Wednesday 7 October 2009 17.30

Venue: Manor Road Social Sciences Building Lecture Hall

Organised by The Foundation for Law, Justice and Society in conjunction with Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford

Speaker: Professor Frank Castles (Edinburgh University )

This lecture asks how unexpected emergencies – the ‘Black Swans’ of war, economic depression, terrorist incidents and environmental catastrophes – can be used to reform welfare institutions which have arguably become as resistant to changes in direction as 'elephants on the move'.

Despite 20th Century precedents of emergencies stimulating welfare reform, recent events such as Hurricane Katrina, the economic crisis, swine flu, and impending environmental catastrophes have failed to lead to welfare state development of the kind currently being attempted by President Obama with his proposal for healthcare reform.

The lecture speculates on why that might be, and concludes by examining the implications for our understanding of the impact of possible future terrorist or environmental emergencies.

Ticketed event.

To book tickets, register online, or contact Phil Dines: phil.dines@fljs.org or leave a message at 01865 284433.

For more information please see the event website

For more information on this event, please contact: Phil Dines