The Social Policy Agenda in the Global South: 25 Years of Limited Expansion

What has been the trajectory of ideas regarding social policy over the past 25 years? The evolution of policy ideas has been shaped by global challenges, with expanded social protection becoming central in debates. The need for state-led solutions has intensified in recent years in response to mounting inequality, automation, humanitarian crises, and the transition to greener economies. Crises such as the 2008 financial crash and COVID-19 temporarily amplified discussions around transformative ideas like universal basic income (UBI) and universal healthcare. However, these debates often receded as immediate threats were managed, reflecting the transitory nature of such radical policy debates.

Before these crises, the global social policy agenda shifted significantly. A breakthrough came with the focus on gender and intersectionality, driven by feminist economics. These ideas reshaped the global discourse, highlighting the unequal burden of unpaid care work, particularly for women. This intellectual shift spurred the development of integrated care systems in Latin America, bringing gender disparities to the forefront of policy.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015, further accelerated this evolution. The SDGs solidified a broader vision of social protection, emphasizing decent work, gender equality, and reduced inequalities within a rights-based framework. International organizations like the UN, ILO, and WHO played vital roles in institutionalizing these ideas and setting global standards.

Looking back, social policy ideas responded to the failures of market-driven reforms of the 1990s. These reforms, which emphasized deregulation and privatization, deepened inequality and vulnerability, prompting the shift toward poverty reduction in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of 2000. These ideas laid the foundation for today's social policy agenda, which is way more ambitious than 25 years ago. Then and now, to redress the recurrent underplay of political economy factors might be one of the main challenges ahead.