archive: 2010
The photo shows Peter Herrmann while visiting the
Japanese Garden of the university . The University is located on the land of the Giabal and Jarowair people of Toowoomba, the traditional custodians of the lands.
July 14th, 2010
Migrants Security
Citizenship and Rights - Inextricably Interwoven or Potentially Exclusive?
Australia - the Australian Multicultural Advisory Council claiming that it is one of the most diverse and multicultural societies. Surely a reason to be proud off if the claim is justified - and surely a reason to be alert, asking if this is in actual fact the case but also by looking at underlying concepts in such debates.
The national symposium MIGRANT SECURITY 2010: Citizenship and social inclusion in a transnational era is hosted by the Public Memory Research Centre. Faculty of Arts at The University of Southern Queensland, scheduled for the 15-16 July 2010 on the land of the Giabal and Jarowair. Convenors are Dr Robert Mason Dr Anna Hayes.
Peter Herrmann will have the opportunity to contribute to the event - and surely will gain by learning by getting involved in debates in a non-european setting.
He will be charing a session on Social Cohesion and the State
He will give also a presentation in a session chaired by Hurriyet Babacan (see for more info here) from the Cairns Institute.
In his presentation on Making Sense of (Personal) History by Experiencing the Presence he will raise questions around universal rights and the quest of recognising diversity.
July 12th, 2010
Social Quality - A Brief and Cursory Introduction
Going back to a conference presentation, a video on Social Quality can now be accessed on youtube. The presentation is part of a presentation which had been geared to the topic of civil society, co-presented with Wendy Earles - for technical reasons it is split into two parts.
Part One can be a access here;
July 9th, 2010
CIVIL SOCIETY - SMALL STEPS FORWARD, AND NEVER BACK?
A social quality approach as (re)integration of civil society, the market and the state
Civil society movements, non-governmental organisations, non-profit sector - there are many different names, combinations of elements, all naming very different entities; and also being concerned with something all of them have in common: bringing people together who work in different capacities and with different ideas on soci(et)al issues "within from outside": these people and their organisations are obviously part of the societies and nevertheless they are engaging outside of the main institutional frameworks of the commodified and commodifying system and outside of the system of government.
And still, they are in at least two ways heavily involved: on one hand it is about striving for influence; and on the other hand it is about being drawn into the various mechanisms of markets and administrations.
Against this background a rather common complain is: "We loose our identity, we are failing by success, as the acknowledgement of our work also means the need to comply with the rules of the game - and many of them are rules we actually want to overcome."
So what?
Many of the relevant issues will be discussed during the ISTR-conference in Istanbul,
Peter Herrmann, University of Eastern Finland will co-present with Wendy Earles, Cairns Institute at the Jams Cook University, Australia, some considerations on the topic
A social quality approach as (re)integration of civil society, the market and the state
It is part of the session titled "Approaches on Civil Society Actors"
Part of the presentation can be visited here. (long download time)
June 18th, 2010
Crisis - Social Quality - Social Policy
The current severe economic crisis and for instance how it effects Greece and the measures searched for to settle the situation clearly show another time the need for rethinking social policy, emphasising the need for rethinking social policy not in terms of an improved tool to be complementing economic policies but as a fundamental shift in the orientation. The Working Paper on Social Quality - Social Policy and Beyond argues in this direction and is now as Working Paper 22 available in Russian language on the working paper subsite at this website.
See here for a more elaborated version in English language
For the working paper series click here.
June 14th, 2010
Old Challenges, revisited: Exclusion
One of the permanent and central challenges of societal development is the question of exclusion and inclusion. The new William-Thompson working paper 21 revisits an important aspect by looking at Empowerment - Processing the Processed. The document had been elaborated with and is an extended version of a contribution that will be published in the forthcoming book of the European Foundation on Social Quality.
