23-24 May 2014
St Mary’s College, Durham University

Conference speakers include: Thom Brooks (Durham), Clare Chambers (Cambridge), Maria Dimova-Cookson (Durham), Phillip Horky (Durham), Peter Jones (Newcastle), Maleiha Malik (KCL), Mozaffar Qizilbash (York), Martha Nussbaum (Chicago), Sara Protasi (Yale)

Overcoming Intolerance: Nussbaum and Her Critics is a two-day event that brings Professor Martha C. Nussbaum to Durham University. Professor Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago and one of the leading political and legal philosophers today. She is the author of nearly 20 monographs, including The Fragility of Goodness (1986), Sex and Social Justice (1999), Women and Human Development (2000), Hiding from Humanity (2004), Frontiers of Justice (2006) and Creating Capabilities (2011) among many others.

This event examines these topics under the umbrella of ‘Overcoming Intolerance’ with a first day interrogating her recent The New Religious Intolerance: Overcoming the Politics of Fear in an Anxious Age (Harvard University Press, 2012). Nussbaum argues that we can rise about the politics of fear and toward a more open and inclusive future by expanding our capacity for empathetic imagination and establishing a consistent ethic of decency and civility building off of her past work. Conference speakers include Thom Brooks (Law, Durham), Clare Chambers (Philosophy, Cambridge), Peter Jones (Politics, Newcastle) and Maleiha Malik (Law, KCL). Martha Nussbaum will reply to each paper before the floor is opened for questions.

The second day is organized into two panels. The first focusses on the topic of ‘Capabilities and Political Liberalism’ which will be led by Mozaffar Qizilbash (PPE, York) and include Maria Dimova-Cookson (Government, Durham) with Martha Nussbaum. The second on ‘Civic Emotions and Combatting Intolerance’ which will be led by Sara Protasi (Philosophy, Yale) and include Phillip Horky (Classics, Durham) with Martha Nussbaum. Each roundtable discussions aimed at linking key themes in Nussbaum’s work to these broader issues and their wider implications.

Together, this two-day event brings together leading academics from across a diverse range of academic subjects to engage one of the most significant public intellectuals working today.

Conference registration includes lunch and teas/coffees for both days. (Delegates must make their own accommodation and dinner arrangements.)

The Conference Programme and Registration information can be found here: https://www.dur.ac.uk/law/events/lawevents/?eventno=20058&aggregated=1

The conference is generously funded by Durham Law School and several of its research groups (including the Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Centre; the Islam, Law and Modernity Group and the Law and Global Justice Group), the Institute of Advanced Studies, the Department of Philosophy and the School of Government and International Affairs all based at Durham University as well as Harvard University Press.

Call for Papers: Conference on “The Ethics of Economic Institutions”

Utrecht, January 8-10, 2015.

Our economic institutions are never merely economic institutions; they are always at the same time also moral statements about the good or right ways in which we produce, exchange, consume, distribute and ultimately live together. This includes both the public and private part of economic life. This prompts many questions, such as the following:

· What kind of taxes should we have, and on which purposes should we spend public revenues?

· Which markets are to be prohibited, and how should markets be regulated?

· What would a just financial sector require? Which kinds of relations should prevail between debtors and creditors?

· What is the purpose of corporations, and what are the implications for corporate governance?

· Should citizens have a right and/or a duty to work and how to theorize moral obligations to appropriate workplace conditions?

This conference is meant to stimulate reflection about the ethical sides of these questions. Which moral ideals should animate our economic institutions, and what are the implications in practice? We seek contributions from moral, social and political philosophy, but also from a wide range of other disciplines (economics, history, sociology, law, etc.) that may shed light on these questions. Contributions may address a particular author (e.g. Rawls on property-owning democracy, Mill on the stationary state), ethical theory (e.g. a Kantian view on financial markets, a utilitarian view of labour markets), or a particular economic institution (from basic income schemes to ecological markets). We are particularly interested in contributions addressing the methodology of ethical evaluations of economic institutions: How do we (and should we) evaluate institutions from a moral point of view? How does this focus on institutions relate to ethical evaluations of individual actions (as is typical in business ethics)? How does this type of reflection relate to economic, sociological and political evaluations of the same institutions?

