Key words
Social economy
Objectives
A social worker provides professional services in order to promote the personal, interpersonal and social functioning of people.
The social worker is a so-called bridge between man and society.
This implies that the social worker should know how man and society fit together.
Many social problems have a social-economic nature, e.g. the determination of wages, the distribution of the national income, labour-disputes, the ragging and the ageing of the population, the size and the control of the social security expenditure, the environmental pollution facing the economic growth and the prosperity.
The course aims at providing the student a broader insight into these and other social-economic problems, so that this future social worker, striving after social engagement, gets a correct and variegated image of the possibilities in and the limitations of our society.
The content of this course can be linked with the content of diverse other courses of the education :
1) Link towards courses of the first year :
1.1. Economics : in the training module "Social economy" there is often refered to a number of fundamental economical notions and expected that the student is able to argue, taking also economical aspects in account
1.2. History : themes like globalization and inequalities in the world, the relation between the North and the South with consequences in the sphere of environment, poverty and interdependence, from a historical point of view, help to understand subjects like inequal distribution of the national income, the issue of poverty in Belgium and throughout the world, the tension between economy and environment, etc.
1.3. Sociology : subjects like social inequality and classsocialization can be linked with themes like inequal distribution of the national income, determination of wages, poverty, unemployment, etc.
2) Link towards courses in the second year :
2.1. Sociological issues : the sociological approach of current social problems like the welfare state, the proportion between the North and the South and poverty are a useful addition to the discussion of the inequal distribution of the national income
2.2. Social development : the training module "Social economy" can help the students being critical towards social policies and towards questioning their vision on the community and people
2.3. Industrial legislation and Social insurance law : there is often refered to these courses in relation to the discussion about determination of wages, the distribution of the national income, labour-disputes and labour-market
3) Link towards courses in the third year
Social consultation : the training module "Social economy" can help to develop an objectively critical outlook on the different key players and their respective responsabilities in the labour process (government organization, employers' associations, trade unions, etc.)
Topics
The course addresses six themes :
1. the determining actors of wage formation : concepts, wage structure, wage formation, types of wage, wages and employment, wages and the index
2. the division of national income : concept, different kinds of income division, poverty in Belgium and throughout the world
3. labour conflicts : different types, the most important forms of expression of open conflicts, causes and consequences of a strike, a historical analysis of the strike phenomenon, ways to up heal a strike
4. labour-market : concept, population versus economy, the active population, employment versus unemployment
5. economy versus ecology : concept of environmental economy, limits to economic grouwth, causes of environmental degradation, the use of market mechanism to protect ecology, ways for the future
6. economy versus ethics : economic ethics, evaluating and ethical economy
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of contents of the subject "Economy" (1st year).
Final Objectives
Students :
1. elucidate the determing factors of wage formation
2. explain the division of national income correctly and defend their personal opinion in the matter
3. indicate the poverty issue in Belgium and throughout the world, and reflect on possible solutions in a critical manner
4. define accurately the divers types of labour conflicts and their vital forms of expression, and analyse the causes and consequences of a strike and methods to disarm strikes
5. define the concept labour-market accurately and indicate the influence of demand and supply on that market
6. analyse the impact and evolution of the world's population, that of Belgium, and its evolutions, and analyse the structure and the division into sectors of the Belgian workforce
7. sketch the issue of unemployment in Belgium and reflect on possible solutions in a critical manner
8. indicate the correlation between economy and environment, analyse the issue of environment and reflect on possible solutions in a critical manner
9. define the concept of economic ethics correctly and evaluate the economy from an ethical angle of incidence
Materials used
Teacher's course
Study costs
Teacher's course : approximately 8,00 EUR
Study guidance
Group monitoring on request
Teaching Methods
Lectures
Assessment
- Written examination
- June
Lecturer(s)
Jacques DE BRUYCKERE
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