June 12th, 2010
Book Launch Global Crossroads in Social Welfare
Emergent Issues, Debates and Innovations across the Globe in Hong Kong
In a global perspective Social Work and Social Development gain a rather distinct notion as it is not possible anymore to maintain the commonly accepted standards and quarrels as they are known from the national perspectives. New approaches have to be developed not only and possibly not primarily by simple extensions and enhancement of existing rights. Rather, entirely different issues arise. I many cases this means as well that new opportunities for empowerment and new issues gain importance. It is especially about questions as
* the meaning and importance of economic issues - including not least the quest for a redefinition of the economic itself,
* the work on the links between different societal issues, not least close link between social development and environment
* the importance of social movements and the redefinition of empowerment strategies.
All this means not least that much can be learned by the so-called developed countries from those who are considered as in need of development. The truth probably is that we can only together understand what global development should be about.
During the 2010 Joint World Conference on Social Work and Social Development (organised by ICSW, IASSW and IFSW - June 10th - 14th, 2010) the book "Global Crossroads in Social Welfare. Emergent Issues, Debates and Innovations across the Globe", edited by Elieth P. Eyébiyi (Benin), Peter Herrmann (Ireland/Finland/Hungary), Veronica Sheen (Australia) had been launched on the 12th of June, very much dealing with developments that had been pointed on in the short note above.
(The photo shows Elieth during the presentation in Honk Kong)
It had been published as volume XI of the series "Studies in Comparative Social Pedagogies and International Social Work and Social Policy" conditions on request - please, contact for details the publisher: order [at] eh-verlag.de
June 7th, 2010
Science, Research and Human Rights
Science and research – like politics – faces the challenge of disappearing in the clouds of illegitimate activities, working in administrative towers and on topics that are – in the better case – detached from people’s every day’s life and needs or – in the worse case – against their interests.
Sure, academic institutions increasingly recognise the challenge and – for instance – communicating science is an issue in question. But the more importantly (social) science needs a new self-understanding that actually takes as point of departure people’s needs and understanding of where and how they live. And furthermore, research should not only reach out but perform in an activating and participative way.
Thanks to European Union project support a project could be started – and the UCC-Science Shop ( Members Catherine O’Mahony, Peter Herrmann, Kenneth Burns, Eluska Fernandez, Feilim O’hAdhmaill, Claire Dorrity) is part of this part of this FP7 program venture.
Last weekend the kick-off meeting took place in Groningen and Kenneth and Eluska representing the Cork-group.
For one of the work packages, Peter brought in some inspiration into the project he brought back from a visit to Austria: Human Rights on the local level and the elaboration of a local Human Rights reports. The work package will focus on issues of the Travelling community in Cork. Close cooperation in this WP is foreseen with colleagues from Hungary and Spain. The support of two students in Cork is already confirmed.
See as well the general call for projects.
June 3rd, 2010
Masslosigkeit Internationaler Socialer Arbeit - International Social Work - Lacking Limits and Standards
The latest edition of the FORUM SOZIAL, edited by the Berufsverband Soziale Arbeit (2-2010), focuses with some articles on theory and practice of social work in the light of "Aspects of International Social Work". An article by Peter Herrmann is titled: "Masslosigkeit Internationaler Sozialer Arbeit" ("International Social Work – Lacking Limits and Standards"). The article builds on the premise:
It is not about a moral or natural rights based understanding of the social but we have to develop a systematic framework for its reasoning and understanding.
(Es geht also nicht um eine allgemein moralische, ethische oder naturrechtliche Ableitung des Sozialen, sondern darum, einen systema- tischen Begründungs- und Verstehenszusammenhang zu entwickeln.) [page 12]
May 30th, 2010
The Irish Asia Strategy and Its China Relations
The book had been published by Rozenberg Publisher, Amsterdam and is part of the European Diversity Series which is edited by Peter Herrmann.
The new publication had been just in time finished to be launched on the 27th of May by Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Martin during the EXPO which is now taking place in Shanghai.
May 28th, 2010
Overcoming Segmentation of Public Administration
Public Administration in all areas is to a large extent chaacterised by the segmentation of its dealing with social realities. Standards for public administration are following very much a business model – and even where they are aiming on opening up procedures and increasing accessibility, this is very much proposed as matter of better management, focusing on consumers rather than citizens.
