The Transformations of Welfare to Work
CALL FOR PAPERS
One day conference at University of Leeds
12 September 2008
Organised jointly by the School of Sociology and Social Policy and CERIC
Main Themes:
- Labour market activation policies and new deals
- Conditionality
- Privatisation of public service provision
- The nature of transitions between work and welfare
- Sustainable employment and good work
Key Note Speakers:
Frank Field MP
David Coates (Work Foundation)
The conference will explore, in both a conceptual and empirical sense, the changing
terrain of welfare to work. In most developed countries there has been a move away
from a system that regards claimants as ‘passive’ welfare recipients to a model that
assumes more individual pro-activity from welfare to work. The main focus is on the
role of benefit conditionality in promoting paid work, and the centrality of paid work
to welfare reforms. In this context ‘activation policies’ that prompt claimants to
reflect on what they can offer society, employers and/or voluntary organisations are
playing a greater role in many countries. In some countries the services that identify,
address and respond to the needs of welfare recipients are being delivered by private
companies. What are the implications of this shift away from the state as provider and
the recipient as citizen to a more private, service and consumerist model?
The conference will explore these concerns by focusing on policy formation and
practice in a comparative context. It is clear that the agenda of ‘workfare’ has gained
currency beyond the USA and the UK. The conference will consider the political
imperatives driving reform in different national context, and the specific policies that
are being rolled out to address various transitions from welfare to work.
In the UK, for example, there are a number of ‘New deals’ that are intended to
address the needs of specific groups, some that are currently relying on public welfare
others that try to retain or retrain people who are in paid work. But questions remain
over the coherence between activation, development and work, and many ‘new deals’
are underscored with problems of displacement and churning. In this regard, what is
happening in the world of paid work should be considered in addition to what is
happening in terms of welfare transitions.
Against this backdrop, some of the questions that the conference hopes to address are:
* What is driving contemporary policy shift?
* How can we understand this theoretically?
* How much further can activation policies go?
* How are the roles of service providers changing and how do they perceive their
role?
* What do young unemployed people, lone mothers, disabled people, older workers
approaching retirement, and other groups affected think of these policies?
* What is the appropriate balance between compulsion and incentives?
* To what extent are these policies leading to sustainable employment, and what types
of paid work are available for such recipients?
* What are the connections, and possible contradictions, between welfare reforms and
the changing nature of work?
* How do employers and trade unions perceive these policies?
* What is happening in different countries and is there evidence of comparative
convergence?
Venue:
Leeds University Business School
Maurice Keyworth Building
University of Leeds
Leeds
LS2 9JT
UK
Papers that address these themes are invited and by May 31st a 250
word abstract should be sent to; Jodie Dyson, Transformations of Work
and Welfare Conference, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of
Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT UK
Papers that take an international comparative approach are most welcome.
Numbers are limited so please book early.
Organised Jointly by the School of Sociology and Social Policy and
Centre for Employment Relations Innovation and Change (CERIC.
For more information or to Register Contact;Jodie Dyson (J.Dyson@Leeds.ac.uk) (0113 3434438),
Kirk Mann (K.Mann@Leeds.ac.uk) (0113 3434424),
Jennifer Tomlinson (J.Tomlinson@Leeds.ac.uk) (0113 3434482).
Cost £35 (waged), £20 (unwaged) including lunch, tea and coffee.