Category Archives: Events

Past, Present and Future of the study of European Values

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The venue: University of Bergamo, Italy

The Italian team of the European Values Study/World Values Survey hosts the annual General Assembly of EVS, the meeting of the Liaison Committee of EVS-WVS, and the international scientific event “European Values and the Values of Europe” alongside the Third Italian conference of EVS/WVS data users “Crisis after Crisis: Values Change in Italy”.

The event takes place at the University of Bergamo on (28)- 29-30 September 2022 with a rich program for the sessions open to the public.

On September 29th, the keynote session “European values and social identities” with Dr. Plamen Akaliyski and Dr. Simona Guglielmi, addresses relevant issues in current Europe societies, such as cultural integration and national and European identity. Later, during the roundtable on “Studying Values in Turbolent Europe“, Dr. Michale Ochsner (FORS, EVS Standing Group) chairs the discussion on current challenges and future prospects for values research with Ruud Luijks (EVS), Kseniya Kizilova (WVS/WAPOR), Andrea Bonaccorsi (University of Pisa and IRVAPP-FBK), and Gabi Lombardo (European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities).

On 29th afternoon and on 30th, the Third Italian conference of EVS/WVS data users takes place with selected presentations (sessions in English/Italian).

The event takes place in person.

Organizing Committee
Vera Lomazzi (University of Bergamo), Ferruccio Biolcati (University of Milan), Giancarlo Rovati (Catholic University of Milan), Ruud Luijkx (Tilburg University, University of Trento)


Thank you, Loek Halman!

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A highlight of the European Values Conference 2022 was the farewell to Loek Halman. Loek, who has been part of the EVS community for decades, retired from Tilburg University in September 2021. Because public life in the Netherlands, alike most countries of the Western hemisphere, were hampered with COVID-19 restrictions, his close colleagues were unable to organize an appropriate farewell party to Loek at that time. The local organizing team (consisting of Ruud Luijkx, Quita Muis, Tim Reeskens and Inge Sieben) decided that the European Values Conference 2022 was the most suitable moment to celebrate Loek Halman and his contribution to European Values Study.

Preceding Loek’s farewell, the Dutch EVS team has secretly been working to bring together a so-called ‘Liber Amicorum’, a book of friends. For this book, they invited several EVS national program directors, Loek’s colleagues at Tilburg University, and his ‘compagnons de route’ to submit a chapter of approx. 3,000 words; the only request was to rely on EVS data or inspire the study of European values. In the end, 32 chapters and a preface by Wim van de Donk (Rector Magnificus at Tilburg University) were written around five main themes that reflect Loek Halman’s scholarly interest. First of all, several chapters discuss theoretical and methodological challenges in the study of values. A second line of research revolves around the sociology of religion. A third stream of papers presented comparative studies. Studies on the Netherlands composed the fourth part of the book. And last but not least, the final section presented additional country case studies.

Before the official presentation of the book, Inge Sieben opened the session by reflecting on the work and life of Loek Halman. Ruud Luijkx then continued to discuss the importance of Loek to the European Values Study. David Voas was invited to give a keynote lecture on the parental transmission of religiosity. David gave an inspiring lecture with an overview of decades of research into the socialization of religiosity, combining several of his recent insights and also bridging to the EVS and Loek’s research interests. Part of David’s presentation can also be retrieved in his chapter (coauthored with Ingrid Storm) in the Liber Amicorum. With a speech reflecting on Loek’s academic life, Wim van de Donk, Rector Magnificus at Tilburg University, presented the first copy of the Liber Amicorum, titled Reflections on European Values: Honouring Loek Halmans’ Contribution to the European Values Study, to Loek. Tim Reeskens then briefly gave an overview of the content of this book. Last but not least, Loek gave a speech in which he reflected on his academic life, with not only memories to the decades he was committed to the EVS, but also how the EVS inspired his teaching activities.

The farewell to Loek Halman then continued with informal drinks followed by a dinner at Tilburg University’s Faculty Club. All his colleagues, several dressed in checked shirt (to many this was Loek’s dress code), were eager to share fond memories with Loek. It was a great and inspiring day!

