The Network for European Social Policy Analysis is an association of academics involved or interested in the analysis of social policy in Europe.
The Network encourages and fosters a multi-disciplinary approach to the analysis of European social policy. It is therefore open to people from a range of disciplines, including social policy, sociology, political science, international relations, history, law and economics.
It draws its membership from and defines its remit in relation to countries spanning the European continent, welcoming analysts from western, central and eastern European countries.
5-6 February 2015, Barcelona, Spain, organised by the Institute of Governance and Public Policies (IGOP) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona
3-5 September 2015, Odense, Denmark
The theme for the ESPAnet 2015 conference in Odense, Denmark is “The lost and new worlds of welfare”. On the one hand, the theme obviously takes inspiration from ‘The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism’, one of the truly seminal works of comparative welfare state research. We will celebrate 25 years of ‘The Three Worlds’ with a dedicated roundtable talk and keynote speech by the author Gøsta Esping-Andersen. On the other hand, the theme captures the thriving field of contemporary welfare state research. We are witnessing a deep transformation of the welfare state, caused by slow-moving socio-structural changes and shifting political ideas as well as by unanticipated events such as the 2008 Financial Crisis and the Euro Crisis.
In the course of this transformation, some of what was taken for granted 25 years ago may have been lost. But other themes have emerged or are still awaiting discovery by social scientists. Priorities are further shifting towards social services, welfare-to-work and policies regulating the interfaces of previously separated programme areas. Social policy in non-OECD regions which used to be the domain of area specialists is entering the realm of mainstream welfare state research. Convergence across many areas and diffusion of practices across borders is also blurring some of the old world distinctions. New actors, from organized consumer groups, through ‘welfare-chauvinist’ parties to financial industry lobbyists, are entering the scene. And micro-level research on public opinion and social structures is being systematically linked to developments at the macro level. The old maps may have become insufficient guides for these new worlds of welfare and the traditional focus on the nation state may be inappropriate for some of the new questions.
Organizing committee at the Centre for Welfare State Research, University of Southern Denmark: Paul Marx, Romana Careja, Peter Starke, Melike Wulfgramm, Igor Guardiancich, Christoph Nguyen, Luis Moreno & Klaus Petersen
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