We are pleased to announce that the following speakers will give keynote lectures (titles are provisional; biographies can be found below):

· Boudewijn de Bruin (University of Groningen): “The Ethics of Money and Debt”

· Joseph Heath (University of Toronto): “On the Very Idea of a Just Wage”

· Miriam Ronzoni (University of Manchester): “Global Labour Justice”

· Erik Schokkaert, (KU Leuven): “Solidarity and Innovation in Health Care: Principles and Taboos”

· Lea Ypi (London School of Economics): “Exploitation in the Market”

The conference is organized with financial support from the Strategic Theme “Institutions” of Utrecht University, the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of Utrecht University, and by the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

Practicalities

Dates: January 8-10, 2015.

Location: Hotel Mitland, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Conference fee: 200 euro. The fee includes lunches (on 9 and 10 January) and diners (on 8 and 9 January). Hotel accommodation and travel has to be arranged on an individual basis. Hotel rooms are reserved at a special conference price at Hotel Mitland. These will be held available until October 1st.

Conference organization: Rutger Claassen & Ingrid Robeyns, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Utrecht University. For all questions, please email to econethics2015@gmail.com

Abstract submission and deadline

Please send a Word document with your abstract (300-500 words plus up to 5 references) and your full contact details to econethics2015@gmail.com The deadline for abstract submissions is July 1st, 2014. Submitters will be notified of acceptance or rejection by August 1st at latest. The deadline for registration is September 15st.

Biography’s of the plenary speakers

Boudewijn de Bruin is professor of financial ethics at the University of Groningen. He obtained his PhD from the University of Amsterdam, and has held visiting positions at Harvard, Cambridge and Paris. His research interests include moral and political philosophy, epistemology, and philosophy of economics and finance. A monograph on Ethics in Finance is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press. With Alex Oliver (Cambridge), De Bruin is directing a programme on Trusting Banks financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

Joseph Heath is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy and the School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Toronto. His work deals with various issues that arise at the boundary between philosophy and economics, including models of practical rationality, intergenerational justice, theories of the welfare state, and business ethics. He is the author of numerous books, including Morality, Competition and the Firm, published by Oxford University Press in fall 2014, as well as the bestselling Filthy Lucre: Economics for People who Hate Capitalism.

Miriam Ronzoni is a Senior Lecturer in Political Theory at Manchester and a member of MANCEPT. She has worked on the justification of constructivism as well as on issues of global justice and the relationship between justice and institutions. She is currently interested in the inter-play between global and domestic factors in global economic justice (with respect to taxation and labour in particular) and on the institutional implications of theories of global justice.

Erik Schokkaert is full professor of public economics and welfare economics at the Department of Economics of the KU Leuven. He chairs the interdisciplinary think tank “Metaforum” of the KULeuven. His research focuses on (a) the modelling of different theories of distributive justice; (b) the application of these theories for the analysis of specific policy problems in the fields of health, social security and taxation. He is one of the editors of Economics and Philosophy. He was a member of various commissions appointed by the Belgian (and Dutch) governments to give policy advice in the domains of health and social security. Together with Wulf Gaertner he wrote a book on Empirical Social Choice: Questionnaire-Experimental Studies on Distributive Justice (Cambridge University Press, 2012).

Lea Ypi is Associate Professor in Political Theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at the Australian National University. She is interested in issues of global justice (including migration and colonialism), democratic theory (with particular focus on parties) and the philosophy of the Enlightenment (especially Kant). She is the author of Global Justice and Avant-Garde Political Agency (Oxford University Press 2012) and of articles in Philosophy and Public Affairs, The American Political Science Review, The Journal of Political Philosophy and others.