Both the Liber Amicorum Reflections on European Values: Honouring Loek Halman, dedicated to Loek Halman, and the Atlas of European Values: Change and Continuity in Turbulent Times, Loek’s final publication, are published in an Open Access format by Open Press TiU. The books can be downloaded and/or ordered from the website www.evseries.eu. Pictures of the conference can be retrieved from this link.

European Values Conference 2022/05/10 – Keynote David Voas and Farewell to Loek Halman

The new Atlas of European Values

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Do Europeans really feel European? Do they trust each other and are they solidary? What do they think of immigration and refugee influx? Do they want a greener and more sustainable Europe, and at what cost? Are democracy and human rights ingrained in Europe or are they under pressure?

A new edition (2022) of the ‘Atlas of European Values’ answers these and other questions related to pressing topics such as migration, democracy, sustainability, welfare, identity, and solidarity in an attractive, visual way. In the The Atlas of European Values: Change and Continuity in Turbulent Times (authors: Loek Halman, Tim Reeskens, Inge Sieben and Marga van Zundert), the reader will find maps, charts and graphs based on data from the European Values Study, combined with data from other scientific sources. Texts on current social theories and interviews with European scholars and thinkers clarify the findings. The foreword to the Atlas was written by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

This third edition of the Atlas of European Values has been published in the new European Values Series, open access at Open Press Tilburg University. This means that the Atlas is freely accessible to everyone and easily downloadable (in pdf-format).

The first copy of the Atlas of European Values was presented on Europe Day, 9 May 2022, in the House of the Dutch Provinces in Brussels by the authors and TiU rector magnificus Wim van de Donk to Robert de Groot, permanent representative of the Netherlands to the European Union. De Groot said that this Atlas is more important than ever: how are we going to unite on a continent that is so diverse and how can we ensure that we come out stronger from the war that is currently raging in Ukraine? According to him, the Atlas can help answer these pressing questions.

More information on the Atlas 2022, previous editions, and related projects can be found here.

Why Measurement Invariance Testing is Important in Comparative Values Research

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In the upcoming webinar of the Monthly Multidisciplinary Webinars on Culture and Values organized by Plamen Akaliysky, Bart Meuleman member the EVS methodology group will address relevant issues concerning comparability in cross-cultural values research.

Why Measurement Invariance Testing is Important in Comparative Values Research: Between Statistical Dogmatism and Anything Goes

Presenter: Bart Meuleman (KU Leuven)

Time: May 26 (Thu), 12:00-13:30 (CET).

Abstract: Over the past decades, tests for measurement equivalence have become increasingly popular in cross-national and cross-cultural research. Among various techniques (see van de Vijver et al. 2019 for an overview), multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) has become the method of choice to assess whether survey instruments can successfully travel linguistic and cultural borders (Davidov et al. 2014). The spread of this technique has contributed importantly to the concern for and understanding of the issue of comparability of measurements.

At the same time, however, the increased popularity of assessing measurement equivalence has brought along several challenges. First of all, many frequently-used instruments are found to violate (stricter levels of) equivalence, leaving researchers with puzzlement about the comparability of their valued survey data, and with uncertainty as to whether they could safely perform cross-group comparisons. Second, the rather technical nature of equivalence testing has stimulated the measurement literature to focus almost exclusively on statistical details, while neglecting the question of theoretical validity. As a reaction to these trends, some voices have called for ‘a paradigm shift’ away from the current practice of MGCFA-based equivalence testing (Welzel & Inglehart 2016; Welzel, Brunkert, Kruse & Inglehart, 2021).

In this contribution, I argue that testing for measurement invariance is still important for comparative value researchers; but that it is nevertheless useful to revisit the logic of equivalence testing. The presentation outlines the epistemological foundations of equivalence testing and its operationalization into concrete statistical procedures. By doing so, I show that some criticisms are based on misconceptions about measurement, while others can be addressed within the current framework of measurement equivalence.

References

Davidov, E., Meuleman, B., Cieciuch, J., Schmidt, P., & Billiet, J. (2014). Measurement equivalence in cross-national research. Annual review of sociology, 40, 55-75.

