Research School - Welfare State and Diversity

Short description of the Research School – Welfare State and Diversity

The national Research School – Welfare State and Diversity is a cooperation between Aalborg University, Roskilde University and research environments represented by The Danish National Institute of Social Research (SFI) and Centre for Alternative Social Analysis ( CASA). The Research School has existed since 2003, and the daily management of the school is presently at Roskilde University. Currently 50 phD students are enrolled and 3-6 PhD courses are offered every year on overall Research design, specific methodological issues and thematically oriented courses.

The Research School is thematically anchored in research concerning welfare and the welfare state, which is characterised as the meeting place for a wide range of diverse theoretical approaches and thematic disciplines. In Denmark (and the Nordic region), research concerning welfare and the welfare state has primarily been couched in terms of the discussion of equality and inequality as pertains to the distribution of the material, cultural and social goods in society. While the focus on the distribution of welfare that is characteristic of this classic discussion remains relevant, it must be supplemented with new understandings. A central challenge facing the welfare state in late modernity is that various factions in the population (women, ethnic minorities, etc.) are increasingly insisting on their right to autonomy and diversity in the welfare state. These new developments provide occasion to raise the following questions: How much diversity is there room for in the welfare state? What are the positive and negative consequences of increased diversity in the welfare state? As such, the thematic framework Welfare state and diversity – problem or challenge will simultaneously serve to unite the focus and create dynamic in the Graduate Research School’s work. Taking departure in the concept of diversity, we will attempt to qualify the scientific discussions concerning the challenges, dynamics and possible paths for development for the welfare state and welfare society.  

For further information about the Research School.

The Research School has been funded by Forskeruddannelsesrådet (FUR)

Secretariat:

Network Manager: Professor Ann-Dorte Christensen Professor, Ph.d. mailto:adc@socsci.aau.dk Aalborg Universitet
Network Secretary: Kirsten Buhl Mathiesen
Secretary, kbm@socsci.aau.dk, tlf:  99 40 81 32