APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTING
Dear colleagues,
please find below/attached a call for papers for the workshop "The Global
Economic Crisis and the Welfare State Short-Term Responses and Long-Term
Effects", to take place at the University of Bremen, 24-25 November 2011.
Best wishes,
Alexandra Kaasch
Workshop: The Global Economic Crisis and the Welfare State Short-Term Responses
and Long-Term Effects
University of Bremen, 24-25 November 2011
Call for Papers
The global financial crisis that started in 2008 has called comparative welfare
state research to reconsider the role of the state and the specific social
policy measures taken in response to the crisis. It seems that, in many cases,
social policy reactions unfold over a period of several years and exhibit an
interesting policy dynamic. Short and long-term effects not only differ, but
what happens in the long term may depend on choices made immediately after the
shock. It may be that an initial expansion of emergency measures ultimately
increased the pressure to cut back benefits further downstream. Or, on the
contrary, radical cutbacks in the face of the global shock may come at a high
price of years of a lack in domestic demand and a Japanese-style �lost decade�.
Now, three years after the beginning of the global economic downturn, is a good
moment to reconsider and discuss � in comparative perspective � both short-term
and long-term effects of economic crises on the welfare state. Our two-day
workshop, organized by the Collaborative Research Centre 597 �Transformations
of the State�, aims to bring together comparative researchers to discuss
questions such as:
� How did social policy responses to both the recent economic crisis and to
earlier crises differ, and why?
� Do crisis responses consist of temporary or permanent changes to the welfare
state?
� What are the long-term consequences of the crisis for the welfare state?
� How did international or transnational policy learning affect countries�
responses?
� What is the role of political parties and interest organisations in shaping
policy developments?
We invite abstracts addressing the global economic crisis � welfare state nexus
in a comparative perspective. This could be either comparing crisis episodes
across time (historical perspective), or across countries, addressing the
variety of social policy reactions in different welfare states. We also welcome
innovative conceptual/theoretical contributions, or those taking a transnational
policy perspective.
Please send your abstract to [log in to unmask] by the 1st of August
2011 latest. You will be informed about the acceptance by the 15th of August
2011. We are happy to offer participants accommodation in Bremen, a conference
dinner, and a contribution towards travel costs.
Keynote speaker:
Anton Hemerijck, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Conference venue:
University of Bremen, Centre for Social Policy Research (ZeS), Germany
Organisers:
Peter Starke
Alexandra Kaasch
Franca van Hooren
Collaborative Research Centre 597 �Transformations of the State�, University of
Bremen, Germany, http://www.state.uni-bremen.de