ESPANET 2025

ESPANET

Annual Conference 2025

University of Milan, 27th-29th August 2025

257
Days
22
Hours
23
Minutes
31
Seconds

The call for streams is now open

submit you stream proposal here

 

The theme of the conference

The Welfare State in the 21st Century.

On the Verge of a New Era or Back to Basics?

In the 21st century, advanced welfare states are facing global short-term, intense and acute challenges – the financial and economic crises, the pandemic and the inflation crisis more recently – combined with formidable long-term, slow-moving transformations – accelerated population ageing, economic stagnation, changing family, labour market and social structures – and the impending systemic “imperatives” of both the digital and the green transitions. The welfare state scholarship has emphasized both the peculiarity and the novelty of such “polycrisis” scenario. Some of the challenges outlined above are undoubtedly new: especially those stemming from the “double transition”, which are likely to prompt novel adaptational pressures for welfare state architectures and create new social cleavages and political conflicts in the welfare arena.

Other developments suggest, however, the resurgence of factors and dynamics that extensively contributed shaping welfare states over the long 20th century. The revival of nationalistic stances, re-activating both the “us” (nationals) versus “them” (non-nationals) line of conflict in domestic politics, and the “guns” versus “butter” trade off as a consequence of increased aggressiveness in the international arena. The increased social and welfare polarization across the European Union. The growing share of impoverished and insecure workers – the “precariat” – recalling the key role of social groups, their organizations and ideologies in the evolution of advanced welfare states. Finally, the possible erosion, or systematic reshuffling, of globalization dynamics affecting global value chains.

Is the welfare state truly on the verge of a new era, or do nations, states and classes continue to play a key role in welfare state development? The 23rd ESPAnet Annual Conference aims to address this question by exploring to what extent we need to change our analytical lenses to effectively capture the challenges, policy solutions and drivers of change in social and employment policies across European countries and beyond.

 

 

The theme of the conference

The Welfare State in the 21st Century.

On the Verge of a New Era or Back to Basics?

In the 21st century, advanced welfare states are facing global short-term, intense and acute challenges – the financial and economic crises, the pandemic and the inflation crisis more recently – combined with formidable long-term, slow-moving transformations – accelerated population ageing, economic stagnation, changing family, labour market and social structures – and the impending systemic “imperatives” of both the digital and the green transitions. The welfare state scholarship has emphasized both the peculiarity and the novelty of such “polycrisis” scenario. Some of the challenges outlined above are undoubtedly new: especially those stemming from the “double transition”, which are likely to prompt novel adaptational pressures for welfare state architectures and create new social cleavages and political conflicts in the welfare arena.

Other developments suggest, however, the resurgence of factors and dynamics that extensively contributed shaping welfare states over the long 20th century. The revival of nationalistic stances, re-activating both the “us” (nationals) versus “them” (non-nationals) line of conflict in domestic politics, and the “guns” versus “butter” trade off as a consequence of increased aggressiveness in the international arena. The increased social and welfare polarization across the European Union. The growing share of impoverished and insecure workers – the “precariat” – recalling the key role of social groups, their organizations and ideologies in the evolution of advanced welfare states. Finally, the possible erosion, or systematic reshuffling, of globalization dynamics affecting global value chains.

Is the welfare state truly on the verge of a new era, or do nations, states and classes continue to play a key role in welfare state development? The 23rd ESPAnet Annual Conference aims to address this question by exploring to what extent we need to change our analytical lenses to effectively capture the challenges, policy solutions and drivers of change in social and employment policies across European countries and beyond.