VAHS - 2025Info Location Attendee Categories Additional Items Contact More Info Event Information
DescriptionVAHS is pleased to announce that the registration for its 8th International Conference is now open. This is a ‘boutique’ conference which will take place over two days rather than the traditional three. It recognises the current economic crisis, particularly in higher education, which has undermined voluntary action researchers’ capacity to participate in conferences such as ours. This year we offer registration fees scaled down to reflect the shorter duration of the conference, and we are also offering a number of bursaries to assist those who might not be able to present papers without help. Our conference will – as always – provide an opportunity for researchers from different backgrounds, different disciplines and different countries to share knowledge of sources, methodologies and findings of research on voluntary action. It will also provide an opportunity for socialising with other delegates in an open and friendly environment. Non-Members: If you wish to join VAHS go to http://www.vahs.org.uk/membership/ This will mean you are eligible for the reduced members' rates for the conference. Rates increase by £30 after 1st June 2025.
Event Location
Attendee Categories2. Non-member of VAHS - Full residential package
Additional Items2. Non-member of VAHS - Full residential package – Conference Dinner
2. Non-member of VAHS - Full residential package – Additional accommodation for delegate or guest:
ContactFor information about the conference programme please e-mail: mzimmeck@btinternet.com For information about booking and other administrative issues (disabled access, dietary requirements, parking, couples bookings, etc) e-mail r.worgan@liverpool.ac.uk More InformationOverview of the conference: We are delighted to welcome as our keynote speaker Jon Dean, who has written compellingly about critical issues in voluntary action history (for example, the neglect of informal volunteering and the moral dilemmas of charity fundraising) and has been a leader in promoting innovative research methods. Based at Sheffield Hallam University, he is a former Chair of the Voluntary Sector Studies Network, and currently Director of Advanced Qualitative Methods for the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership (WRDTP), which offers advanced training to postgraduate students in research methos and data literacy. He is co-editor (with Eddy Hogg) of the recent study, Researching Voluntary Action: Innovations and Challenges (Policy Press, 2023). He will be reflecting on his research and his approach to methodological innovation in his address, ‘Asking Different Questions Differently: Theory and Method in the Then and Now of Voluntary Action’. The conference will, for the first time, foreground our sources and methodologies and the challenges arising from ‘critical’ rethinking of subjects; ongoing debates about the efficacy of empirical and theoretical approaches; changes in the context of research such as different sources of funding, issues of autonomy, social responsibility and academic freedom; and the expectations of unfamiliar audiences. The changes in our environment suggest that we cannot remain ‘the way we were’ but should embrace - at least to a debatable extent - new ways of doing voluntary action history.
The programme: · The programme will cover diverse aspects of voluntary action including: · The meaning, significance and scope of voluntary action · The locations of voluntary action between and among the public, private and voluntary sectors as well as the informal and personal world of individuals, families, mutual aid and self-help groups · Motivating factors for voluntary action · The roles of philanthropy and giving · Contributions to social justice and social change · Experience of dealing with bad actors and the ‘dark side’ · The value of expressive behaviours and leisure activities · The importance of community-building and social resilience · Collection, maintenance and availability of source materials. The Conference venue VAHS has a long and happy association with Liverpool, the venue for its international conferences in 2001, 2008, when Liverpool was European Capital of Culture, and 2016. This city, once a great port for global trade, was one of the drivers of the Industrial Revolution and is now a leader in urban regeneration. It also made a substantial contribution to the development of voluntary social service – for example, the Victoria Women’s Settlement, opened in 1898; Liverpool University’s School of Social Science, which worked with the Settlement to test theories of voluntary action practice; and Liverpool Council of Voluntary Aid, founded in 1909. The city is home to magnificent civic architecture, fine art galleries and the Mersey Beat. There will be a number of papers at the conference which feature voluntary action in Liverpool. Accommodation for the conference will be in Crown Place a recently-built hall of residence in the main campus. All rooms are en suite and single occupancy. Conference activities will take place in the nearby University of Liverpool Teaching Hub 502. See map of the campus: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/files/docs/maps/liverpool-university-campus-map.pdf
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