Languages of Welfare and Justice: Legal Projects for Social Change

This workshop brought together people from across the White Rose Consortium to begin to build an interdisciplinary network on the theme of law & social justice.

Abstract

This workshop brought together people from across the White Rose Consortium to begin to build an interdisciplinary network on the theme of law & social justice. The day explored possible connections through exploring a number of key questions: What are the areas of welfare and social injustice that most need addressing to make societies fairer and more equitable? What theoretical and practical approaches are best placed to address entrenched inequalities and promote improved welfare and social justice? What is the potential for using and combining the various academic disciplines to further social justice projects? What are the limitations? And if there are limitations, what other approaches or combinations might assist in alleviating inequalities?

Getting here

LG.06, The Liberty Building
School of Law
Liberty Building
University of Leeds
LS2 9JT

(Please use postcode LS6 1AN for Sat Nav's)

The Liberty Building is number 16 on the campus map.

9.00-9.30         Registration and refreshments

9.30-9.45         Welcome and Introductions

                       Professor Michael Thomson and Dr Julie Wallbank (School of Law, University of Leeds)

9.45-10.15       Participant introductions

10.15-11.15     Plenary- Law and social injustice- Professor Jonathan Herring, Professor of Law (Exeter College, University of Oxford)

11.15-11.30     Refreshments

11:30-12-30     Theorising subjects

‘Making sense of vulnerability’ Dr Kate Brown, Lecturer in Social Policy and Crime, Social Policy and Social Work, (University of York)

‘Jamie's School Dinners: Welfare, wellbeing and the (re)production of the healthy subject’, Dr Jo Pike, Lecturer in Childhood Studies, (School of Education, University of Leeds)

‘A cartographic approach to legal embodiment’ Chris Dietz, doctoral researcher, (School of Law, University of Leeds)

12.30-1.30       Lunch 

1.30-2.15         Inequalities and rights           

‘The Human Costs of Inequality: Mechanisms for Change’, Professor Kate Pickett,  Professor of Inequalities in Health, (School of Health Sciences, University of York)

‘The Council, The Soup Kitchen, and the Public Sector Equality Duty: R (Waltham Forest LBC) v Christian Kitchen, Professor Caroline Hunter, Professor of Law, (University of York)

2.15-3.15         Standards and aspirations                 

‘The structural violence of HIV: gender social justice in Malawi’, Dr Emma-Louise Anderson, Lecturer in International Development, (School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds)                   

‘Poverty, social exclusion, and the question of social justice’, Professor Tracy Shildrick, Professor of Sociology and Social Policy, (School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds)

‘Disability Law and Social Justice’, Professor Anna Lawson,  Professor of Law, (School of Law, University of Leeds)

3.15-3.45         Refreshments

3.45-5.30         Round Table

The round table will provide an open forum in which to consider the following questions:

• What are the areas of welfare and social injustice that most need addressing to make societies fairer and more equitable and how can law be used most effectively in such efforts?
• What theoretical and practical approaches are best placed to address entrenched inequalities and promote improved welfare and social justice?
• What is the potential for using and combining the various academic disciplines to further social justice projects? What are the limitations?
• If there are limitations, what other approaches or combinations might assist in alleviating inequalities?

5.30                 Drinks reception

Professor Jonathan Herring's plenary speech is available to download.

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