DILEMMAS IN HUMAN SERVICES 2011 – 15TH INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH CONFERENCE

Thursday 1st - Friday 2nd September 2011

Location: Friends House, Euston Road, London, NW1 2BJ, UK.
Organized by the University of East London, Staffordshire University and Luleå University of Technology.
Conference website: http://www.uel.ac.uk/dilemmas/
Theme: Hard Times for Public Services

Hard Times is the title of a novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854 and providing a cogent critique of early industrialism. But it is a phrase that Dickens would have been aware of from folksongs and vernacular speech of the time where ‘usually it meant a period, often a slump, when scanty food and low wages or unemployment bore particularly hard. Much less often it could mean the more pervasive state in which people felt that the essential and permanent condition of their lives hemmed them in inflexibly’[1]. If 2011 is a long way from 1854 and hard times might take different forms, the phrase seems an apt one to describe the current period of fiscal and economic woe, in which spending on public services in many parts of the world is coming under increasing pressure. But crises can provoke resistance, as well as resignation and demoralization and, as the Dickens novel illustrates, it can also provoke creative responses. This seems an appropriate time to consider the state of public services in what might be seen as a period of crisis. A time to consider the human costs of the crisis, but also the causes of it and a variety of responses to it, be they social action or the construction of new social imaginaries.

This conference has, for a number of years, drawn together those looking at a variety of human services - health, social work, education, and so on, from a number of countries in Europe and across the world. The emphasis has been on understanding the nature of work, organization and management in these services, largely but not exclusively in a public or ‘third sector’ context. Many common trends have been seen, affecting services across the world, but there are also local and national differences, and differences between services, that are worthy of attention. As we meet in 2011 participants are invited to focus on current trends within a variety of human services, in a variety of national contexts.

We propose several special streams, but also welcome those whose interests lie outside these in an ‘Open Stream’, the strength of the conference lying in bringing together those who may not usually interact but who nevertheless face common problems and issues. Our aim is therefore to facilitate debate both within and across these divisions. As in the past, the intention is to provide a forum for both new and established researchers to share ideas in a supportive, scholarly and critically-minded environment.

Previous conferences have led to a number of edited collections, including Gender and the Public Sector (Routledge 2003, edited by Jim Barry, Mike Dent and Maggie O’neill) and Questioning the New Public Management (Ashgate 2004, edited by Mike Dent, John Chandler and Jim Barry) as well as Special Editions of journals such as the International Journal of Public Sector Management (2003), Public Policy and Politics (2005), Equal Opportunities International (2007) and Socialvetenskaplig Tidskrift (2010). It is intended that a selection of papers from this conference will also form the basis for a future published volume.

Anyone interested in contributing a paper should submit a 400 word abstract (excluding references) to John Chandler and Jim Barry (the London-based Conference Organisers), with a copy to the Stream Chair(s) for their chosen Stream; please note that there is an ‘open stream’. The deadline for abstracts is Monday 9th May 2011. Decision on acceptance, following the refereeing process, will be notified in early June 2011.

Streams:

Public Sector Governance, Welfare and Social Justice: Gender and Careregimes in Motion - Stream Chairs: Professor Dr Brigitte Aulenbacher Johannes Kepler University, Austria (brigitte.aulenbacher@jku.at) and Professor Dr Birgit Riegraf , University of Paderborn, Germany (briegraf@mail.uni-paderborn.de)

Ethics and Values in Human Services - Stream Chair: Dr Linda Bell, Middlesex University, UK (l.bell@mdx.ac.uk)

Information Crossing Boundaries in the Public Sector  - Stream Chair: Professor Mike Dent, Staffordshire University, UK (Mike.Dent@staffs.ac.uk)

The Human Cost of  Public Services Retrenchment: What actions now for the poor and socially marginalised? - Stream Chair: Dr Marion Ellison, Queen Margaret University, UK (MEllison@qmu.ac.uk)

Social Work and Management – Stream Chair: Professor Elizabeth Harlow, University of Chester, UK (e.harlow@chester.ac.uk)

Accountablility and Health Care - Stream Chair: Geoff Heath, Keele University, UK (g.heath@mngt.keele.ac.uk)

Information Technology and Public Sector in Hard times - Stream Chair: Associate Professor  Dr Christina Mörtberg, Linnaeus University, Sweden (christina.mortberg@lnu.se)

Labour Market Uncertainties  In Hard Times - Stream Chair: Dr Saila Piippola, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. (Saila.piippola@ltu.se)

Hard Times, Soft Governance? The Financial Crisis as a Rationale for a Reduction in the role of the State - Dr Jim Radcliffe, Staffordshire University, UK (J.Radcliffe@staffs.ac.uk)

Equality and Diversity in the Public Sector: Hard Times for Minorities? – Stream Chair: Dr Zorlu Senyucel, University of East London, UK (z.senyucel@uel.ac.uk)

Localism, State and Civil Society - Stream Chair: Dr Graham Symon University of Greenwich, UK (G.Symon@greenwich.ac.uk)

Hard times in Academe - Stream Chairs: Dr John Chandler, University of East London, UK, Professor Jim Barry, University of East London, UK and Professor Elisabeth Berg, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden (j.p.chandler@uel.ac.uk <mailto:j.p.chandler@uel.ac.uk> ; j.j.barry@uel.ac.uk; elisabeth.berg@ltu.se

Delivering Services in Hard Times - Stream Chair: Steve Suckling, Staffordshire University, UK (s.j.suckling@staffs.ac.uk)

Open Stream – Send abstracts to: Dr John Chandler, University of East London, UK
(j.p.chandler@uel.ac.uk) and Professor Jim Barry, University of East London, UK (j.j.barry@uel.ac.uk).


For further information please contact any of the conference organisers:

Dr John Chandler, Royal Docks Business School, University of East London, UK  (j.p.chandler@uel.ac.uk)

Professor Jim Barry Royal Docks Business School, University of East London, UK (j.j.barry@uel.ac.uk)

Professor Mike Dent, Faculty of Health, Staffordshire University, UK (Mike.Dent@staffs.ac.uk)

Dr Jim Radcliffe, Faculty of Health, Staffordshire University, UK (J.Radcliffe@staffs.ac.uk)

Professor Elisabeth Berg, Division of Human Work Science, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. (elisabeth.berg@ltu.se)

Dr Steve Suckling Faculty of Health, Staffordshire University, UK (s.j.suckling@staffs.ac.uk)