It is important for us to engage in regular critical discussion with the broader research community on what and how ‘resilience’ can contribute to social policy development. Resilience as a concept for social policy use has not yet been fully utilised or understood, especially from a familial rather than individual perspective. One way we are motivating this dialogue is through chairing the “resilience and social policy” stream at the European Network for Social Policy Analysis (ESPAnet) 2023 conference: hosted this year by our Consortium Member at the University of Warsaw. ESPAnet provides a forum for social policy analysts from across Europe with this year’s conference centring around “challenges for the welfare state in turbulent times”. This is a topic which rEUsilience also keenly responds to, notably regarding labour market, income security, and demographic changes.
This stream will engage across and beyond the following questions to reach a rich and critical discussion that will complement rEUsilience’s ongoing research:
- How can resilience be conceptualised to be useful in social policy and welfare state research?
- What strategies do individuals and families have to be resilient?
- What are the current intersections between care dynamics and employment dynamics/exigencies, and what trade-offs are encapsulated in policy in these regards?
- How can social policy support the resilience of individuals and families? What combinations of policies are necessary?
Our rEUsilience joint co-ordinators Mary Daly (University of Oxford) and Rense Nieuwenhuis (Stockholm University) are looking forward to chairing the stream in Warsaw and connecting with the broader research community on what resilience can do for social policy.
To find out more click here.