Negotiate at the 2016 Annual ESPAnet Conference – keeping the debate alive!

A picture of the ESPAnet conference pamphlet

words by Margherita Bussi

Last week Jaqueline O’Reilly and Margherita Bussi from University of Brighton attended the ESPAnet 2016 Annual Conference in Rotterdam. Together with Janine Leschke from the Copenhagen Business School, they organised a panel session titled “Young People, Welfare Systems and Labour Markets in Crisis – Continuity or Change?”. The panel provided an excellent occasion for NEGOTIATE to join forces with the “Strategic Transitions for Youth Labour in Europe” (STYLE) project (style-research.eu), following an aim to stimulate the debate on the challenges that young people face in their transitions into the labour market and how policies are addressing them.

Eight papers from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds were presented. Among others: the evolution of youth policy in the UK; discussed the successful story of locally developed project in the Netherlands; the (lack) of opportunities for young migrants in the German and UK labour markets. Moreover, contributions from Norway and Finland investigated the tensions between front-line agents’ practices and the bureaucratic structure in the implementation of policies targeting young people.

Set in the broader context of the ESPAnet Conference theme: “Re-inventing the welfare state? Pathways to sustainability, equality and inclusion in European welfare states”, the NEGOTIATE + STYLE panel contributed to keeping the attention high on the role of Welfare States for young people.