Time: 12pm - 2pm
Venue: James Watson West 0.322 and 0.323

Admission is free and lunch will be provided from 12-12.30pm

A seminar by Keith Pringle, Professor in Sociology, Uppsala University, Sweden

For policy-makers, welfare practitioners and welfare researchers in many countries, Sweden still represents some form of ‘gold standard’ in terms of welfare achievement. Partly because of this glowing reputation, policy makers often look to Sweden for inspiration for all aspects of welfare.

However, a closer comparative examination of Sweden with other countries – not least the UK – reveals that the picture is far more complicated than the one widely accepted.

In a series of publications based on a number of research projects over the last ten years, Keith Pringle suggested that whereas Sweden may well have a relatively good welfare record when it comes to issues associated with work (in the home and in the market place) and poverty, its profile is far more problematic when it comes to welfare issues associated with bodily integrity – such as violence to women; sexual violence to children; racism; disablism; heterosexism/heteronormativity; ageism.

Keith will discuss why this double portrait of Swedish welfare exists and will suggest that if we are really interested in devising a welfare system that is truly empowering for service users then we need one that combines the best features of the Swedish and UK models.

Keith Pringle is Professor in Sociology with a specialism in social work at Uppsala University, Sweden, Research Professor in Social Work and Social Policy, London Metropolitan University, UK and Adjungeret Professor, Aalborg University, Denmark. He co-ordinated the EU Framework 5 Research Network 'The Social Problem of Men'.

Please reserve your place by contacting shssw@port.ac.uk or T: 023 9284 4440.