Peter Herrmann took part in the International Conference Public Administration in the XXI Century. Traditions and Innovations, which had been organised in Moscow from the 26th to the 28th of May 2008. He emphasised in his presentation of the Social Quality Approach that any administrative and management strategies have to address the need of overcoming the individualist economic model, by on the one hand ‘re-establishing the social’, on the other hand elevating the social from a state of pure social production as matter of necessities to a higher stage of development.
May 26th, 2010
New Perspectives for Thinking Social Law?
On occasion of his visit to Moscow, Peter Herrmann met Andrey Korotayev, together with whom he editor of the Almanac "History&Mathematics" (see below). An exciting discussion developed around the topic convergence and divergence on the world systems level. Current work by Korotajev sheds new light on the topic: By extrapolation of rates for the largest economies the commonly accepted view that states a further divergence of global economies is actually qualified. Whereas divergence can be confirmed until the late 1960s, we find a shift from then onwards. In short, looking at the most influential countries, we find a tendency to convergence. Important is that these economies, independent of their internal strength make in any case up to 70-80 percent of the world economy. So, observing the new internal developments in a fresh light is hugely important.
Around the same time, we find actually other important developmental shifts, also for instance in demographic terms.
Is it by accident that all this happened around the time of what Wallerstein frequently highlighted as major revolution? In this light it is well worthwhile to extend research on global legal developments - human rights discussions, the development of social law and the like - by taking these economic perspectives closer into consideration. This can link quite appropriately with work already undertaken by Herrmann, part of it published for instance in the book Social Quality - Looking for Global Social Policy.
May 25th, 2010
Almanac History & Mathematics
Peter Herrmann had been appointed as fourth member of the editorial board of the ALMANAC "HISTORY & MATHEMATICS, joining Andrey Korotayev, Leonid Grinin and Arno Tausch.
A text, stating the aim of the Almanac, says in the first edition:
"This almanac initiates a series of edited volumes dedicated to various aspects of the application of mathematical methods to the study of history and society. It comprises articles that apply mathematical methods to the study of various epochs and scales: from deep historical reconstruction to the pressing problems of the modern world. On the other hand, all the articles of this almanac are dedicated to the analysis, periodization, or modeling of global development. It is shown that the mathematical modeling of historical macroprocesses suggests a fresh approach to the periodization issue. The authors study these problems from different perspectives (technological, economic, demographic, sociostructural, cultural-psychological, linguistic). New quantitative insights on the dynamics of contemporary processes are presented. These insights allow the authors to make a number of important forecasts on this basis."
You an read more and download the journal and order a hard copy by clicking the image:
May 23rd, 2010
Finland lectures autumn 2009: outlining welfare economics and social quality
On this webside you can now find on the SIDEWAY (currently bottom of the pages) a series of nine lectures that provide a general introduction into questions of social quality and its meaning in the context of cooperative studies and welfare economics.
The lectures go back to teaching in Finland at the (then - autumn 2009) University of Kuopio, which is now the University of Eastern Finland.
May 21st, 2010
Social Pedagogy for the Entire Lifespan"?
Some time ago the book The Diversity of Social Pedagogy in Europe (edited by Kornbeck, Jacob/Rosendal Jensen, Niels) had been published as part of the series Studies in Comparative Social Pedagogies and International Social Work and Social Policy. Here as PDF some Info - The Diversity of Social Pedagogy in Europe or on the website under volumes.
Currently the editors work on a new book on this topic, the working title being "Social Pedagogy for the Entire Lifespan"?
A contribution by Peter Herrmann will engage with the topic from the social policy perspective, looking on the one hand for the challenges for social policy as shaping social quality rather than answering emergency situations. On the other hand this will means engaging with mainstream classifications of welfare regimes as brought forward for instance by Esping-Andersen.
It is hoped that the first volume of the new work will be published end of the year and give a further boost to the series which is edited by Peter Herrmann with the support of a truly global editorial board.
