Keynote Speakers
Wednesday 2 September: Keynote panel
Civil Society and the Future of Social Welfare panel: Reimagining Participation, Equity, and Policy in a Changing World
In the face of growing social inequality, political polarisation, and economic precarity, civic society has emerged as a vital force in shaping social welfare and public policy. From grassroots activism to institutional advocacy, civil society actors play a critical role in coproducing, delivering and contesting welfare services.
Birmingham, with its rich history of civic engagement and partnership with diverse communities, offers a compelling setting to explore these dynamics, with a long history of philanthropic activity associated with the Cadbury family and associated charities, the Birmingham settlement and its work and the University of Birmingham itself with its claim to be the first civic university to be granted a Royal Charter.
This panel seeks to bring together scholars, practitioners, and community leaders to examine the evolving role of civil society in addressing poverty and promoting social welfare. It will interrogate how civic participation intersects with state policy, market forces, and global trends, and how it can be harnessed to foster inclusive and equitable social outcomes.
Keynote Speakers:
Reza Gholami, University of Birmingham, UK
Reza Gholami is Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Birmingham, UK, and Executive Editor of the journal Educational Review. He is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) and has held several international visiting appointments, including at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (USA) and Monash University (Australia). He earned his PhD in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS, University of London, where he also did his postdoctoral research funded by the AHRC.Professor Gholami’s research is internationally recognised and focuses on questions of belongingness, diversity, inter-communal relations, and community engagement in education within the context of ongoing educational disparities affecting racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. His work on questions of migration and diaspora in education is especially highly regarded, alongside his impact-driven international collaborations with formal and non-formal educators to develop innovative educational resources to support local schools and foster intercommunal learning. His most recent project was funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and explored issues of belonging and diversity in primary schools through drama-based pedagogies. He also co-led a Leverhulme Trust funded project examining how young people in England engage with freedom of expression around sensitive issues of race and faith. Professor Gholami is the author of numerous books and articles in his field, including the monographs "Knowledges that Destroy" and "Secularism and Identity" and the co-edited volume "Education and Extremisms: Re-Thinking Liberal Pedagogies in the Contemporary World". He also regularly appears or is cited in national and international media.
Sophie Wilson, Birmingham Voluntary Services Council, UK
Sophie is the founding Director of Research at BVSC, establishing the research directorate in 2019. She has over 25 years’ experience working in the voluntary and community sector, including senior leadership roles and a six-year tenure as Chief Operating Officer of a national criminal justice charity. BVSC is the infrastructure support organisation providing support to the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector in Birmingham. Our vision is a Birmingham in which citizens are fully included in co-designing their journey to a better, stronger future. Our mission is to achieve this by supporting and advocating for a strong and vibrant voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector. Sophie leads the strategic development of BVSC Research, including the establishment of the Birch Network and the Community Hub for Engagement in Research Practice (CHERP). She has overseen more than 120 research and evaluation projects across Birmingham since the directorate was created. Sophie holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Birmingham and is currently finalising her doctoral research with the Institute for Community Research & Development at the University of Wolverhampton. Her research focused on the role of Peer Support Workers within frontline Voluntary & Community Sector services supporting people experiencing multiple disadvantage.
Further speakers tbc
Thursday 3 September: Keynote panel
The global social policy implications of and for high-income countries
The panel session explores how Global North countries (which encompass countries with historically strong social welfare states in Europe and North America) can be better integrated into Global Social Policy scholarship and debates. As military spending goes up and equality, diversity and inclusion safeguards come down in some countries, the divide between North and South welfare systems is becoming blurred. Indeed, wealthy countries also now face their fair share of social welfare challenges in the shape of rising inequality and poverty, health disparities, educational inequality and environmental degradation. These challenges also raise important questions for the global leadership role of wealthy countries. Indeed, SDG 17 reminds us that high-income countries are expected to meet expectations in financing development, sharing knowledge and technology and supporting capacity-building in lower-income nations. How is this context evolving and how can countries continue to effectively address poverty and social welfare challenges at home and abroad?
Keynote Speakers:
Professor Kate Bedford, University of Birmingham, UK
David Gordon, University of Bristol, UK
Dr David Gordon is Professor of Social Justice and the Director of the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research at the University of Bristol. Professor Gordon was a member of the UN Expert Group on Poverty Statistics (Rio Group) and worked with UNICEF on its first ever Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities, providing scientific advice to UNICEF offices in over 50 countries. He led the Poverty and Social Exclusion in the United Kingdom project, which was the largest project of its kind in UK history. In 2018, the European Union adopted its first measures of child deprivation based upon the work of Professor Gordon and his colleagues. He is a member of the Child Poverty Strategy Analytical Expert Group, which advises the UK Government on its child poverty strategy. In 2006 and 2007, he was given the tremendous honour of addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations about child and youth poverty. In 2009, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA) and in 2018, he had the honour of being elected as a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) for his work on poverty research.
Professor Ruth Patrick, University of Glasgow, UK
Friday 4 September: Keynote panel
Global south expansion of social policy practice and scholarship
This focuses on the expansion of social policies in the Global South. It explores the need for greater interdisciplinarity and de-colonised study of social policy as it intersects with a wide range of public and civil society actors. Ever since the East Asia financial crisis in 1997, major developments in social assistance provision and targeted cash transfer programmes have gone hand in hand with growing interest on social protection by sister subject areas like International Development. Social policies are studied as allied frameworks and instruments in the context of a multi-dimensional understanding of human and social development. The expansion of social protection is evident in low- and middle-income countries, including countries traditionally reliant on foreign aid to address issues of poverty and conflict. Indeed, social protection is increasingly used as a tool of political stability, social investment, and conflict prevention, though more research is needed to better equip the policy and practice arenas in the mobilisation of social welfare services for equity, peace and security outcomes.
Both the above keynote sessions will be underpinned by a cross-cutting theme of how global social policy provides potential frameworks for cooperation and shared responsibility among nations and organizations, such as in response to pandemics, climate change, migration, and economic instability – which require coordinated international responses. As part of this approach, the sessions will incorporate discussion of the role of global institutions (like the UN, WHO, ILO, and World Bank) in setting norms, providing aid, and facilitating collaboration on social development goals. Issues that have animated mainstream social policy debates such as the rights and duties of citizens, the relative importance of the state in maintaining standards versus the regulation of the private sector, the financing of social welfare programmes are therefore reinforced and magnified at the global level and will inform the two thematic session.
Keynote Speakers:
Professor Armando Barrientos, University of Manchester, UK
Armando Barrientos is Professor Emeritus of Poverty and Social Justice at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester in the UK. His research interests focus on the linkages existing between welfare programmes and labour markets in developing countries, and on policies addressing poverty, vulnerability, and population ageing. His work has been published widely, including articles in World Development, Global Social Policy, International Journal of Social Welfare and Journal of Development Studies. His most recent books are ‘Social Assistance in Developing Countries’ (2013, Cambridge University Press) and ‘Social Protection in Latin America. Causality, Stratification and Outcomes’ (2024, Palgrave Macmillan).
Professor Shireen Hassim, Carleton University, Canada
As part of the organisation of this conference, The University of Birmingham's Event Management Team is collecting income via registration fees and sponsorships on behalf of the RC19 Committee.