8th ESPAnet Conference 2010Social Policy and the Global Crisis:
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5. Social Work and Social Policy: Control or Empowerment?
Social work is one of the professions most associated with the welfare state and with social policy and most social workers are employed by social welfare agencies and engage in administering social welfare.
In recent years, a number of developments in welfare states have had a marked impact on the role of social workers in these nations and, in particular, their role in the social policy formulation process. On the one hand, reforms in the nature of social care services in many countries appear to have undermined the professional roles of social workers and their status within these services, and had a negative impact on their interaction with service users. Privatization, the outsourcing of service provision, and New Public Administration are examples of these trends. On the other hand, additional developments may serve to enhance the role of social workers in the social policy process. Thus, the governance literature has underscored the fact that social policy has moved beyond the "core executive" that traditionally dominated decision-making and now includes additional levels of government but also an array of actors and institutions. In addition, social work education is currently undergoing a process of academisation in some countries and marked growth in others, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. These trends should strengthen the professional status of social workers and offer them diverse opportunities to influence social policy and to further the rights of excluded social groups.
The goal of this stream is to examine the impact of social policy on social workers, the role that social workers play in social policy formulation in different nations across Europe, and the forms and directions that social workers’ interventions in social policy take. In particular, papers (either comparative or case studies) that deal with the following range of issues are invited to be offered to this stream:
- In what way do contemporary social policies have an impact on the ways in which social workers interact with service users and communities?
- What is the role of social workers in social policy formulation?
- Do social workers deal primarily with policy implementation or formulation?
- Can social workers influence policy formulation through policy implementation?
- In what ways do social workers have an impact on social policy formulation on the national or local levels?
- Do social workers have a unique impact upon social policy formulation?
- In what ways do transformations in the welfare state and in social welfare impact upon social work?
- Is there a link between welfare regimes and the nature of the social work profession?
Convenors:
Prof. John Gal
School of Social Work and Social Welfare,
Hebrew University, Israel
E-mail: msjgsw@mscc.huji.ac.il
Friday, 11:30-13:30 Room 05, Session 5./A
Presentations
1. Tuomo Kokkonen: The “Contractual Turn” of Social Citizenship – Social work as an agent of Activation Policy in Finland [abstract] [paper]
2. Dr. Katalin Talyigás, Dr. Gábor Hegyesi and Orsolya Fekete: Changing Concepts of Social Work due to the Changes in Social Policy [abstract] [paper]
3. Prof. Francisco Branco, Prof. Maria Inês Amaro: Social Work Practices within the New Social Policy Trends: A Portuguese Perspective [abstract] [paper]
4. Janet Walker: What is the ‘social’ in contemporary social work education? [abstract] [paper]
Contributed papers:
1. Adam Dinham and Tom Henri: Radical Thinking in Consensual Contexts in Social Work Policy and Practice [abstract] [paper]
Friday, 14:30-16:30 Room 05, Session 5./B
Presentations
1. Helena Blomberg-Kroll, Christian Kroll, Johanna Kallio: Social Workers’ Perceptions of the Causes of Poverty in Nordic Countries [abstract] [paper]
2. Idit Weiss-Gal: Social Work, Social Policy and Parliamentary Committees [abstract] [paper]
3. Professor Linda Briskman: Social Work Advocacy in Australia: Challenging Immigration Detention [abstract] [paper]
4. Tatiana Sarius: Implementing Integration Policies: A Case Study about New Needs, Discretion and Responsibility in Social Work [abstract] [paper]
Contributed papers:
1. Magdalena Rek-Wozniak: Social Workers in Poland – Missionaries, Professionals and Working Poor [abstract] [paper]
2. Dominique Le Roux: Cooperation between Social Workers and Social Mediation Actors: Analysis of a Paradox [abstract] [paper]
Important dates
17 November 2009 = Call for stream convenors
18 December 2009 = Deadline for stream convenors
25 January 2010 = Call for abstracts
29 March 2010 = Deadline for abstract submission
3 May 2010 = Registration starts
6 June 2010 = Reduced fee application deadline
21 June 2010 24:00 (CET) = Early bird registration deadline
13 August 2010 24:00 (CET) - Deadline for submission of papers
16 August 2010 - Deadline for Registrations and payments
Registration fee is 160 Euros for early birds, 210 Euros for late birds. Central and Eastern European PhD students and professionals can apply for a reduced fee of 60 Euros at info@espanet2010.net until 6th June.
Registration opens on the 3rd May, early bird registration closes on the 21th June at 24:00 (CET).
Theme of the Conference
The theme of ESPAnet’s 2010 Annual Conference is the social consequences of the global financial crisis and its differential impact across Europe. The main questions for consideration include:
How is the crisis affecting already existing inequalities? How are different social classes and groups, especially those in poverty, affected by the crisis? What are the adaptable capacities of the different “worlds of welfare”? Does the intensifying social vulnerability lead to the re-structuring of the programs to provide more security? How far have new programs been developed, and how far have new questions of social policy and welfare been opened up by the crisis?
We would like to broaden the horizon of social policy analysis and see global environmental concerns taken into account: How far are responses to the crisis re-thinking the role of the national and international/global state and the role of the European Union in creating economically, socially and environmentally sustainable societies?