Social Justice, Welfare and Participation
This Building Block brings together researchers working on issues within the broad theme of national, European and international social justice, social rights and social policies. This refers to labour rights and welfare rights, such as improving working and living conditions, equal treatment of workers, adequate social protection, social dialogue, and combating exclusion.
Open community
The Building Block is an open community where everyone is welcome. This includes researchers working on the intersection of multiple disciplines, for example studying the legal principles of non-discrimination and equality from an empirical perspective and from various theoretical perspectives. The Building Block also welcomes researchers working on different jurisdictions (national, EU, Council of Europe, and international). The Building Block acts as a place to build networks, test research ideas and develop research cooperation. It supports workshops and seminars and may initiate joined research outputs in terms of articles, special issues or edited books.
Themes
The Building Block develops themes in an integrated and mutually reinforcing way. Thematically, sources of inspiration are the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR). The Charter encompasses a broad set of fundamental rights for EU citizens and other persons within the EU, and the EPSR serves as a compass to create fairer and more well-functioning labour markets and societies with good welfare systems that benefit all Europeans, for instance in view of socially just transitions towards green and digital societies. The EPSR promotes equality and social justice in many different ways and uses both legal and non-legal instruments to do so. These include Directives, Regulations, (Social) Funds and Recommendations.
Tackling inequalities in practice
This Building Block seeks to enhance understanding of how to tackle inequalities in practice by uncovering overlooked synergies among the diverse legal frameworks and institutions operating across EU Member States. The implementation and enforcement of EU law are intrinsically linked to social rights, which are shaped by the legal traditions and practices of Member States at national, regional, and international levels. By examining institutions directly or indirectly involved in shaping equitable labour markets and inclusive social protection systems, this Building Block aims to advance research on the effective implementation and enforcement of law in ways that promote fairness and social cohesion.
Apart from exploring different themes, the Building Block also welcomes research that focuses on the rights and opportunities of specific groups in society, such as youth, women, or workers who face labour market risks due to unstable or low-income jobs.