This internal workshop of project area B serves to ensure the exchange of information between the case study centred projects and to apply and further develop the theoretical concepts of causal chains and causal mechanisms.

• Governance of the A section
• Overarching conceptual issues of the data collection
• Guidelines and policies for the A section
• Delegation of issues to be decided upon by the Core Group
• Questions raised by the Data Collection group

This internal workshop of project area B serves to ensure the exchange of information between the case study centred projects and to apply and further develop the theoretical concepts of causal chains and causal mechanisms.

• Governance of the A section
• Overarching conceptual issues of the data collection
• Guidelines and policies for the A section
• Delegation of issues to be decided upon by the Core Group
• Questions raised by the Data Collection group

The SFB 1342 presents its work to high school students who are interested in tasking up courses in political or social sciences.

Meeting point at 12:15 p.m.: Political Science information booth in GW 2.  

The event is part of the information day for prospective students at the University of Bremen. 

Philipp Rehm published together with Herbert Kitschelt and Jacob S. Hacker and became known for his argument on risk, risk inequality and the welfare state, an analytical reinterpretation of the very existence of the welfare state.

• Governance of the A section
• Overarching conceptual issues of the data collection
• Guidelines and policies for the A section
• Delegation of issues to be decided upon by the Core Group
• Questions raised by the Data Collection group

This internal workshop of project area B serves to ensure the exchange of information between the case study centred projects and to apply and further develop the theoretical concepts of causal chains and causal mechanisms.

• Governance of the A section
• Overarching conceptual issues of the data collection
• Guidelines and policies for the A section
• Delegation of issues to be decided upon by the Core Group
• Questions raised by the Data Collection group

There will be two workshops running in parallel (one for project area A, and one for project area B) roughly until 4 pm, followed by a lecture addressing all CRC members.

Details on the workshops, lecture as well as the exact schedule and venues will follow in due time.

Recent theoretical and methodological developments in the social sciences converge into the approach of "mechanism-based explanation". Originating from different disciplines such as analytical sociology, political sociology, comparative historical analysis and qualitative research in political science, mechanism-based approaches stress that phenomena cannot fully be explained by correlations between variables: Causal mechanisms are the "cogs and wheels" that scholars come across when opening the "black box" of correlations.

Despite the expanding literature on this topic, two deficits have not been resolved so far:

1. There is no convincing compilation of mechanisms that drive social and political processes. Previous proposals for a comprehensive list of mechanisms collect elements of very different scales and levels. There is no shared understanding on what level (micro, meso, macro) mechanisms should be allocated and what elements a mechanism should have to count as a mechanism.
2. There is also a lack of systematic applications of mechanism-based approaches to an entire policy field. So far, mechanism-based approaches have primarily been used in single case studies or comparative case studies with a limited scope and range. Adopting a mechanism-based approach for studying the transnational dynamics of an entire policy field might be a decisive test for the fruitfulness of mechanism-based approaches.

This conference aims to stimulate discussion on the characteristics of causal mechanisms, and to establish a closer link between these concepts and the study of social policy dynamics.

Confirmed speakers so far:
Renate Mayntz (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies)
James Mahoney (Northwestern University)
Peter Starke (University of Southern Denmark)

Download: Call for Papers

Call for Papers

For a combined, three-day event we invite proposals for papers on "International Knowledge Transfer in Social Policy: The Case of the Post-Soviet Region". The event takes place from 7-9 November 2019 in Bremen (Germany).

It begins with a two-day conference on "Causal Mechanisms in the Analysis of Social Policy Dynamics" in the House of Science in Bremen. Confirmed keynote speakers are: Renate Mayntz (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies), James Mahoney (Northwestern University), and Peter Starke (University of Southern Denmark).

On the third day there will be a workshop on "International knowledge transfer in social policy: The case of the post-Soviet region". Participants selected from this call are invited to join the conference and to present their papers at the third-day workshop, which takes place at the Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen on 9 November 2019. It intends to complement the conference on causal mechanisms with the discussion of research on dynamics of international knowledge transfer in social policy in the post-Soviet region. Special emphasis is made on the policy fields of basic income security (alleviating poverty), health care and education.

The workshop aims to bring together approaches from political science, sociology and other relevant academic disciplines to get a more comprehensive picture of the influence of social policy concepts originating in the OECD world on reform processes in the post-Soviet region and of the role that international actors play in this knowledge transfer. The focus of invited papers should always be on the international knowledge transfer and on the domestic evaluation of these social policy concepts.

Deadline for proposals: 30 April 201

Deadline for the submission of paper proposals is 30 April 2019. In addition to a 300 word abstract, please include a brief biographical statement in your submission. Selected paper-givers will be invited by 31 May 2019. Full papers will be due 15 September 2019.

The workshop will involve around 15 scholars; early-career researchers are especially encouraged to apply. Travel expenses and accommodation costs of invited participants will be covered by the organiser. For further information on our research group, visit our website.

We plan to publish selected workshop papers in a special issue of Global Social Policy.

Paper proposals and any questions should be addressed to:
Dr Andreas Heinrich (heinrich@uni-bremen.de)