Poverty matters: critical reflections on the geographies of poverty and welfare - CFP

Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Annual Conference
27-29 August 2008, London

Call for papers

Poverty matters: critical reflections on the geographies of poverty and welfare

Convenor: Paul Milbourne (Cardiff University)

For a conference concerned with geographies that matter, the themes of poverty and welfare would
appear to be worthy of inclusion. These are themes that matter to those geographers seeking to
address social injustices within their work; they are also important themes for others - government,
welfare agencies and the many millions of households coping with material hardships on a daily
basis. In addition, there have been calls from within human geography for matters of poverty to be
taken more seriously by social geographers. This proposed session intends to take a critical look at
the state of geographical research on poverty and welfare by reviewing recent developments,
identifying knowledge gaps and setting out new research agendas.

It is clear from recent reviews of research in social geography that there has been renewed
interest in the geographies of poverty and welfare. Analyses of new local datasets point to the
spatial unevenness of poverty, including the persistence of regional disparities in levels of
poverty and the increased concentration of multiple forms of disadvantage in particular urban
places. Research has also moved beyond the highly visible forms of poverty in the city to explore
poverty that exists in less obviously poor places, such as smaller towns and villages. In addition,
local studies have pointed to the ways in which the particular economic, social, cultural, political
and environmental configurations of individual places act to shape the nature and experiences of
poverty, and, at the micro scale, the significance of local social space to the everyday lives of
poor households has been highlighted.

Alongside this work on the relations between poverty, space and place, there has been critical
geographical scrutiny of shifting systems of welfare provision. Recent research has pointed to the
differential spatial impacts of national workfare programmes implemented in both the UK and the US.
New systems of welfare and workfare have also been associated with increased levels of policy
devolution as more flexible and local modes of provision have been proposed to deal with the
problems of particular regions and places. In the UK context, welfare provision has been further
complicated by the development of distinctive programmes of welfare by the devolved administrations.
Finally, the proliferation of welfare partnerships, operating at different spatial scales, to deal
with poverty has produced an extremely complex system of welfare provision; one that is very much
dependent on the presence of different mixes of agencies in particular places.

Offers of papers are invited that provide geographical perspectives on these and other themes
relating to poverty and welfare in the UK, US and other advanced capitalist countries. Papers are
welcomed that critically review the state of geographical research on poverty and welfare, and / or
discuss evidence from personal research on these themes. Abstracts of about 200 words in length
should be sent to Paul Milbourne (milbournep@cardiff.ac.uk) by 8th February 2008.

Paul Milbourne
School of City and Regional Planning
Cardiff University
King Edward VII Avenue
Cardiff,UK, CF10 3WA
tel +44(0)29 20 875791