Apologies for cross-postings
RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2006
"Sustainable Welfare? Choice, risk and inequality in the 21st century"
30 August - 1st September 2006
Royal Geographical Society with IBG, London
A session sponsored by the Economic Geography Research Group
Conveners: Kendra Strauss, University of Oxford; Gordon Clark, University of Oxford
This session will explore contemporary economic and social policy, with a comparative regional focus,
through the lens of ‘sustainable welfare’. In the context of contemporary trends in the provision (and
retrenchment) of social welfare goods and services, the often-heard rhetoric of choice and particular
framings of social and financial risk need to be analysed alongside issues of equality and social and
environmental justice. In what ways are ideologies of sustainability being mobilised both in defence of
neoliberal and neoconservative policies and in the promotion of alternatives? How individuals and
communities understand and respond to issues of choice in relation to perceived norms of rationality
and utility maximisation, and the intersection between choice and environment, are vital areas of
research.
The particular construction of the pensions crisis and the challenges – and opportunities- posed by
ageing societies and slower population growth represent one facet of the problematic of sustainable
welfare. Other potential topics include employment policy, work-life balance, healthcare, and social
reproduction. Papers are sought that explore and interrogate notions of financial, social and
environmental sustainability in the context of welfare provision, and which highlight and engage with
complex issues of gender, ethnicity and class that underlie concepts of sustainability.
Paper proposals, in the form of a 200 word abstract (using the IBG form - http://www.rgs.org/pdf/
AC2006%20Abstract%20submission%20form.doc), should be
submitted to the session convenors by 20th January 2006. Please email [log in to unmask]
to submit an abstract or if you have any questions about the session.
Full proposals of papers must be submitted to the RGS-IBG by 31
January 2006 using the Abstract Submission Form at: http://www.rgs.org/AC2006.
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Kendra Strauss
DPhil Researcher, School of Geography & the Environment
University of Oxford,
Mansfield Road, OXFORD, OX1 3TB.
-----End of forwarded message from Kendra Strauss <[log in to unmask]> -----
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Kendra Strauss
DPhil Researcher, School of Geography & the Environment
University of Oxford,
Mansfield Road, OXFORD, OX1 3TB.
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