As part of the ORIAS Speakers Bureau, I offer a 45 minute presentation on “Welfare” and “Capitalism” geared toward 8-12th grade and community college audiences.
This talk was free to book due to generous funding by the Institute of European Studies. Unfortunately, funding has been exhausted for the current year. I encourage you to find out more about the ORIAS Speakers Bureau at the link above or use this direct booking link to request one of the talks still available this year.
If you would like to book me as a guest speaker with external funding, please contact me.
A description of my talk, suggested audiences, and prior presentations may be found below.
“Welfare” & “Capitalism”: How Countries Figure Out How Happy and Rich They Are and the Different Ways They Work to Become More So; Lessons from the Advanced Industrial Democracies
What do “welfare” and “capitalism” really mean? Are they just political slurs or do they have real substance? Faced with these questions, political scientists have developed ways to describe and compare the different meanings of these words so that we can talk about the wide variation in how countries actually practice capitalism. This talk introduces students to the concept that there are different varieties of welfare capitalism with examples from modern Europe, East Asia, and the United States. By the end, students will have a practical framework to help them to understand the diverse political economies of the advanced industrial democracies. Additionally, they will learn how this framework can be useful to understanding other parts of the world. Last, the talk will give students tools to decode the statements of local, state, and national politicians as they become first time voters.
Suggested Audiences
Age: 8th – 12th grade and community college. The content might be accessible to younger middle school students, but it is chronologically applicable to a later period than is often covered in middle school World History. It would be very challenging, but applicable for a 7th grade unit focused on modern countries.
Preparation: None necessary, though students might find the presentation more meaningful if they are aware of at least one major argument about government spending. Examples might include: infrastructure spending, education spending, healthcare spending, etc.
Courses: Government, Global Studies, Economics, US History, World History
Prior Presentations:
- AP US History Course: Gilded Age Unit, Aragon High School, December 7th ,2018
- Economics Course, Mission San Jose High School, November 2nd, 2018
- 8th Grade Humanities Course, Greenleaf TK-8, November 1st, 2018
- Living Skills Course: Social Justice Unit, Palo Alto Unified School District Summer School, June 19, 2018
- Corte Madera Library, November 27, 2017
- European Studies Workshop for Community College Faculty, EU Center, University of California, Berkeley, December 16, 2016
Konrad Posch 