Project B12 (2022-2025)

Crisis Management in the Covid-19 Pandemic by International Organisations

Project B12 focuses on ideas, recommendations and measures of International Organisations (IOs) to mitigate and manage social problems and risks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. We analyse four global IOs (WHO, World Bank, OECD, ILO) and four regional IOs (EU, ASEAN, Mercosur, African Union) regarding their conceptualisations of coverage and generosity in the social policy fields of health policy, labour market policy and basic social protection. Based on that, the project examines how IOs evaluate the pandemic responses of selected member state of each of the four regional IOs (Thailand, South Africa, Sweden and Uruguay).

Accordingly, the project focuses on the dynamics of global developments in social policy and examines vertical interdependencies between global, world-regional and national levels. Based on qualitative research methods, we apply a global social governance approach, which relies on sociological and political science theoretical frameworks of global social policy research and international relations.

With its design and focus, the project pursues three main goals:

First, the comparative analysis of eight of the most important IOs contributes to a better understanding of their functions and goals in social policies. The particular focus here is on the function of IOs as global crisis managers.

Second, through a systematic analysis of social policy ideas, recommendations and measures formulated by IOs, we provide a detailed picture of the international contextual framework, which is indispensable for understanding national responses to the pandemic.

Third, the project advances existing concepts in global social policy research. By specifically investigating the prominence, preferential treatment or exclusion of certain population groups, as well as attributed entitlements or allocation of benefits, empirical data on global redistribution and social rights will be collected, contributing to a more nuanced picture of global social governance.