Call for Papers: "Where Is IR in Global Social Policy?" › view all

The next meeting of DVPW’s IR Section will take place in Bremen on October 4-6, 2017 (more info will follow soon).

Please find below a panel proposal for the meeting. If the subject and panel description spark your interest, please submit an abstract of no more than 200 words until 24 March 2017 to:

Anna Wolkenhauer (BIGSSS) at wolkenhauer@bigsss.uni-bremen.de and John Berten (BIGSSS) at berten@bigsss.uni-bremen.de

If you have questions regarding the call, do not hesitate to contact us!

You can also download the Call for Papers.

Call for Papers: “Where is IR in Global Social Policy?”

Panel for the “5. Offene Sektionstagung” of the IR section in the DVPW | Discussant: Professor Kerstin Martens, University of Bremen

Since the mid-1990s, ‘global social policy’ has formed as a distinct research program devoted to the study of global actors, mechanisms and processes of social policy. Yet, the underlying definitions and approaches in this growing field of research differ hugely, which may have to do with the various disciplines occupied in its research – from development studies, to comparative social policy, to area studies. Moreover, apart from scholars directly identifying with the label, other disciplines have researched aspects of this field without adhering to a specific program of ‘global social policy’. Surprisingly, there has been less interest in this thriving field from scholars of International Relations.

Therefore, in this panel, we would like to address the question which added value an IR perspective can bring to the field of global social policy research. What are possible ways of framing global social policy from an IR perspective, regarding actors, institutions, mechanisms and policies? How can IR enrich this upcoming field by conceiving of global social policy not merely in terms of services provided but (also) as a specific form of rule, embedded, for instance, in global structures or even a world society? What are the comparative advantages and lessons learned that arise from following one or the other program or concept of research, for instance world society, internationalized rule, global governance or regime complexity?

We would like to call for papers that address these meta-questions – from within IR or beyond – and reflect upon their own theoretical approach, where relevant linked to an empirical case.

Download Call for Papers.