Because of the large number of submissions and in order to provide a more congenial atmosphere for scholarly discussions, we have moved the location of the conference to Segovia (about 25 minutes outside of Madrid by high-speed train).

The University of Maryland, Center for International Policy Exchanges will hold a conference  on: The Decline of the Middle Classes in the Developed World? from  September 28–30, 2014.

Proposals will be accepted through April 11, and can be submitted here: http://umdcipe.org/conferences/DecliningMiddleClassesSpain/

There are still few places left to present in the symposium 'Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion in a Changing India – Social Policy between Development and Growth?' at this year's Social Policy Association conference, which will be held at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, 14th-16th July 2014. The symposium aims to continue the conversation between the DSA and SPA, and particularly to follow the inaugural workshop of the Indian Social Policy Association in late March (see: http://www.jgls.edu.in/sites/default/files/events/C-I-S-P-T-M_0_0_0.pdf for more details).

We are interested in work discussing all aspects of social policy and social politics in contemporary India and South Asia but particularly encourage contributions directly addressing the symposium abstract (see below). We also want to specifically invite PhD students to respond to this call. Please feel free to share this information with colleagues in your respective Departments - part of this exercise is to publicise the new Indian Social Policy Association and connect more potential members based in the UK and Europe with Dr. Keerty Nakray.

The deadline for abstract submissions is fast approaching (Feb 7th 2014 - i.e. next Friday) - so if you are interested, please act fast and contact Stefan Kühner, stefan.kuehner@york.ac.uk, for more details and with any questions you may have.

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Poverty reduction and social inclusion in a changing India – social policy between development and growth?

There is a recognised link between social policy and development and a growing need to establish social policy studies at the forefront of growth agendas at the national and international level. The contribution to development of Social Policy as an academic field of inquiry and social policies in action is particularly pressing in middle-income countries such as the BRICs and MINTs, where growth has been relatively strong in the recent decade but where social problems such as large-scale material poverty and social exclusion act as a brake on potential. The necessity of engaging with the concerns of social policy internationally, is evidenced further by the existence of trends that affect all countries including: persistent and multidimensional inequalities leaving large proportions of national populations highly vulnerable and insecure; the reconfiguration of social risks through increased casualisation of labour markets; and the changing relationship between public, corporate and third sector actors in the fields of welfare and development. This symposium will discuss the relevance and applicability of insights from global social policy developments and Social Policy research specifically to India and South East-Asia. Contributions will consider linkages between specific poverty reduction and social protection programmes and outcomes, such as human well-being, equality, capabilities, freedom and (inclusive) growth. The symposium is convened by the newly constituted Indian Social Policy Association, which aims to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration in teaching and research between India and the United Kingdom, in co-operation with the Development Studies Association and Social Policy Association.

Fifth Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Association for Human Development and the Capabilities Approach (ALCADECA)

“Ethics, Agency and Human Development”

Pontificia Universidad Católica (PUCP), Lima, Perú

May 14-16 2014

Deadline for proposal submission:  February 24, 2014 (NEW DATE!)

Organizers:  Inter-disciplinary Group for Human Development as Expanding Freedoms (GRIDHAL- PUCP)

The organizers of the Fifth Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Association for Human Development and the Capabilities Approach (ALCADECA) are pleased to invite academics, researchers, policymakers and practitioners working in different arenas (universities, research centers, NGOs, public sector, international cooperation, civil society, private sector, etc) to submit papers to be presented at our conference, which will be held on May 14-16 2014 at PUCP campus in Lima, Peru. This academic event was preceded by conferences held in Mexico (2006), Montevideo (2008), Brazil (2010) and Argentina (2012).