May 15th, 2010
Greece. The IMF and the E.U.'s Dictate and German Responsibility
May 10th, 2010
From the European to the International Journal of Social Quality
May 7th, 2010
Nomination as fellow at James Cook University in Australia
Peter Herrmann had been granted a fellowship at the Cairns Institute, James Cook University in Australia. The special interest behind the invitation is Herrmann's work as senior advisor to the Foundation on Social Quality, The Hague. The work of the Foundation is in recent years strongly oriented towards urban and metropolitan areas. Notwithstanding the need of pushing this work further, Herrmann wants to investigate the meaning of the social quality approach for the work with indigenous people and in particular the role of the community sector/community development.
May 5th, 2010
New book project is well on the way: "New Princedoms – Critical Remarks on Claimed Alternatives by New Life Worlds"
(Editor: Peter Herrmann; New Princedoms - Critical Remarks on Claimed Alternatives by New Life Worlds (working title); Amsterdam: Rozenberg, forthcoming).
The aim is to bring some issues of more fundamental changes to the debate. Though new governance, corporate social responsibility and empowerment are frequently discuss from different sides, the present work aims on looking at some questions in the context of secular changes. The underlying question is geared towards assessing current developments as matter of a re-feudalisation. The contributions in the planned volume, written by Wendy Earles (Australia), Brigitte Kratzwald (Austria) and Peter Herrmann, are looking still looking predominantly at political questions. However, this compilation is part of a wider research framework that wants to push research more towards the economic contexts. The editor of the volume aims on looking more fundamentally into underlying shifts of the socio-economic system. This should emerge at some stage into more detailed analysis and debates of the changes of accumulation regimes.
Relevant is in this context another book on which the author works on the ground of his ongoing cooperation with the French economist Paul Boccara.
The (working)outline of the present publication project on "New Princedoms – Critical Remarks on Claimed Alternatives by New Life Worlds" is as follows:
Peter Herrmann: Introduction
Peter Herrmann: Organisations and Social Groups – Tertiarisation and Sectorisation in Modern Societies
Wendy Earles: The Third Sector within a Market Paradigm Society
Peter Herrmann: Unbalancing the Economy – Unbalancing the Social
Peter Herrmann: CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility versus Citizens Social Rights Or: On Regaining Political Economy
Brigitte Kratzwald: Precarity and Responsibility - Cornerstones of a New Mode of Governmentality in Western European Societies?
Peter Herrmann: Empowerment – processing the processed
May 2nd, 2010
Rozenberg Quaterly - launch of a new newsletter
April 28th, 2010
New Publication on its way: "Global Crossroads in Social Welfare"
This volume brings together a cross-section of papers presented at the 33rd International Council of Social Welfare (ICSW) conference in Tours, France, in July 2008. The contributions raise important topics offering great insight into the multiplicity of ways that nations and communities are responding to the challenges of globalisation as well as internal demands for greater social justice and equality as well as mechanisms for civil society. The authors are working across disparate national settings which makes it especially interesting by providing very different perspectives and allows as well to look at possible convergences. A main issue is that a global approach to social policy and social development is required that is tailored to local communities. It is as well underlined that limitations on strict “professional” domains can easily do more harm than allowing gain.
April 23rd, 2010
Soziale Passagen
Today Peter Herrmann attended the first meeting of the editorial board of the journal Soziale Passagen. Journal für Empirie und Theorie Sozialer Arbeit. Wissenschaftlicher Publikationsort für disziplin- und professionsbezogene Diskurse (http://www.sozialepassagen.de; founded in 2009) took place, hosted at the Westfaelische Wilhelms Universitaet in Muenster, Germany where two of the editors, namely Karin Boellert and Karin Bock are based.
The interdisciplinary character of the journal had been emphasised by the editors, meaning that the science of social work (Soziale Arbeit - Social Professional Activity) has an own, independent character but is also necessarily open to inspirations from other disciplines of the social sciences and has to strive also for recognition of its own contribution to other disciplines.
It had been said in this context that one section in the journal: "Wiederentdeckt" ("re-covered") deserves special attention. It wants to set a anti pole against the obliviousness of the discipline. Thus it highlights in special articles earlier works which can be considered as landmarks of the discipline(s).
