Working Group 2 will meet at Ljubljana, Slovenia.

WG2: At the Nexus between Voluntary Action and Public Policies: Rethink Care from the European Periphery

Organised by Fabio Giomi (CNRS, CETOBaC, Paris) and Isidora Grubački (CEU Budapest and INZ Ljubljana) this workshop gathers historians having two features in common; First, currently doing research in the “State-voluntary association ecosystem” in the domain of care, broadly intended; Second, being interested in Southeastern European societies (XIX-XXI centuries). Instead of presenting in extenso their empirical findings, the participants are invited to focus on the methodological and theoretical issues structuring their research endeavour. What kind of questions guide your research? Which are the concepts used to explore the grey zone between state and voluntary action? What methodological dilemmas did you have to face in the different phases of your research, from archive exploration to writing process? The idea is to create an informal space of reflection and exchange on our research practices.

The expected output of this workshop will be the publication of a collection of research notes in a peer-reviewed journal, in which different scholars showcase their own way of rethinking the nexus between voluntary action and public policies. The goal is to demonstrate how Southeastern Europe, a segment of the continent usually considered peripheral both in the scholarships of civil society and welfare, can be a precious observation point in order to renew current research on care.

See here the preliminary program :