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Apologies for cross-posting --------------------------------------------------------- We would like to invite proposals for papers to Stream 4 of the: *2017 ESPAnet Conference * *New Horizons of European Social Policy: Risks, Opportunities and Challenges* *14th-16th September 2017, Lisbon, Portugal* Stream 4: Welfare Reform and Austerity: international perspectives on increasing demand and diminishing resources European welfare states have been under enormous pressure since the financial crisis in 2008/09. Continued weak economic growth in many regions has contributed to widening social inequality, stubborn levels of unemployment, low-wages and increasing labour market precarity. In many countries this has persistently placed welfare reform and austerity at the heart of national policy agendas and deficit reduction plans. Increasing demand for support is therefore juxtaposed with diminishing resources. Tasked with finding ways to do more for less, we are witnessing welfare states reaching the limits of their redistributive capacities. Across Europe, in both social assistance and social insurance welfare regimes, a variety of welfare reforms have come to the fore which aim to incentivise and support out-of-work claimants to engage in the workforce or penalise those who are unable to do so. A range of activation policies which include reductions to entitlement and eligibility, neoliberal out-sourcing or third sector provision of support services, and increased conditionality or sanctions have been implemented. Conditionality for the receipt of social assistance is an accepted principle in many states, but under austerity we have seen a growing harshness in many welfare systems. Welfare reforms are not just limited to reductions in income, housing support and welfare services for the unemployed, those in receipt of disability or sickness benefits, or single parent families, but reforms are also becoming increasingly punitive. A deficit model predicated on the individual being responsible for their lack of employment, rather than acknowledging structural regional and sub-regional labour market forces at play, has become the dominant discourse in many political contexts. This stream encourages papers which explore the context, policy and practice of welfare reform, conditionality and activation policies in EU welfare states post-crisis under neoliberal austerity. We will seek to include perspectives that reflect the diverse employment and welfare systems and strategies of member states and beyond. *Full conference details can be found at: ESPAnet Conference 2017 <http://bit.ly/2iEuR6E>* Full details of the streams can be found at: ESPAnet 2017 - Streams <http://bit.ly/2j4S4zp> *Submission of abstracts can be found at: ESPAnet 2017 - Submission of abstracts <http://bit.ly/2j4Pbyw>* Deadline for submission of abstracts is 15th March 2017. Abstracts should be about 500 words and should contain the following information: *1. Main issue analyzed in the paper* (about 100 words) *2. Type of methodology and sources of data/information used for the analysis* (about 200 words) (in case the paper is mainly theoretical, please specify so) *3. Main findings expected from the analysis* (about 200 words) • Abstracts may only be submitted online (see link above) and *please do not send abstracts to stream** convenors* • Avoid submission within 48 hours of the deadline for best system performance Best regards, Stream convenors: Christina Beatty and Larissa Povey (Sheffield Hallam University) and Jon Warren (Durham University) -- Larissa Povey PhD Candidate and Researcher Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) Sheffield Hallam University [image: Displaying CRESR_30th_Logo_cmyk_purple.jpg] tel: +44 (0) 114 225 3562 twitter: @larissapohpovey ORCID ID: 0000-0002-8099-2016 Welfare Conditionality profile: http://www.welfareconditionality.ac.uk/ *Latest publication:* POVEY, Larissa (2016). Where welfare and criminal justice meet: applying Wacquant to the experiences of marginalized women in austerity Britain <http://shura.shu.ac.uk/13945/>. *Social Policy and Society*. (In Press)