International Perspectives on Social Policy and Urban Problems

The University of Chicago Center in Beijing
20th floor, Culture Plaza
No. 59A Zhong Guan Cun Street
Haidian District Beijing 100872

(UChicagoNews included an article by William Harms about this conference.)

Internationally, processes of urbanization, economic liberalization and globalization have changed the face of cities and their place in the broader socioeconomic landscape. Metropolitan areas have seen broad geographic expansion and huge increases in population. Rural-to-urban migration and cross-national immigration have led to higher densities of settlement and high levels of population diversity in urban areas. Advances in technology and shifts in the modes and distribution of economic production have changed the structure of economic opportunity, reshaped requirements for education and workforce training as well as traditional household and gender divisions of labor.

The goal of this seminar is to bring together scholars from a small set of relevant countries to explore knowledge about policy responses and enduring questions regarding these changes and the processes that lie behind them around particular substantive themes.

Wednesday June 27th, 2012       

8:45am             Welcome — Robert Chaskin,  The University of Chicago and Yuegen Xiong,  Peking University

9:00am          Session 1: The Impact of Urbanization and Globalization (Part 1) — CHAIR : Neil Guterman  The University of Chicago

Colleen Grogan,  The University of Chicago — The Impact of Globalization: Health Policy and Health Access Disparities in the United States
Sibin Wang,  Peking University — The Development and Challenges of Basic Education in China – Policies of Basic Education During China’s Social Transition
Anjali Dave,  Tata Institute of Social Sciences — Actualizing the Promise of Education and Globalization in Urban Spaces of India : Traversing a Thorny Terrain
Inhoe Ku,  Seoul National University — Social Policy in South Korea: Company-based Welfare-Employment Model

11:15pm        Session 1  Discussion — CHAIR: Neil Guterman  University of Chicago

2:00pm          Session 2:  The Impact of Urbanization and Globalization (Part 2) — CHAIR: Zhu Xiaoyang  Peking University

Lizhong Xie,  Peking University — How Serious the Income Inequality is in Contemporary China?
Charles Payne,  The University of Chicago — Globalization and Evolving Education Policy Debates in the United States
Mouleshri Vyas,  Tata Institute of Social Sciences — Poverty in the Global City: An Overview of Issues and Challenges in India
Bong Joo Lee,  Seoul National University — Emerging New Social Risks and Challenges for Child Protection Systems in Korea

4:15pm          Session 2  Discussion — CHAIR : Zhu Xiaoyang  Peking University

Thursday June 28th , 2012

9:00am          Session 3:  Social Policy Responses and Emerging Actors: State-Directed Policy Responses

CHAIR: Surinder Jaswal  Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Robert Chaskin,  The University of Chicago — Urban Change, Neighborhood Revitalization, and Social Integration: Public Housing Reform as a Response to Urban Poverty in the U.S.
Yuegen Xiong,  Peking University — The New Health Care Reform in China: Progress and Puzzles
Shewli Kumar,  Tata Institute of Social Sciences — Child Welfare and Youth in India: The Development Paradigm and Shifting Welfare Policy Frameworks
Baeg Eui Hong,  Seoul National University — Challenges for the National Health Insurance System in Korea with New Risks

11:15pm       Session 3: Discussion — CHAIR: Surinder Jaswal Tata Institute of Social Sciences

2:00pm            Session 4: Social Policy Responses and Emerging Actors: Voluntary Sector Responses and Engagement — CHAIR: Bong Joo Lee Seoul National University

Mark Courtney,  The University of Chicago — The Evolving Roles of Government, the Courts, and the Voluntary Sector in Provision of Child Welfare Services in the U.S.
Xiang Gao,  Peking University — Family Support and Child Protection – Contributions and Challenges of the Social Welfare Framework in Contemporary China
Surinder Jaswal,  Tata Institute of Social Sciences — Voluntary Sector Responses to Health Needs and Health Service Provision in India
Sun Suk Kim,  Korea National University of Transportation — Educational Inequality in Korea:  Korean Experiences to Reduce Gaps in Child’s School Achievement

4:15pm            Session 4: Discussion — CHAIR: Bong Joo Lee  Seoul National University

Friday June 29th, 2012

9:00am          Roundtable 1

Policy areas (small groups)

11:00pm       Roundtable 2

Cross-cutting issues (plenary)      CHAIRS: Colleen Grogan and Robert Chaskin  The University of Chicago

Organizers: Robert Chaskin and Colleen Grogan, University of Chicago (School of Social Service Administration) in collaboration with Yuegen Xiong, Peking University (Department of Sociology and Social Welfare).