8th Annual ESPAnet Conference 2010 "Social Policy and the Global Crisis: Consequences and Responses"

The theme of ESPAnet’s 2010 Annual Conference is the social consequences of the global financial crisis and their differential impacts 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?