@ 16th ESPAnet Conference - 30 August–1 September 2018, Vilnius University, Lithuania
http://www.espanetvilnius2018.fsf.vu.lt/

Stream no. 10 - "The rise of (Radical) Right parties. Old and New challenges to European Welfare States"
Call for abstracts is open.
Deadline is 19 March 2018
Submissions via conference website only: http://www.espanetvilnius2018.fsf.vu.lt/conference/call-for-abstracts

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Abstracts should be about 500 words and be submitted only to one conference stream.
The online submission form can be found at: http://www.espanetvilnius2018.fsf.vu.lt/conference/submit-abstract
The online submission system will guide you through the submission process.
The following information will be requested:
Title; Stream; Contact details: author(s), affiliation and e-mail address
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)

All abstracts will be ranked by the stream convenors. The local conference committee makes the final decision. Successful authors will be informed by 16 April 2018.

Stream no. 10 - "The rise of (Radical) Right parties. Old and New challenges to European Welfare States"
Convenors:
*Matteo Jessoula - Dipartimento di Scienze Sociali e Politiche - Università degli Studi di Milano E-mail: [log in to unmask]
*Marcello Natili - Dipartimento di Scienze Sociali e Politiche - Università degli Studi di Milano E-mail: [log in to unmask]

Description
Recently increased electoral relevance of Radical Right Parties in several European democracies and the shift toward an “alternative” right in the US has driven scholars’ attention to right party positions on economic issues, redistribution and, last but not least, the welfare state. This constitutes a challenge to established theories in the literature, which have largely emphasized the role of political actors such as left-wing parties in welfare state expansion and retrenchment as well. By contrast, with the exception of studies on neoliberalism, the programmatic options, welfare preferences and related political strategies of different types of right-wing parties - Christian democratic, conservative, radical right, etc… – have remained largely under-researched.
Against such backdrop, this session welcomes papers analyzing, either theoretically or empirically, the role of right parties – and especially radical right parties - in social policy-making in Europe and beyond. This topic is addressed from an interdisciplinary and multidimensional perspective, thus welcoming contributions from political scientists and sociologists working in the fields of comparative politics, social policies, as well as electoral and opinion studies.
Papers may include comparative analyses – covering more than one country and/or policy sectors - and case studies addressing the following questions:

* What are the main differences in terms of social policy preferences among Christian democratic, Conservative, Liberals, and Radical Right parties? Have they changed as a result of the economic, financial and Euro crises?

* What factors do contribute shaping welfare preferences on the right of the political spectrum – e.g. i) new or well-entrenched Rokkanian cleavages; ii) welfare state settings - i.e. universalistic vs occupational vs means-tested; iii) welfare state sectors (health care, pensions, unemployment, anti-poverty policies) iv) political competition dynamics both among (right vs left) and within camps (right vs right).

* What are the social policy reforms pursued by Right Parties once in government? Do they pursue neoliberal social policy reforms, or different right-wing parties have diverse ideas and positions on key welfare issues? * What are the potential consequences of the recent rise of radical right parties for established welfare arrangements in the EU?

* Are new coalitions of right parties - interest groups emerging? What are the coalitional underpinnings of reform adoption, or rather policy inertia, under right-wing governments?

IMPORTANT DATES FOR PAPER PROPOSERS
Deadline for abstract submission           19 March 2018
Notification of acceptance                        16 April 2018
Registration opens                                       1 May 2018
Deadline for payment of conference fee      1 July 2018
Full papers are due by                          end of July 2018
Conference date:             30 August- 1 September 2018
We look forward to seeing you in Vilnius in 2018!