An important issue during the debate has been as well the responsibility of scientific work, publishing and editorial work which is increasingly in danger of threats coming from politics and economic profit interests, emerging as threat of censorship.
The next issue will focus on "professions/professionalism".
April 22nd, 2010
Social Policy - Developing Perspectives
The project shows that these ERASMUS-programs should surely not be solely seen as matter of teaching but as well of developing cooperation in research and other work areas. - And there is surely not least the other dimension of maintaining friendships and simply go for a most delightful dinner or a trip into the lovely countryside of Eastern Hungary.
April 13th, 2010
Extension of visiting professorship in Budapest for Peter Herrmann
The Faculty of Economics, Department of World Economics at Corvinus University in Budapest, offered Peter Herrmann an extension of the visiting proferssorship which he holds already since 2009. Herrmann met on this occasion as well with Blahó, András and both agreed to intensify work on tightening the link between economics and sociology. "Political science and in particular the science of social policy is frequently seen as soft science whereas economics is considered as hard science. However, it is necessary to validate the science of social science as 'hard science' and point equally out that economics is not 'harder' than any other discipline in social science." The two colleagues looked as well briefly at the results of the recent Hungarian elections. As negative as the results are from the perspective of social progress, so the unanimous statement, as true is that they are just one building block of an ongoing process in many countries.
Hermann emphasised that it is as well in this light important that the work on social quality elaborates its link to for instance French Régulatinists and also World Systems Theory as it had been grounded in particular by Immanuel Wallerstein, André Gunder Frank, Giovanni Arrighi. Herrmann considers not least his collaboration with the leading scholar from Austria, Arno Tausch, as extremely fruitful for his own thinking.
April 9th, 2010
Visit in Dublin
A group of some ten students, visiting Ireland for a study visit had been welcomed by Peter Herrmann in Dublin. The group arrived under the guidance of Horst Kowaleswki from the Leuphania University, Lueneburg, Germany. The study visit had been opened by a visit at the NESC where Helen Johnston gave an introduction into Irish social policy. During the afternoon the group visited Focus Ireland, thus making a step from words to action, from claims to reality.
Herrmann concluded this meeting by giving an overview about issues that allowed to look at the current situation in a wider context: the vast field of social policy and the lack of it in today's Ireland has to be seen against the background of the path from where it developed: A nearly postmodern society that has never been able to fundamentally eradicate its colonialist past.
After the meetings and discussion Herrmann travelled to Budapest, the first step of a journey to various European places.
March 29th, 2010
Synergies
Synergy is one of the buzzwords in many political debates today, and usually aiming on enhancing the productivity and efficiency of given systems by consciously producing and exploiting external effects by their integration. An exciting teaching experience is teaching on a very similar topic in entirely different contexts. Social policy in a wide understanding in a Department of Applied Social Science with a dominant orientation on Social Work on the one hand; and teaching this subject at the Faculty of Economics on the other hand. It makes not least clear that social policy is not about virtues and different sets of "values", defined outside of the economic systems. At the core stands the question what economy is really about and how we work for different ways of thinking in terms of interests in this economic thinking rather than different values.
On the course by Peter Herrmann at the Corvinus University, Budapest, Faculty of Economics, Department of World Economics see
http://economics.uni-corvinus.hu/index.php?id=14767#c35636
March 25th, 2010 Social Development - Or is it Standstill?
It is interesting what had been said and what had not been said - and also whichgovernments said something and who preferred to remain in silence. In any case, going through the statements by governments that had been submitted to the recent session of the UN-Comission for Social Development it remains doubtful if there is any true commitment carried on from Copenhagen:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/csd/2010govts.html
But how can we expect much more and different - looking at the statements ofNGOs it is remarkable to which extent the strand of the debate is still dominated by explicit religious sentiments:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/csd/2010_ngostats.html
March 24th, 2010
A new working paper had been uploaded on the website - it is the 20th in this series and includes now some of the work Peter Herrmann undertook awhile ago in Taiwan (the document is only available in Chinese language which had been provided by the Social Policy Centre at the National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Personal Thanks go to Professor Lih-Rong Wang.
