The 2016 Social Policy Association Annual Conference will be hosted by Ulster University and will be held at the Belfast Metropolitan College in the Titanic Quarter, Belfast, 4-6^th July 2016.

The theme for the conference is:

‘Social Policy: Radical, Resistant, Resolute’  

Confirmed plenary speakers:

Tess Ridge is Professor of Social Policy at the University of Bath. Elected to the Academy of Social Sciences in 2013, she is an expert in the study of childhood poverty and social exclusion, especially exploring the experience of poverty and disadvantage from the perspectives of children themselves. Her strong focus on knowledge transfer and policy engagement has brought low income children’s voices into the policy process at local, national and international levels. 

Kathryn Edin is a Distinguished Bloomberg Professor in the Department of Sociology, Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. Her research on poverty deploying ethnographic observations, in-depth interviews, and mixed method approaches to the domains of welfare and low-wage work, family life, and neighborhood contexts has convinced many in the poverty-research community that deep insight into the lives of the poor requires both surveys and systematic qualitative explorations.

David Lewis is Professor of Social Policy and Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research focuses on the theory and practice of international development, with a specialisation in development policy issues in South Asia, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society, and rural development.

We welcome paper proposals that reflect on the conference theme, however interpreted, and aim to encourage debate around the following issues: 

·      Social Policy challenging change: radical, resistant, resolute

·      Welfare reform

·      Welfare policy and politics

·      Austerity and Social Policy

·      Family policy and politics

·      Devolution, Governance and Citizenship

·      Race, Ethnicity & Migration

·      Current Political Landscape and Social Policy

·      Change, Challenge and Continuity in Health and Social Care

·      Inequality and Social Justice – National, Local and Global Perspectives

·      The Third Sector and Social Policy: Roles, Responsibility and Challenges

·      Social Policy, the Subject: Change, Continuity and Challenge in Defining, Learning & Teaching, Representing, and Recruiting for Social Policy.

 

As is the usual practice for SPA annual conferences, we also invite papers focusing on issues outside the conference theme, and stress that paper proposals on any aspect of social policy within/between any country/countries of the world will be accommodated.

Submit an Abstract: Please note that this year we will be using the Easychair conference system for abstract submissions. The Easychair website for the SPA 2016 conference is https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=spa2016 where you will be asked to register with a valid email address and a password.  The final deadline for submissions will be Wednesday 16 March 2016.

Proposals for Individual Papers: abstracts should be 200-400 words.

Proposals for Symposia: a 200-word outline of the aims and content of the symposium (including contributors’ names and email addresses).  All abstracts and symposium proposals will be reviewed by the Programme Committee up to the deadline of 16 March 2016. Confirmed presenters, delegates will be sent a link to upload their full papers in advance of the conference.

Post-Graduate Bursaries: A number of reduced-fee places will be available for post graduate delegates.  See details and application form on Conference website - http://www.ulster.ac.uk/cpsp/2016-spa-annual-conference-belfast/

For Information on conference rates, booking details and accommodation go to http://www.ulster.ac.uk/cpsp/2016-spa-annual-conference-belfast/

Best Wishes

The Conference Team

Ulster University

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