ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the literature on global social policy governance and discusses the key authors in the field and main topics addressed over time. In so doing, it provides an international political economy (IPE) perspective. In other words, it addresses the relations between politics and economics, and between states and markets. Thus, it highlights the role of state and non-state actors, including private companies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), networks, social movements and think tanks, while underscoring the multi-level nature of social policy making and the profound interconnections between the national, regional and global levels. The chapter also assesses the drivers and mechanisms of global social policy and the role of international and regional organizations in the illustrative cases of the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the European Union (EU) in the context of comparative regionalism studies.
