Deadline for Abstracts and Paper Presentations

1. January 2007

Please send your abstract to Benjamin Ewert, Gießen University by e-mail: Benjamin.Ewert@sowi.uni-giessen.de
Full papers of 5,000-10,000 words should be submitted by 1. March 2007

About the workshop

The goal of this work package is to explore the role of social service, especially when being part of the Third Sector, from various perspectives: service delivery, advocacy, social participation and co-operation. The unifying key word for holding these different aspects together will be ‘civic elements’. Key questions to be taken up will be: (1.) How to conceptionalize the notion of civic services as a complex point of reference? (2) What are the main streams of change in this respect? (3) Are there new forms of service organisation that may strengthen civic characteristics (hybrids, cooperative governance etc.)? (4) What about the interrelation between the civic character of social services and changes in the balance of politics and markets? All the work will be done in close cooperation with Paul Dekker and Taco Brandsen from the CINEFOGO network

The key questions of the scientific seminar will be as follows:

1. How can civic elements, “civicness” and citizenship – especially in the field of social services – be conceptualized?
2. What are the changing faces of civicness articulated in this context?
3. How has the relative impact of such civic elements changed, especially with regard to other elements such as efficiency, professionalism, management and consumerism?
4. What is the relation between civic, market and state elements?
5. Are there new forms of service production and governance that might be promising examples for anchoring civic elements in a changing landscape of social services?

15 papers are intended.

Target Group

The scientific seminar will be based on a limited number of papers of invited colleagues which are already fixed. There is however the possibility of adding own papers to the total pool of papers and/or to participate simply.

Costs

The travel and accommodation costs of participants as paper-givers will be reimbursed. The costs from members of the CINEFOGO Network of Excellence will be normaly covered by each individual participant from CINEFOGO funds. 

Responsible institutions

The workshop is a cooperation project between the Social and Cultural Planning Office, Den Haag, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen and the Tilburg School of Politics and Public Administration.