Poverty and Welfare in Contemporary Russia

3 June 2015 - 4 June 2015

Time: 10:00am - 3:00pm
Venue: Mile End Campus, Bancroft Road Teaching Rooms, Room 3.01,

Day One: 3 June 2015

10.00:  Session One
- Welcome: Eleanor Bindman (QMUL) and Adam Fagan (head of the School of Politics and IR, QMUL)
- Svetlana Biryukova (HSE Moscow): Poverty related statistics and dynamics in Post-Soviet Russia
- Meri Kulmala and Andrey Starodubtsev (Aleksanteri Institute): Priority Setting and Implementation in Russian Social Policy
- Zhanna Chernova (HSE St Petersburg): tbc

11.40-12.00: Coffee Break

12.00: Session Two
- Ann-Mari Sätre (Uppsala University): Policies against poverty in Russia – a female responsibility
- Alla Varyzgina (Nizhniy Novgorod State University): Families' attitude towards social services agencies'  social/financial  support
- Liya Kalinnikova (Uppsala University): Crucial factors of poverty in families with children with developmental disorders

1.30: Lunch

2.30: Session Three
- Michael Rasell (University of Lincoln): Moral panic, discourse and campaigns to reform residential care for disabled children in Russia
- Eleanor Bindman (QMUL): socially oriented NGOs, civil society and the state in Russia
Ulla Pape (Radboud University Nijmegen): Control or Support? Government-Nonprofit Relations in Russia’s Regions

4pm: Coffee Break

4.15: Session Four: Discussion on present trends in poverty and social policy after the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis and sanctions

5.15: End of Day One

7pm: Conference dinner – Verdi’s Restaurant, 237 Mile End Road, EC1 4AA

Day Two: 4 June 2015

10.00: Session Five
- Nina Ivashinenko (Nizhniy Novgorod State University): Welfare reform in Russia: the role of NGOs in providing social services
- Alekandr Soldatkin (Nizhniy Novgorod State University): Street-level bureaucracy practices in dealing with quality-of-life issues in smaller cities of Russia

11.00: Coffee Break

11.15: Session Six
- Leo Granberg (Aleksanteri Insitute): Andrew Sayer’s Moral economy approach in analysing the Russian welfare system
- Elena Bogdanova (Centre for Independent Social Research, St Petersburg) (via Skype): Social orphanhood in Russia

12.15: Lunch

1.30: Session Seven - Research agenda
- Meri Kulmala: foster care plan and other developments (30 mins)
- Leo Granberg and Ann-Mari Sätre: The role of local authorities and small firms in contribution to economic and social development in selected Russian regions (30 mins)

Discussion/research questions arising from present developments

3pm: End of Workshop