March 23rd, 2010
A new report (in German language) had been submitted to the Max-Planck Institute for Foreign and International Social Law, looking at some core developments of recent legislation in the area of social policy. The report develops as well some basic lines of the development of the crisis and the reaction to it.
March 12th, 2010
Peter Herrmann had been invited to address the 8th International Conference "Public Administration in the XXI Century: Traditions and Innovations", to be held in Moscow from the 26th until the 28th of May. He collaborated with Laurent J.G van der Maesen on a presentation titled "Social Quality - Social Policy and Beyond".
March 11th, 2010
Bologna and Beyond: Catchwords of the AgendaBeyond ... - today it means Budapest where we are facing a grey day, unexpectedly back to snow mixed with rain.
Beyond is captured by the following catchwords:
“employability, employers and employees, European standards and guidelines for Quality Assurance, flexible/individual learning paths, formal/non-formal/informal learning, higher education institutions, learning outcomes, linking education and research, mobility, National/European Qualification Framework, new skills and competences, partnership, recognition of prior learning, students, student-centered learning, study/training period abroad”
These are taken from the invitation to the Bologna Ministerial Anniversary Conference, taking place today and tomorrow in Budapest and Vienna respectively. Well, seems that there is still something about the Habsburg Monarchy then. Though there is some pronounced difference as well if we dare a comparison of today with preceding times: Earlier education had been seen in a holistic way, as matter of the formation of “good citizens”, under the “fatherly good will" and for the sake of compliance; but still leaving at least some space for emancipatory thought. Today education is reduced to the understanding of complete subordination under instrumental reasoning. And this orientation includes the complete commodification as it is well reflected in the catchwords reproduced above. Leaving the practical problems aside, there is the fundamental question why for instance the UCC-homepage speaks so often about Awards, and Openness and mentions so little about the challenges we are facing.
One “award” not mentioned so far on the site: EUrope “celebrates” 2010 as “Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion”. Well, yes – but not really well:
“The European Union is one of the richest areas in the world, but still 17% of EU citizens have such limited resources that they cannot afford the basics.”
(http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=637 - 11/03/2010)
Not only Germany has its winter's tale (http://socialpolicy.ucc.ie/heinrich_heine_Deutschland_A_Winter's_Tale.htm) - winter is now as global as it barely had been before.
March 9th, 2010
A QUESTION
UCC's website announced yesterday the launch of a new scheme:
Pathways to Learning - Linking Learners and Libraries
08.03.2010 Access to Libraries and Archives will become more accessible with the launch of the Pathways to Learning (PAL) announced today (March 8th 2010) at University College Cork (UCC) by the Minister for Education & Science, Mr Batt O’Keeffe, TD.
However, I dare to ask: why do we close education in the first instance?
March 6th, 2010
A new book had been published under the title Highways, Crossroads and Cul de Sacs. Journeys into Irish Youth & Community Work. The book is edited by Paul Burgess and Peter Herrmann and published in Bremen y Europaeischer Hoschulverlag.
It is volume VIII of the book series studies in comparative social pedagogies and international social work and social policy. Further information can be found on the website: www.socialcomparison.org
February 25 th , 2010
In yesterdays presentation under the title “Integrity – Individuality – Information” (see the international conference "Deviance and Maintenance of Intellectual Safety of the Educational Area") Peter Herrmann emphasised that the common talk of the information society is very much an epitome of a misunderstood and one-sided approach to modernisation. In his opinion the concept of information itself is closely linked to the individualist as it emerged from the modernisation as bourgeois concept and the utilitarian approach in economic thinking. During his speech he highlighted as well the danger for the educational system if it remains limited on the concept of information. With reference to Horkheimer and Bloch, he pointed on the need to investigate the need to go beyond instrumental reasoning and to explore spaces for action as spaces of opportunities for new and integrated developments rather than reducing activities on technical possibilities. – The edited presentation will be published in the conference proceedings.
Peter Herrmann had been invited to address the international conference "Deviance and Maintenance of Intellectual Safety of the Educational Area".
The event takes place on February 24th, 2010 in Moscow.
