikre en nødløsning her og nu og fremtidig inklusion af mennesker med handicap i humanitær bistand og støtte af handicaporganisationer

CAN SOUTH AFRICA TURN THE TIDE ON INEQUALITY? Poddavsnitt · EQUALS: Reimagining Our Economy · 2024-11-22 · 31 min

Great episode on #socialsecurity and its potential to reduce #inequality in #SoutAfrica with friend and colleague Isobel Frye.
podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/e...

Do you want to work with #SocialProtection? Check out these #job #opportunities:

💼 Expert on CSO Engagement in the Social Protection Sector (Consultancy)
🏢https://bsky.app/profile/unicef.org
📍 Amman, Jordan
📆11 February
🔗https://tinyurl.com/4nkvpp5z

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We are currently supporting global networks of informal workers organisations with a three year capacity development journey on #socialprotection

1st round was on the Financing and Economics of SP. Initially designed to be in-person, we have just digitised them

www.wiego.org/wp-content/u...

Last week South Africa made history with a landmark court ruling to expand social security through the SRD grant. This case, brought by IEJ & #PayTheGrants, is set to benefit over half the population. A huge step forward for economic justice!🎉 For more info: iej.org.za/statement-hi...

In our work, we often talk about "extreme poverty", but it's also worthwhile to consider the other end of this spectrum - extreme wealth.

Whether that's wealth according to the global metric or localised inequalities, this blog's suggestion of an 'extreme wealth line' is quite provoking!

How Jharkhand is setting a precedent for universal social security in India: where there’s a will… - Development Pathways Who would’ve guessed that one of the boldest moves in designing social security benefits would come from—not even a country—but a state in India called Jharkhand? For those unfamiliar, Jharkhand is on...

📊 Breaking new ground: Jharkhand's universal cash transfer programme for women aged 18-50 could revolutionise social security in India. Dive into our analysis of the Maaiya Samman Yojana and its potential to transform millions of lives.
www.developmentpathways.co.uk/blog/how-jha...

#SocialSecurity

🌏 Help push Social Protection to the top of the UN's Second World Summit for Social Development agenda!
Take a few minutes to fill out UNRISD's critical consultation form: www.unrisd.org/en/activitie...
Deadline: Feb 3rd #SocialProtection #WSSD2025

This chapter summarizes our current knowledge of the relationship between political regimes and the development of welfare states in developing countries. It highlights the disconnect between high demand for welfare programmes in poor countries and the variation in welfare provision across different regimes. It reviews the standard model of political economy by which democracies are expected to adopt more universal redistributive policies than autocracies because of more extensive political participation by the poor. It shows that empirical evidence does not consistently support this model. The chapter then presents alternative theoretical frameworks to argue that the standard view often misrepresents politics of social protection in both democracies and autocracies. First, welfare programmes can serve autocracies by ensuring regime stability through targeted social insurance schemes or to control the population and ruin competing elites. Second, democracies can be 'safeguarded' against redistribution through anti-majoritarian institutions or when the median voter, for various reasons, does not favour redistribution.

Are you teaching, looking for a quick update on the latest research, or seeking inspiration for new studies on regime explanations (democracy and autocracy) and welfare state development in the Global South?

The link below provides all you need!

Study confirms most parents are total squares

I like this quote. Apparently its by writer Thornton Wilder and the full version is: 'Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow.' very true

Making social protection work for gender equality: What does it look like? How do we get there? This paper outlines the perspective and approach of the ILO’s Universal Social Protection Department to enhancing the gender-responsiveness of social protection policies, anchored in international soc...

Happy Sunday! Sharing our paper on enhancing the gender-responsiveness of social protection policies, with a strong emphasis a life-cycle approach to system-building. www.ilo.org/publications...