Meuleman, B., Żółtak, T., Pokropek, A., Davidov, E., Muthén, B., Oberski, D. L., … & Schmidt, P. (2022). Why Measurement Invariance is Important in Comparative Research. A Response to Welzel et al. (2021). Sociological Methods & Research, 00491241221091755.

Van de Vijver, F. J., Avvisati, F., Davidov, E., Eid, M., Fox, J. P., Le Donné, N., Lek, K., Meuleman, B., Paccagnella, M. & van de Schoot, R. (2019). Invariance analyses in large-scale studies. OECD Education Working Paper 201.

Welzel, C., & Inglehart, R. F. (2016). Misconceptions of measurement equivalence: Time for a paradigm shift. Comparative Political Studies, 49(8), 1068-1094.

Welzel, C., Brunkert, L., Kruse, S., & Inglehart, R. F. (2021). Non-invariance? An overstated problem with misconceived causes. Sociological Methods & Research, 0049124121995521.

THIRD ITALIAN CONFERENCE OF EVS/WVS DATA USERS

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The Italian team of EVS/WVS organizes the conference “Crisis after Crisis: Value Change in Italy” – Third Italian conference of EVS/WVS data users. The conference will take place on 29-30 September 2022, at the University of Bergamo. The conference will also include an international seminar on the study of values in turbolent times.

The focus of theThird Italian Conference of EVS/WVS data users: Since the beginning of the century, Italy has gone through an impressive sequence of crises on a regional as well as global scale. The economic downturn that began in 2008, the refugee crisis in the last decade, the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, just to mention the main events. Besides the social and economic impacts of the crises, it is essential to study changes and possible impacts on values and attitudes. The conference aims to discuss value change in Italy – also from a comparative perspective by considering different domains – and offer an opportunity for scholars studying the Italian case on the basis of EVS and WVS data to meet.


Call for papers The conference aims to gather methodologically high-quality, theoretically based contributions using EVS and WVS data. Presentations combining EVS, WVS and other data are also welcome. The call asks for a special emphasis on Italy: comparative and longitudinal contributions are encouraged. The conference welcomes presentations on any values domain, as well as methodological contributions.


Deadlines Abstracts no longer than 500 words should be submitted to the organizing committee (italy.values@gmail.com) by 20 June 2022. Abstracts may be in English or Italian and should be accompanied by 5 keywords. Authors will be notified by the organizing committee concerning the selection of the presentations by 30 June 2022. For any further information, please contact italy.values@gmail.com or visit https://www.spstrend.it/

Organizing Committee Ferruccio Biolcati Rinaldi (University of Milan) Vera Lomazzi (University of Bergamo) Ruud Luijkx (Tilburg University, University of Trento) Giancarlo Rovati (Catholic University of Milan)

Advisory Committee Rita Bichi (Catholic University of Milan) Ferruccio Biolcati Rinaldi (University of Milan) Antonio M. Chiesi (University of Milan) Vera Lomazzi (University of Bergamo) Ruud Luijkx (Tilburg University, University of Trento) Marco Maraffi (University of Milan) Giancarlo Rovati (Catholic University of Milan) Paolo Segatti (University of Milan)

Read the full call for abstracts for more information:

EVS-WVS-Third-Italian-Conference-EnglishDownload
EVS-WVS-Third-Italian-Conference-ItalianDownload

European Values conference 9-11 May 2022

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The European Values Conference 2022: A look at the past, present and futures is taking place in Brussels/Tilburg on May 9th-11th, 2022.

The program includes two topical moments: on Monday 9th, the new Atlas of European Values will be presented to Robert de Groot, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the European Union (Livestream via https://youtu.be/btputyTdYdw) . On Tuesday at 16:30, we will celebrate Loek Halman’s retirement with a keynote lecture by David Voas (Livestream via https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/campus/live-broadcast/auditorium). In addition, some other keynote events are livestreamed.

