Health and Social Protection

The research field at a glance

The central focus fields of the research group "Health and Social Protection":

^{The questions posed by the Research Cluster Health and Social Protection are based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in September 2015. The goals 'No Poverty' (SDG 1), 'Health and Wellbeing' (SDG 3), 'Gender Equality' (SDG 5), 'Decent Work and Economic Growth' (SDG 8) and 'Reduced Inequalities' (SDG 10) are at the centre of the considerations.}

The section seeks to contribute to the development of inclusive social protection and health systems by taking a global perspective, engaging in interdisciplinary research beyond the social sciences, bridging the gap between research and practice by combining rigorous academic research with high societal relevance

Extending social protection and strengthening health systems involve comprehensive and often long-term processes of institutional change at various levels of society influencing the scope and breadth of development-related outcomes. While on the policy agenda in many countries worldwide, observed reform dynamics differ including rapid and comprehensive shifts, gradual change or situations of blocked reforms or reform reversals. These differences are observed across countries and within countries across different pillars of social protection and health systems. The main research objectives are to explain the dynamics and resulting impacts of observed processes of institutional change within social protection and health systems.

Selected publications

• Bender, K. & Kaltenborn, M., Eds. (in preparation). Global Social Protection – Institutional Perspectives, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing
• Bender, K. (2022). Research–Practice–Collaborations in International Sustainable Development and Knowledge Production: Reflections from a Political-Economic Perspective. In: The European Journal of Development Research. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-022-00549-7
• Pouw, N., Bender, K. (2022). The Poverty Reduction Effect of Social Protection: The Pros and Cons of a Multidisciplinary Approach. In: The European Journal of Development Research
• https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-022-00505-5.
• Bender, K., Rohregger, B., Kinuthia, B., Ikua, G.,Schüring, E., Alatinga, K., Adamba, C., Pouw, N. (2021). Different pathways of social protection reforms: An analysis of long-term institutional change in Kenya.), in: World Development, 131, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105210
• Pouw, N., Rohregger, B., Schüring, E., Alatinga, K., Kinuthia, B., & Bender, K. (2020). Social Protection in Ghana and Kenya through an Inclusive Development Lens: complex effects and risks, in: World Development Perspectives, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2020.100173