Reminder: ESPAnet Doctoral workshop 14-15 May 2009 at Trinity College
Dublin, Ireland.

"Understanding Changing Welfare States and Social Policies: Causes,
Processes and Consequences"

Both quantitative and qualitative studies of social policies and welfare
states can bring to light similarities and differences and highlight
convergence or divergence between systems. Examination of the causes and
consequences of these similarities and differences is the mainstay of
comparative social policy research.This workshop seeks to bring together a
group of advanced doctoral students who are investigating changes in welfare
states and social policies, and the causes and consequences thereof. Papers
can also address the various putative mechanisms of policy influence/policy
transfer where such transfer can be demonstrated to have taken place; papers
that seek to understand the balance between national and supra-national
forces and actors in influencing social policy developments are particularly
welcome. We invite papers that adopt a strong comparative dimension in
addressing the issues of similarities/differences, convergence/divergence
and policy transfer or diffusion between systems. Possible areas of
investigation include, but are not restricted to, employment, pensions,
care, health and housing policies, as well as systems-level studies of
aggregate change or stability in broader policy areas and across welfare states.

The presenters should be in their final year of doctoral study and hence in
a position to present the overall framework, research questions and
methodology of their projects, as well as some preliminary/indicative
findings in the light of their (largely) completed data collection.
Senior staff present at the workshop include:

    * Jochen Clasen, University of Edinburgh
    * Tony Fahey, University College Dublin
    * Traute Meyer, Southampton University
    * Brian Nolan, University College Dublin
    * Julia O'Connor, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland
    * Wim van Oorschot, Tilburg University
    * Virpi Timonen, Trinity College Dublin
    * Amilcar Moreira, Oslo University College

Deadline for applications: 13 February 2009.

Sponsorship towards the costs of attending the workshop is available.

Please e-mail a max. 400 word abstract, including the title of your
presentation and your name, institution and email address to [log in to unmask]

The applicants who are accepted on the basis of their absract will be
required to submit the full paper (max. 5,000 words) nearer to the time of
the workshop to allow other participants to read the papers in advance. The
paper can be a chapter of your thesis, but it should also make sense to the
reader as an independent entity i.e. you should not assume that the other
workshop participants will be familiar with the rest of your thesis / work.
Essentially what we are looking for are the equivalent of conference papers.

For more information and applications please contact Virpi Timonen
([log in to unmask]).