The conference will take place at the Cultural Centre of Neumünster in Luxembourg. The aim of the conference is to facilitate the exchange of research ideas and results on issues that place the European Social Model in a global perspective. The organizing committee invites submissions of relevant papers from academic, government, and business social scientists for oral presentation. A discussant will be assigned to each paper. Jos Berghman (Leuven University, Belgium) will serve as the program chair. The keynote speakers are:
• Bob Deacon, Globalism and Social Policy Programme (GASPP) and University of Sheffield.
• Anton Hemerijck, Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) and Erasmus University of Rotterdam.
• Maria João Rodrigues, Institute for Strategic and International Studies, Lisbon.
The organizing committee encourages the participation of scholars and researchers from developing countries. Junior researchers from these countries as well as PhD students from all countries may apply for a partial or full waiver of the conference registration fee. Conditional on the financial support of the conference by the National Research Fund of Luxembourg, all presenters may apply for a partial reimbursement of their travelling and accommodation costs.Abstracts and/or full papers in .pdf or .doc format should be submitted electronically using the on-line submission form on the conference web-page.
The organizing committee can be contacted via email: impalla2009@soc.kuleuven.be
The submission deadline is 1 October 2008. Acceptance decisions will be communicated by 15 October 2008.
More information on the conference description as well as on the location, registration, and hotel reservations is available at the conference web page.
Previous assumptions about the immobility of European Welfare States are challenged both by actual developments and by theoretical advances. However, there remains considerable disagreement and confusion about the sources and processes of change. This conference will address three partially connected themes: The role of policy feedback, including learning effects, the role of ideas more generally, and the silent revolutions that are brought about by incremental change, sometimes as a result of conscious strategies, but occasionally as the unintended results of muddling through.
The conference is not only aimed at presenting papers, but also at informal exchange of ideas. This is why the conference takes place at a castle, where informal discussions can continue after the sessions. It also means that presenting short research notes will be possible. However, the number of participants is limited to 35, and paper givers are prioritized. The conference organizers invites submission of abstracts for papers and research notes. Please indicate whether you want to present "normal" paper (some 15-20 pages) or "research note" (some 5-10 pages).
Further information: www.ccws.dk
Since late 2005, a comparative trans-national research project on the “politics of welfare reforms in continental Europea has been conducted by Bruno Palier. The principal aim of the project is to evaluate the impact of the similar social protection institutions that characterise Bismarckian welfare states - eligibility based on work, earnings-related benefits, contribution financing and devolved para-state management - on the politics, timing and content of social reforms over the last 25 years. The basic hypothesis lays on the idea that these countries share the same problems and politics of reforms, and may follow similar reforms trajectories, leading to an Europeanization of welfare reforms.
The project systematically compares patterns of reform in Bismarckian welfare states/programmes, aiming to explain commonalities and differences, and to understand and draw out the implications of innovations that have been introduced in Bismarckian systems in recent years. This thrid seminar is an attempt to wrap up the lessons of this comparative project, and is aimed at providing a new understanding of welfare reforms in continental Europe, but also orientation for innovation as well as assessment of the political conditions in which welfare reforms can be implemented. Evidence of an Europeanization of welfare reforms are critically analysed. The expert seminar will be an opportunity to present and discuss the policy implications of the findings of this research project, and their implication for national and European policies.
Click here to download the programme.
Contact: Bruno Palier bruno.palier@sciences-po.fr
Understanding the causes and consequences of welfare state reform lies at the heart of a growing body of literature. This conference highlights how consequences of welfare state reform become causes for welfare state reform, how outcomes become inputs. This feedback mechanism is analysed within six areas relating to on-going European welfare reforms: opinions, health, labour market, social indicators, demography, and migration.
The conference is not only aimed at presenting papers, but also at informal exchange of ideas. This is why the conference takes place at a castle, where informal discussions can continue after the sessions. It also means that presenting short research notes will be possible. However, the number of participants is limited to 35, and paper givers are prioritized. The conference organizers invites submission of abstracts for papers and research notes. Please indicate whether you want to present "normal" paper (some 15-20 pages) or "research note" (some 5-10 pages).
Further information: www.ccws.dk
Intensifying migration flows pose a challenge to European social policies, and at the same time open a very interesting opportunity for their development. On the one hand, migrants’ arrival requires social program transformations and specific measures especially oriented towards the social inclusion of migrant population. On the other hand, immigration also brings about a very interesting rejuvenation of European population, with the resulting consequences in revitalizing of labour markets, economic growth and increase of social contributions. Nevertheless, the intensity of migration flows, the way of organizing its regulation and control systems, the politics and management of a rising multicultural societies, and social policies oriented towards migrants’ social integration, meaningfully vary between European countries, according to the different conditions in each case, shaped by the various welfare state models and also by the structure and dynamics of the labour markets. The aim of this seminar is to achieve an in-depth analysis of these factors from a comparative point of view, an understanding the way in which all these circumstances are interrelated, and trying to offer practical proposals for building a European model of migration policy and social policy oriented towards social integration of migrants.
Conference website: www.congreso.migraciones.unavarra.es
Organizers: Jochen Clasen and Nico Siegel