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Social Protection for a Post-industrial World Call for Papers The 15th annual International Research Seminar on Issues in Social Security organised by FISS will take place at the Sigtunahöjden Conference Centre in Sigtuna, near Stockholm, Sweden, on 13 -15 June 2008. The changes that have accompanied the transition to post-industrial society have undermined many aspects of the social and economic foundations on which post-war social security systems were based. These changes include the decline of the male breadwinner family, the shift from manufacturing to service employment, high levels of unemployment and economic inactivity, increased female labour force participation, growth in part-time and flexible (‘precarious’) employment, high levels of immigration, and increased income inequality and poverty. These trends have had important implications for the income risks that have traditionally been protected by social security (such as unemployment, sickness and invalidity, child poverty and retirement); and (it has been argued) created new income or social risks that are less well protected. This has in turn also raised important questions about the ways in which social security is provided. The seminar will examine the transformations in income risks that have occurred in recent years. How and why have these risks changed? Which groups are most vulnerable to income risks in the modern world and what is the scale of that vulnerability? Just how new are ‘new social risks’? Conversely, is social protection too easily available for some social risks? This seminar will also consider the ways in which social security has been reformed, or needs to be reformed, to provide adequate protection against these new or transformed risks. Is social insurance an increasingly outmoded concept or can it be reformed to take into account ‘non-standard’ patterns of employment? Are tax credits the most appropriate way to help the working poor? Is it realistic to expect disability insurance recipients or lone parents with very young children to look for work? Papers are invited on any aspect of the general theme of the seminar. They should be based on research or scholarship and written with an international audience in mind. Papers that are international in perspective or based on comparative research are especially welcome. It is anticipated that a selection of the papers will be included in an edited volume within the FISS book series ‘International Studies on Social Security’. Those wishing to present a paper should submit by email attachment a title and an abstract (of less than 500 words) in English before 12 January 2008 to the FISS Secretariat at: [log in to unmask] The file should have the lead author’s surname in the title (e.g. Kemp_FISS_2008). Those who have submitted an abstract will be informed by 31 January 2008 whether their paper has been accepted and be given detailed formatting instructions. The full papers, which should be written in English, should be submitted to the FISS Secretariat at the University of Oxford no later than 15 May 2008, for distribution to the discussants and participants. Papers should be accessible to an audience from different disciplines and be less than 8,000 words including tables & references. FISS is able to offer a Han Emanuel Scholarship – covering registration fee, accommodation and reasonable travel costs – to one full-time PhD student presenting a paper at the seminar. More details are available from the Secretariat. ----------------------------- Peter A. Kemp FISS General-Secretary Department of Social Policy and Social Work University of Oxford 32 Wellington Square Oxford OX1 2ER, UK Email: [log in to unmask]