Race matters in teaching about international social policy and protection

The place of race and social divisions of ethnicity have been a (limited) part of comparative social policy research for some time, and there is more to be done in incorporating race as a central dimension in teaching about the emergence, design, delivery, impact and outcomes of welfare states and social policy. This chapter explores how a lens of coloniality might help us to think in more nuanced ways about social policy and protection. Drawing on the experience of teaching at the intersection between social policy/protection and international development, the analysis highlights why reflecting critically on race and racial justice is crucial to understanding how we conceptualise social policy. The chapter considers different pedagogical approaches that support these more nuanced conceptualisations that bring social policy and intersectional difference into dialogue, with a particular emphasis on racialised differences in the composition and delivery of social protection.