Please see blow the full program. For further information, please consult the event webpage.

valuesconfDownload

CFP: ESPAnet2021

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The Network for European Social Policy Analysis (ESPAnet) is an association of academics involved or interested in the analysis of social policy in Europe. ESPAnet organizes on 31 Aug-3 Sept the 2021 an Online conference and the registration has now opened. https://kuleuvencongres.be/espanet2021

Are our European welfare states up for the future? Given worldwide changes in economic structures and balances, the acceleration of technological developments, substantial environmental risks and globally disruptive events as, for example, the COVID-19 pandemic, will they be able to uphold, and where necessary even extend, the range of social objectives they are known for in the world? Will their social policies succeed in effectively promoting sufficiently high living standards of their citizenry?

For the first time in its existence, the ESPAnet Annual Conference will be held online. This is to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and to respond to the various, perhaps longer-lasting, health, logistical and financial risks and challenges it poses for all the colleagues from all over Europe.

The stream 24. Social policy, culture and value change in Europe, organized by EVS members Edurne Bartolomé Peral and Morten Frederiksen, focuses on cultural and social values:

“Modernization processes and human development have led through history to a set of transformations in human mindset and value structures according to a range of value preferences and attitudes, which have adapted to new social, political, scientific and technological changes. There is a continuous adaptation process between culture and structure, as value orientations in a society act as orientation for the formulation of policies. We contextualize our proposal on the process of continued modernization of European societies in a new domain gaining societal and political relevance.

The study of values and value change in their different domains increases our understanding of European societies in regard to changing cultural notions of right and wrong and the direction the formulation of policies should follow to adapt to society ́s values and value change. This stream focuses on the analysis and reflection on how values are being configured across European societies (comparative perspective), how values are changing and readapting though the times (longitudinal perspective), how values are being studied and analysed (methodological perspective) and how values inspire, shape and come into conflict with social policies (policy perspective).

This stream proposes an organization of sessions according to value domains. Papers can be related to the analysis of values and value change, social policy papers matching the different domains and methodological papers for the study of values and/or social policies. Topics to be covered in the session include:

  • Gender values and policies
  • Diversity, solidarity, migration, welfare attitudes and values
  • Beginning and end of life and its study in terms of values and policies (euthanasia, IVF,abortion, surrogacy)
  • Environment, energy transition and climate change
  • Methodological approaches and advances in the study of values and social policies”

Abstract submission (A list of all streams can be found on the conference website.)

The deadline for abstract submission: 18 April 2021.

Notification of acceptance: 31 May 2021. 

Final registration for paper presenters: 1 July 2021

Final registration for non-presenting participants: 22 August 2021

The challenges of the COVID pandemic: cultural changes and social values

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On December 17th at 10 (CET), the Romanian Group for the Study of Social Values organizes a webinar that brings  together  scholars  from  the  community  studying  social  values,  and   contributes to the understanding of the challenges brought by the pandemic to our societies. 

Three academic presentations are proposed: 

• Edurne Bartolome Peral1, Lluís Coromina Soler2, Hermann Dülmer3, Values under pressure,
a study on value change during the Covid-19 crisis in Spain 
• Tatiana Karabchuk4, Implication of the Cultural Evolution Theory to Explain Social Behaviour
under COVID-19 
•  Malina Voicu5 & Simona Maria Stănescu5, Mortality in times of COVID crisis. Are democracies
better in controlling the outbreak? 

Discussant: Bogdan Voicu5                                                                                                                                                                          

Chair: Claudiu Tufiș6 

Attending the webinar is free, but registration is needed. 

Affiliation of the authors: 

1 University of Deusto – Bilbao, Department of International Relations and Humanities 

2 University of Girona 

3 University of Cologne   

4 United Arab Emirate University  

5 Romanian Academy, Research Institute for Quality of Life 
6 University of Bucharest, Department of Political Science 

Webinar: Value changes in pandemic times, 2020.11.27

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Organized by the Romanian Group for Studying Social Values, this webinar brought together scholars from the community studying social values, and contributes to understanding the changes that Covid19 brings to the social fabric.