More information, click here:

CONVOCATORIA / CALL FOR PAPERS

V Conferencia de la Asociación Latinoamericana y del Caribe para el Desarrollo Humano y el Enfoque de las Capacidades (ALCADECA)

“Ética, Agencia y Desarrollo Humano”

Lima, 14 al 16 de mayo 2014

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú

24 de febrero 2014  - Envío de sumillas (ponencias)

Organiza: Grupo Interdisciplinario de Desarrollo Humano como Ampliación de Libertades (GRIDHAL- PUCP)

Los organizadores de la V Conferencia de la Asociación Latinoamericana y del Caribe para el Desarrollo Humano y el Enfoque de las Capacidades (ALCADECA) se complacen en invitar a académicos, investigadores, estudiantes y profesionales que trabajan en diversas áreas (sector público, organizaciones de la sociedad civil, etc) a enviar propuestas de ponencias para ser presentadas en nuestra conferencia, la cual se realizará los días 14, 15 y 16 de mayo 2014 en la sede de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) ubicada en la ciudad de Lima. Este encuentro académico ha sido precedido por conferencias realizadas en México (2006), Montevideo (2008), Brasil (2010) y Argentina (2012).

ALCADECA2014-ENG-Summary Convocatoria-Ponencias-ALCADECA2014

TRAINING WORKSHOP: Comparative and International Social Policy Theories & Methods. LESSONS FOR RESEARCH AND PRACTICE IN INDIA

24- 25th March 2014, O.P. JINDAL GLOBAL UNIVERSITY, SONIPAT NARELA ROAD, SONIPAT, HARYANA- 131001, NCR OF DELHI

Overview of the Workshop:

This training workshop will bring together academics, practitioners and government officials who are working on emerging social policy issues in India and the United Kingdom. Its primary aim is to provide participants with an answer to the question ‘What is Social Policy?’ by providing an overview of its key theoretical and methodological approaches. In particular, the workshop aims to discuss the relevance and applicability of social policy research across the Social Science disciplines to lower middle income economies – specifically India. It will do so by considering linkages between specific poverty reduction and welfare programmes and outcomes, such as human well-being, equality, capabilities, freedom and growth, in comparative and international perspective. The training workshop will form the inaugural event of the newly constituted Indian Social Policy Association, which aims to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration in teaching and research between India and the United Kingdom as well as exchanges between the academe, policy and practice within and across both of these countries.

The training workshop will provide:
1. An overview of Social Policy as an academic discipline in the United Kingdom starting from its intellectual origins in public administration, the impact of the New Right shift of the 1980s to the more recent focus on research impact and the internationalisation of its research agenda, funding bodies and academic networks;
2. An introduction to key social policy theories starting from discussions about social rights/citizenship, inequalities, poverty/social exclusion and the development of distinct historical welfare regimes across the globe to more recent discussions of new social risks and the recalibration of longstanding welfare settlements in the context of globalisation and knowledge based economies;
3. An introduction to methodological approaches in social policy, poverty reduction and welfare research from longstanding debates about the merits of qualitative and quantitative modes of inquiry to more recent contributions emphasising triangulation and systematic mixed methods approaches;
4. A discussion of the ability to apply all of the above of in lower middle-income context specifically India.

The number of participants is restricted to 50 – please secure your place early to avoid disappointment.

For more details on confirmed speakers, participant fees etc. please see: http://www.jgls.edu.in/sites/default/files/events/C-I-S-P-T-M_0_0.pdf

On September 2nd-6th 2014, the Fourth International Conference on
Degrowth for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity will take place
in Leipzig, Germany.

The conference seeks to bring practitioners, activists and scientists
together and covers three main thematic threads:

1) Organizing a Degrowth Society – Emancipatory politics,
participation,institutions
2) Building a social and ecological economy - (Re-)productivity,
commons, society-nature relations
3) Living conviviality – Buen vivir, creative commons, knowledge &
technology

Deadlines:
Proposals for special sessions must be submitted by December 31st
2013, papers and abstracts by January 31st 2014. The review process
will be concluded by the end of May.
Link to Call for Papers: http://leipzig.degrowth.org/en/call-for-papers/

Link to thematic threads and topics: http://leipzig.degrowth.org/en/threads/