Reflections on Global Social Policy at 25

Monday, 7 July 2025: 19:00-20:30
Location: FSE038 (Faculty of Education Sciences (FSE))
RC19 Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy (host committee)

Language: English

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the journal Global Social Policy. Founded by the late professor Bob Deacon, the Journal has been instrumental in defining the field and encouraging global, regional and comparative research on critical issues relating to the changing field of social policy. It has been particularly significant in bringing voices and experiences from the global South into these debates, while also engaging with the key actors particularly in the UN and other international agencies who significantly shape policy discourse and practice. Over the years, it has engaged with key trends relating to globalization and transnational flows of capital, people, and policies, including the diffusion of ideas, offering a comprehensive view of global social dynamics.

This panel will reflect on the past 25 years of the Journal and the field, including what has changed and what we have learnt. We will also look forward to consider key current issues and challenges, and what is needed for the field and the Journal to remain relevant and contribute to improved social policies and outcomes from global to local scales. We invite participants from both academia and policy institutions who have been engaged in the field and/or with the Journal.
Session Organizers:
Alexandra KAASCH, Bielefeld University, Germany, Sarah COOK, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, China and Tuba AGARTAN, Providence College, USA
Chair:
Sarah COOK, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, China
Oral Presentations
The Social Policy Agenda in the Global South: 25 Years of Limited Expansion
Juliana MARTINEZ FRANZONI, University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica
Promises of Ideational Analysis within Global Social Policy
Tuba AGARTAN, Providence College, USA
Global Eco-Social Policy: The Integration of the Ecological, the Economic and the Social in International Organisations’ Policy Proposals
John BERTEN, Bielefeld University, Germany; Alexandra KAASCH, Bielefeld University, Germany; Robin SCHULZE WALTRUP, Germany