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Call for papers: NordWel Summer School 2009

State, Society & Citizen - Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on Welfare State Development

Bergen, 7-12 June 2009

NCoE NordWel in cooperation with the Rokkan Centre, the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion and the Department of Comparative Politics at University of Bergen is organizing a summer school in Bergen, 7-12 June 2009.

The summer school is part of the activities of NCoE NordWel: http://blogs.helsinki.fi/nord-wel

We invite Ph.D.-students and young researchers from different backgrounds both within and outside the Nordic countries to participate in discussing the history of the welfare state, its preconditions and how we ought to study it.

Welfare states have and can be studied from a number of theoretical and methodological approaches, with various chronological perspectives and with a focus on different empirical phenomena. As stated in the title of the summer school our aim is to stimulate cross-disciplinary and multi-perspective discussions. Papers at the summer school can include papers on welfare institutions; historical and social preconditions; ideas, visions and critiques; transnational and comparative perspectives as well as studies of agents and social movements.

Our aim is to bring together Ph.D.-students and young researchers and stimulate a discussion that will challenge and maybe bring us beyond well established concepts and understandings.

We invite proposals for papers that deal with welfare and welfare state in a broad historical perspective. Papers can be both theoretical and empirical in their approach. They can deal with national themes or have a comparative perspective. The list of possible themes seems almost infinite but papers could deal with topics such as:

• The historical development of social security and service systems including both the 20th Century as well as the long historical roots and preconditions for the contemporary welfare state.

• The political history of the welfare state including political and ideological discussions on welfare, the role of political parties as well as the role of social movements.

• Discussions on gender equality, the welfare state as utopia or dystopia in politics or arts.

• Conceptual perspectives on the welfare state including the role of ideology and ideas, the use of theories and theoretical perspectives.

• Transnational perspectives including policy transfer, export of welfare systems, the relationship between the national and international, and the role of international organizations and ideas.

• The normative underpinnings of the welfare state model including value systems of the welfare state, gendering of welfare systems, the normative charges of work, the role of religion and contemporary challenges to the normative foundation.

• Institutional perspectives including the relationship between local and national (state and municipality), between the public and the private, policy studies and the role of expert and knowledge in the context of the welfare state and/or its’ institutions such as social services and health care.

Teachers include, among others, professor Astri Andresen (University of Bergen), professor Daniel Beland (University of Saskatchewan), research professor Sakari Hänninen (National Institute for Health and Welfare), professor Sandrine Kott (University of Geneva), professor Christopher Lloyd (University of New England), professor Kalle Moene (University of Oslo), professor Ann Orloff (Northwestern University), professor Jørn Henrik Petersen (University of Southern Denmark), professor Janet Newman (Open University, UK), and Sven Steinmo (European University Institute).

The summer school is designed for Nordic and international PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. The course is composed of a series of guest lectures and workshops. Guest lectures and senior scholars will act as discussant in the workshops together with the PhD students.

The course program will be updated on the NordWel home page at http://blogs.helsinki.fi/nord-wel/.

Participants who complete the summer school successfully are credited with 6 ECTS credits.

Course fee

The Course fee is 100 Euros. Accommodation will be financed by NCoE NordWel and it is possible to apply also for a travel grant.

How to apply

PhD students and young researchers interested in participating in the summer school should send an abstract (½ page) and a short biography by email no later than 10 February 2009 to coordinator Anna Alanko via e-mail: anna.alanko@helsinki.fi

Contact

For substantial and thematic inquiries, contact

Professor Stein Kuhnle:stein.kuhnle@isp.uib.no,
Professor Pauli Kettunen: pauli.kettunen@helsinki.fi, or
Professor Klaus Petersen: klaus.petersen@hist.sdu.dk

For inquiries concerning the local organisation in Bergen, contact
Coordinator Siren Høgtun: via e-mail Siren.Hogtun@rokkan.uib.no, or by phone +47 55 58 39 04

For inquiries concerning applying, contact
Coordinator Anna Alanko: via e-mail anna.alanko@helsinki.fi, or by phone: +358 (0)9 191 249 58

Organizing committee

Professor Pauli Kettunen
Department of Social Science History
University of Helsinki
pauli.kettunen@helsinki.fi

Professor Stein Kuhnle
Department of Comparative Politics
University of Bergen & Hertie School of Governance
stein.kuhnle@isp.uib.no

Researcher Nanna Kildal
Rokkan Centre
University of Bergen
Nanna.Kildal@rokkan.uib.no

Professor Klaus Petersen
Centre for Welfare State Research
University of Southern Denmark
klaus.petersen@hist.sdu.dk

Associate Professor Jan Heiret
Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion
University of Bergen
Jan.Heiret@ahkr.uib.no

Coordinator Siren Høgtun
Rokkan centre
University of Bergen
Siren.Hogtun@rokkan.uib.no