SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL POLICY IN EAST ASIA:
Date: 14-15 September 2023
Location: Sydney Australia (in-person)
Deadline for Abstracts and Panel Proposals: 15 March 2023
Co-organised by School of Business, Western Sydney University, Australia and Lingnan University, Hong Kong
The past several years have seen catastrophic challenges one after another. As countries struggle to escape the pandemic, the hope for a peaceful economic recovery is intercepted by endless military confrontations, political confrontations, and the looming economic recession. Countries must face the consequences of highly divided or even broken societies in which polarised social groups cannot agree on major social issues. National governments signed up to the Sustainable Development Goals (2030 Agenda) in 2015, when the meaning of the goals such as “health and well-being”, “decent work and economic growth”, “reducing inequality,” “climate actions”, and “peace and justice” faced less contestation than nowadays. With all the shocks and conflicts, some countries have reset priorities, such as reviving and diversifying the economy, securing energy supply and abandoning the commitment to SDGs. There have been growing concerns regarding whether the SDGs can be achieved in time and whether there is a need to revise the goals.
East Asian region is at the forefront of some of the contingencies the world is facing, such as geopolitical conflicts and the impact of economic decoupling and restructuring. It also faces perennial challenges such as rapid ageing, urbanisation and high-density living. The people in the region crave improved wellbeing, dignity and rights to develop as much as other countries. Social policy will play a significant role in the future years leading to 2030. Past experience shows that countries in the region benefited from their willingness to learn from other countries in the world and adapt the learnt lessons to nurture the local system rooted in their own culture. In recent years, we also see the dynamic use of technological innovations to overcome the constraints of limited capacity to govern and support service deliveries. However, all these practices have brought benefits as well as costs. The sustainability of social development in the coming years dwells on the ability to keep the benefits and minimise the costs.
The 19th annual EASP conference will examine how East Asian countries have fared so far given the turbulent political, social and economic environments. It will explore the implications of these turbulences for social policy as the world strives to achieve SDGs. What is the state of achieving social policy goals in the SDGs? What are the gaps countries face? What are the strength and weaknesses of the welfare systems in the region? What are the attempted solutions and innovative solutions to address the weaknesses? What is the future for social development in the region and its relations to the rest of the world?
We particularly welcome theoretical or empirical contributions exploring these questions. We also encourage contributions with a comparative and global perspective, particularly those including both East Asia and beyond. It is a long tradition of EASP to invite papers by postgraduate students and early-career researchers as well as established scholars working in the field of social welfare, social security, and social policy analysis.
Confirmed Keynote Speakers:
- Naim KAPUCU, Professor, University of Central Florida
- Elisabeth HILL, Associate Professor, Sydney University
- CHANG Kyung-Sup, Professor, Seoul National University
The following are 8 streams of topical guides. The presenters are encouraged to propose papers on the following streams in social policy settings.
- Grand challenges: demographic and family changes, globalisation and deglobalisation, economic recession and revival, political polarisation, climate change and environmental sustainability
- Welfare systems: regimes, formal and informal welfare, culture and local regimes
- Solutions and innovations: digitisation and digitalisation, outsourcing and internationalisation, media and social media, new ways to fund and provide services
- Social services: care (old age, children, disability, health), education & learning (children, youth and adults), institution & community-based services, etc
- Human dignity, rights and citizenship: labour force participation, decent work, work-life balance, poverty relief, migration and immigrants, human agency, cultural responsiveness, respect, voice and advocacy
- Equality, fairness and justice: income and social inequalities, fair pay and taxation, accessibility and quality services
- Governance: democracy and advocacy, collaboration, co-governance, self-governance, policy
- Research methodologies: new research methods, approaches and means to make changes
Instructions for submission:
Those wishing to present a paper should submit a 200-300 word abstract from here:
https://forms.gle/fS1d9BMmdAmVypmw5
Those wishing to organise a panel should submit a panel proposal from here:
https://forms.gle/yoVdFkTbxBwvMiij7
We ask those who are able to, to submit their proposals from the links above. If the links are inaccessible, please send them by email attachment to 19theasp@gmail.com, according to the following instructions:
Those wishing to present a paper should submit a 200-300 word abstract. The information enclosed with any abstract should include the stream number, the title of the paper; author name(s); affiliation(s); and the email address of one corresponding author. The stream topics are a topic guide for the participants. The presentations will be regrouped based on the accepted papers.
Those wishing to organise a panel should submit a panel proposal. The information enclosed with any panel proposal should include stream number, the title of the panel; the objective of the panel (between 200 and 300 words); names and affiliations of all panel organiser(s) and participating members; along with abstracts of three or four papers (between 200 and 300 words each); an e-mail address of one corresponding panel organiser
The deadline for abstracts and panel proposals is 15 March 2023.
Important dates:
- Submission of abstracts and panel proposals: 15 March 2023
- Notification of acceptance: April 2023
- Early booking & registration will start from 1 May 2023
Further details about the conference programme and venue will be announced shortly. For any queries about the conference, please contact 19theasp@gmail.com
The East Asian Social Policy Research Network (http://welfareasia.org) is a regional association for facilitating research exchange among social policy analysts and providing a forum and network of communication for the development of social policy in East Asia and beyond.