EDDA – Center of Excellence in Critical Contemporary Research at the University of Iceland, in collaboration with the Nordic Centers of Excellence REASSESS and Nordwel, will host the conference Crisis and Renewal: Welfare States, Democracy and Equality in Hard Times. The conference will take place on 2-3 June at the University of Iceland. Please click here to view the conference programme.

The economic crisis of 2008–2010 has had a major impact on the social and political systems of European states from Greece in the South to Iceland in the North. It puts an increased strain on the welfare state which now faces the double burden of growing needs and reduced resources. In many countries, the crisis has seriously undermined established social rights and caused political turmoil in which fundamental issues about political legitimacy, governance and responsibility have been called into question.

EDDA – Center of Excellence, NORDWEL – A Nordic Centre of Excellence, and REASSESS – A Nordic Centre of Excellence host an interdisciplinary conference entitled Crisis & Renewal: Welfare States, Democracy and Equality in Hard Times. The conference will be held at the University of Iceland on 2-3 June 2011.

The conference draws together researchers from diverse disciplines such as sociology, history, philosophy, gender studies and public health from a variety of regions in order to share experiences and insights about the causes and consequences of the global financial crisis and how it will affect well-being, gender equality, social justice and the welfare state.

The keynote lectures are the following:

• Michael Freeden:  “The conceptual morphology of welfare: a site of ideological indeterminacy”.
• Christopher Lloyd:  “Beyond the crisis of social democratic welfare capitalism: Re-consolidation, reform, or regime transformation?”
• Diane Perrons: “Gender, inequality and the crisis: Towards a more sustainable model of development”.
• Stefán Ólafsson: “Level of living consequences of Iceland’s financial crisis”.

For further information please visit  www.renewal.hi.is or contact the EDDA office at eddacenter@hi.is / tel.: +354 525 4579 and + 354 525 5993.

The conference is open to the public. Admission is free of charge.