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FINAL PROGRAMME NOW AVAILABLE
The 17th Annual Conference of the East Asian Social Policy Research Network &
The 27th Annual Conference of the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security
MITIGATING THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACT OF COVID-19:
THE ROLE OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND SOCIAL WELFARE RESPONSES IN EAST AND WEST
2-4 July 2021, Lingnan University, Hong Kong
Final Conference Programme
This Final Conference Programme includes all meeting IDs and links to join Zoom online sessions.
Conference registration remains open with two rates for remote/online (HK$1050) and in-person/face-to-face (HK$1,400) attendance.
To register please follow the link below:
https://banner.ln.edu.hk/PROD/usr_stu_adm_easpfiss.p_main
Please note the following important dates:
Final registration for paper presenters: 1 June 2021.
Final registration for non-presenting participants: 15 June 2021.
Registration of non-presenting participants after this date will be charged at a slightly higher rate - remote/online (HK$1,050) and in-person/face-to-face (HK$1,400).
For any queries, please contact stefankuehner@LN.edu.hk or Julie.Janssens@uantwerpen.be.
Conference Theme
Since the first coronavirus cluster was reported in December 2019, few have managed to avoid the direct impacts of economic lockdowns, travel restrictions, school closures, and other public health measures on their everyday lives. Rather than a ‘great leveller’ or ‘equaliser’, however, it has become increasingly evident that incidence, hospitalisation, and mortality rates due to Covid-19 have varied considerably by individual and regional socio-economic characteristics. In comparison, less is still known about the indirect economic and social losses due to the global pandemic and to what extent they have disproportionately affected different groups of people in Eastern and Western societies.
During the prevailing COVID-19 crisis social security has provided protection of individuals and families whose livelihoods have been threatened by unemployment and loss of economic activity. It also ensured systemic security by stabilizing purchasing power and helping businesses to bridge the crisis. Some countries, more than others, were able to rely on existing social security systems. Other countries have strengthened their social security with new or more generous benefits, while others have set up instruments outside social security. What do we know about social security responses in various countries around the world? Which first lessons can be drawn about the effectiveness of various strategies? And what does scientific research learn about the role of social security in guiding societies through the major ongoing social and economic transformations: ageing, climate transitions and digitization?
Against this background, and almost exactly one year after the 2020 the East Asian Social Policy Research Network (EASP) and Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS) conferences had to be cancelled, we are joining together once more to examine the role of ‘social security’ and ‘social welfare’ responses to mitigate against new Covid-19-related economic and social risks. Given the ongoing travel restrictions and global health concerns, we are planning to organise the conference as a hybrid-event combining options for delegates to join keynotes and parallel sessions in a face-to-face or real-time online setting.
CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
Prof. Janet Gornick, City University New York, United States
Prof. Bingqin Li, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Prof. David Gordon, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
The conference programme includes a special panel of local experts on ‘Hong Kong Social Policy at a Crossroads’ chaired by Prof. Bea Cantillon, University of Antwerp, Belgium. Further details will be provided later.
The FISS Best Paper Prize of 300 Euros will be awarded by a selection committee from the FISS Board of Governors and the winning paper will be published in The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice. The author(s) will also receive two years free subscription to the journal.
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.
The Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (http://fiss-socialsecurity.org) is an independent, non-profit association that aims to promote international, multidisciplinary research on social security, including its relationships with other aspects of society (such as the labour market, unemployment, poverty, income redistribution, savings, housing, the family, health and well-being).