Four academic presentations, based on accepted papers in a special issue of European Societies, are proposed. A final discussion of common messages in the papers is delivered by Vera Lomazzi13

  • Tim Reeskens10, Quita Muis10, Inge Sieben10, Leen Vandecasteele11, Ruud Luijkx10 & Loek Halman10 Stability or change of public opinion and values during the coronavirus crisis? Exploring Dutch longitudinal panel data (Full paper here)
  • Malina Voicu1 & Delia Bădoi1, Fertility and the COVID-19 crisis: do gender roles really matter? (Full paper here)
  • Francesco Molteni12, Riccardo Ladini12, Ferruccio Biolcati Rinaldi12, Antonio M. Chiesi12, Giulia Maria Dotti Sani12, Simona Guglielmi12, Marco Maraffi12, Andrea Pedrazzani12, Paolo Segatti12 & Cristiano Vezzoni12. Searching for comfort in religion: insecurity and religious behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy (Full paper here)
  • Bogdan Voicu1,2, Edurne Bartolomé Peral3, Horațiu Rusu2,1, Gergely Rosta4,5, Mircea Comșa6, Octavian-Marian Vasile1,7, Lluís Coromina 8, Claudiu D. Tufis9. COVID-19 and orientations towards solidarity. The cases of Spain, Hungary, and Romania (Full paper available soon)

00:00:00 Start streaming 00:11:24 Start of the Webinar 00:14:30 Tim Reeskens 00:46:04 Delia Bădoi & Malina Voicu 01:17:16 Francesco Molteni 01:50:03 Bogdan Voicu 02:18:52 Vera Lomazzi

Webinar: Value changes in pandemic times

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On Friday, 27th of November at 10 (CET), the Romanian Group for Studying Social Values organizes the webinar “Value changes in pandemic times“.

The webinar brings together scholars from the community studying social values, and contributes to understanding the changes that Covid19 brought to the social fabric.

Four academic presentations are proposed:

  • Tim Reeskens10, Quita Muis10, Inge Sieben10, Leen Vandecasteele11, Ruud Luijkx10 & Loek Halman10 Stability or change of public opinion and values during the coronavirus crisis? Exploring Dutch longitudinal panel data (Full paper here)
  • Malina Voicu1 & Delia Bădoi1, Fertility and the COVID-19 crisis: do gender roles really matter? (Full paper here)
  • Francesco Molteni12, Riccardo Ladini12, Ferruccio Biolcati Rinaldi12, Antonio M. Chiesi12, Giulia Maria Dotti Sani12, Simona Guglielmi12, Marco Maraffi12, Andrea Pedrazzani12, Paolo Segatti12 & Cristiano Vezzoni12. Searching for comfort in religion: insecurity and religious behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy (Full paper here)
  • Bogdan Voicu1,2, Edurne Bartolomé Peral3, Horațiu Rusu2,1, Gergely Rosta4,5, Mircea Comșa6, Octavian-Marian Vasile1,7, Lluís Coromina 8, Claudiu D. Tufis9. COVID-19 and orientations towards solidarity. The cases of Spain, Hungary, and Romania (Full paper available soon)

All presentations are based on accepted papers in a special issue of European Societies.

There are allotted 20 minutes for presentation, followed by 15 minutes for questions, comments, and answers. A final discussion of common messages in the papers will be delivered by Vera Lomazzi13.

Attending the webinar is free, but registration is necessary.

The event is supported by the Romanian Quantitative Studies Association and the Research Institute
for Quality of Life  (Grant GAR-UM-2019-XI-5.3-9).

Affiliations of the authors:
1Romanian Academy, Research Institute for Quality of Life; 2Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Department of Sociology; 3University of Deusto – Bilbao, Department of International Relations and Humanities; 4Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Institute of Sociology; 5University of Münster; 6Babeș-Bolyai University, Department of Sociology; 7 University of Bucharest, Department of Sociology; 8 University of Girona, Department of Economics; 9 University of Bucharest, Department of Political Science; 10 Tilburg University, Department of Sociology; 11 Institute for Social Sciences at the University of Lausanne; 12 University of Milan, Department of Social and Political Science;13 GESIS Leibniz-Institute for Social Sciences

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