Comment l'avenir de l’État social est-il redéfini aujourd’hui en Europe?
Le projet « Prototyping Welfare in Europe: Experiments in State and Society » (Prototyper l'État social : Expérimentations entre État et sociéte en Europe)explore comment l'État social est réimaginé et restructuré face une précarité croissante dans quatre villes européennes. Qui prend le relais lorsque les pourvoyeurs traditionnels d'aide sociale ne parviennent plus à répondre aux besoins urgents des personnes démunies ? Quels avenirs se dessinent dans les programmes qui se proposent de repenser l’aide sociale ?
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Shifting States: EASA Anthropologies of the State Network Conference
From 22 to 24 October 2025, the EASA Network on Anthropologies of the State takes place at the UvA. The conference Shifting States will convene to examine shifting forms of state power and governance amid ongoing global crises. The conference explores how conflicts, migration restrictions, economic inequality, and technological developments such as artificial intelligence generate new tensions between citizens and state institutions. The keynote speaker is Alice von Bieberstein.
En savoir plusIntermediate bodies: mothers, neighbourhoods and the elastic welfare state in France
On 4 November Alice Daquin will give a talk titled Intermediate Bodies: Mothers, Neighbourhoods and the Elastic Welfare State in France. In this lecture, she will explore how everyday actors such as mothers and local communities interact with and reshape state welfare structures, revealing the flexible, often invisible layers through which care, responsibility, and governance are negotiated in contemporary France.
En savoir plusPolyphonic Welfare: Challenging Hierarches in a Norwegian Social Entrepreneurship Incubator
Janet Connor's lecture "Polyphonic Welfare" challenges hierarches in a Norwegian social entrepreneurship incubator. This lecture is part of the Welfare Futures Seminar series and takes place on October 7, 2025.
En savoir plusAnouk de Koning delivers her inaugural lecture on the ‘Intimate State’
On June 6, 2025, anthropologist Anouk de Koning delivered her inaugural lecture at the University of Amsterdam, titled The Intimate State: Remaking Political Landscapes in the Netherlands. In her lecture, she explored how the Dutch welfare state has, since 2015, been transformed into an "intimate state"—a seemingly human, close, and participatory government that carries out its social responsibilities through neighborhood teams and collaborations with citizens.
En savoir plus'Advocacy by and for refugees in Rotterdam' door Lieke van der Veer
Lieke van der Veer’s lecture “Advocacy by and for refugees in Rotterdam” explores how refugee-led initiatives in Rotterdam navigate the tension between local engagement and bureaucratic demands. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, Van der Veer shows how ‘bridge-builders’ with a migration background operate within a landscape shaped by social inequality, policy jargon, and racial power dynamics. The lecture takes place on 16 September 2025 and is part of the Welfare Futures Seminar series
En savoir plus“Revisiting ‘Universality’ and ‘Inclusivity’ by Eline Westra
Eline Westra's lecture "Revisiting 'Universality' and 'Inclusivity': on the Racial and Colonial Dimensions of Dutch Social Policy" examines the racial and colonial dimensions of social policy in the Netherlands. This lecture is part of the Welfare Futures Seminar series and takes place on May 6, 2025.
En savoir plusWelfare future seminar by Ruth Prince: Pressure, precarity and the limits of solidarity
In the next Welfare Future Seminar, Ruth Prince will talk about understanding support systems in Kenya and formal and informal protection networks in her talk 'Pressure, precarity and the limits of solidarity: Navigating relations between formal and informal forms of social protection amidst class closure in Kenya.' This seminar takes place on the 7th of April in Amsterdam.
En savoir plusBureaucratic Feelings by Ed Kiely: upcoming Welfare Futures Seminar
Ed Kiely will present at our upcoming Welfare Futures seminar. On March 4th, they will talk about "Bureaucratic Feelings: Knowledge production, affective regulation and the administration of austerity." In this talk Kiely investigates the role of affect in the planning and delivery of public services.
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