Transformations of the Welfare State in the Context of New Risks: National and Regional Strategies

Monday, 7 July 2025: 11:00-12:45
Location: FSE039 (Faculty of Education Sciences (FSE))
RC19 Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy (host committee)

Language: English

The problems of transforming the welfare state have been the focus of contemporary sociology. The established models of the welfare state do not fully correspond to the new risks of modern society, as well as to occurring demographic, social, and economic structural changes, including globalization and labor market transformation. In recent years, social issues of turbulence and uncertainty have increasingly come to the forefront in the social sphere, alongside the emergence of new global and regional risks surrounding climate change, epidemiological, and ecological threats. This poses new tasks for key institutions of the welfare state, such as social protection, social work, and healthcare.

The key questions to be discussed in the session are as follows:

  • conceptualization of new national and regional models of the welfare state;
  • transformation of welfare state through eco-social concepts;
  • new roles and competencies of public actors;
  • development of contemporary social work addressing new risks.
Session Organizers:
Olga BORODKINA, St Petersburg University, Russian Federation and Mira ANTONYAN, Yerevan State University, Armenia
Chair:
Olga BORODKINA, St Petersburg University, Russian Federation
Co-Chair:
Mira ANTONYAN, Yerevan State University, Armenia
Oral Presentations
Navigating Dignity in Social Systems: A Comparative Ethnography of Rural Denmark, France, and the United States
Maggie MÜLLER, Denmark; Magnus PAULSEN HANSEN, Roskilde University, Denmark
Is Surveillance Capitalism a Threat or an Opportunity for the Welfare State?
Victoria DUDINA, St. Petersburg State University, Russian Federation
Unintended Beneficiaries of Clean Energy: Are Policy Gaps in India’s Ujjwala Yojana Undermining SDG Progress?
Ajay DUTTA, International Institute for Population Sciences, India; T.R DILIP, International Institute for Population Sciences, India
Current Trends in the Development of Medical and Social Assistance
Alina SULIMOVA, St Petersburg University, Russian Federation; Alevtina STARSHINOVA, Russia, Russian Federation
Distributed Papers
Non-State Actors’ Engagement and State-Led Poverty Management: The Case of the Public Assistance Grant in Trinidad and Tobago
Hafeeza HOSEIN SHAH, University of the West Indies. Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago
Social Policy in the Age of Digitalization and Aging. How New Opportunities Create New Inequalities
Irina GRIGORYEVA, Sociological Institute, Federal Center of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation
Construction of Modern Social Problems: Discursive Strategies of Authorities and NGOs
Elena ARKHIPOVA, Ural Federal University, Russian Federation
Intersectoral Interaction in the Assistance of People with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Evgenia CHIKOVA, Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N.Yeltsin, Russian Federation