Both quantitative and qualitative studies of social policies and welfare states can bring to light similarities and differences and highlight convergence or divergence between systems. Examination of the causes and consequences of these similarities and differences is the mainstay of comparative social policy research.

This workshop seeks to bring together a group of advanced doctoral students who are investigating changes in welfare states and social policies, and the causes and consequences thereof. Papers can also address the various putative mechanisms of policy influence/policy transfer where such transfer can be demonstrated to have taken place; papers that seek to understand the balance between national and supra-national forces and actors in influencing social policy developments are particularly welcome.

We invite papers that adopt a strong comparative dimension in addressing the issues of similarities/differences, convergence/divergence and policy transfer or diffusion between systems. Possible areas of investigation include, but are not restricted to, employment, pensions, care, health and housing policies, as well as systems-level studies of aggregate change or stability in broader policy areas and across welfare states.

The presenters should be in their final year of doctoral study and hence in a position to present the overall framework, research questions and methodology of their projects, as well as some preliminary/indicative findings in the light of their (largely) completed data collection.

Senior staff present at the workshop include:

• Jochen Clasen, University of Edinburgh
• Tony Fahey, University College Dublin
• Traute Meyer, Southampton University
• Amilcar Moreira, Oslo University College
• Brian Nolan, University College Dublin
• Julia O'Connor, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland
• Wim van Oorschot, Tilburg University
• Virpi Timonen, Trinity College Dublin

Deadline for applications: 13 February 2009.

Sponsorship towards the costs of attending the workshop is available.

Please e-mail a max. 400 word abstract, including the title of your presentation and your name, institution and email address to timonenv@tcd.ie.

The applicants who are accepted on the basis of their absract will be required to submit the full paper (max. 5,000 words) nearer to the time of the workshop to allow other participants to read the papers in advance. The paper can be a chapter of your thesis, but it should also make sense to the reader as an independent entity i.e. you should not assume that the other workshop participants will be familiar with the rest of your thesis / work. Essentially what we are looking for are the equivalent of conference papers.

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