The governance and protection of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia involve a complex interplay of legal frameworks, bilateral agreements, and social policies. While both Indonesia and Malaysia have established policies to safeguard migrant workers' rights, the practical implementation often faces significant challenges. Indonesian migrant workers encounter issues such as legal status uncertainties, poor working conditions, and limited access to social services. This presentation examines the roles of both countries' policies, focusing on how bilateral cooperation and regional frameworks influence the protection mechanisms. It seeks to answer critical questions: What are the primary challenges faced by Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia? How effective are the current social policies in addressing these challenges? What improvements can be made to enhance the protection and well-being of these workers? By shedding light on these issues, the presentation aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the governance and protection mechanisms for Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, highlighting the importance of effective social policies and regional cooperation in ensuring their rights and welfare.

Andi Luhur Prianto, PhD is a lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar. He also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal "Otoritas: Jurnal Ilmu Pemerintahan." His research focuses on urban politics, governance, and development issues. With extensive experience, Andi engages in in-depth research and projects aimed at providing solutions to key challenges in these fields. He is also actively involved in organizing workshops and writing scholarly papers to support the development of policies and best practices in his areas of expertise.

Aqmal Reza Amri is a lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar. He is actively managing the "Journal of Contemporary Governance and Public Policy (JCGPP)" and is a researcher at the "Pusat Penelitian Ilmu Sosial dan Humaniora Kontemporer (PPISHK)" in Indonesia. His research focuses on civil society studies, migration studies, and indigenous people. Aqmal has conducted various studies on the social policies affecting these areas, and he has been involved in several projects aimed at addressing the challenges faced by marginalized communities.

The four organizers (Ewa Kaminska-Visser, Tobias ten Brink, Andreas Heinrich and Heiko Pleines) are the editors of the edited volume "Generosity of Social Policies in Socialist and Post-socialist States". The volume is to be published with Palgrave, within the book series Global Dynamics of Social Policy.

The volume will map and compare socialist and post-socialist approaches to social policies, their implementation and outcomes, with the focus on how the generosity of social policies – understood as the combination of their inclusiveness and the scope of benefits they offer – has been conceptualised in different socialist and post-socialist national contexts, how these conceptualisations have shaped the content of social policies, and finally, how the content of social policies has actually been implemented. The book will cover the geographic areas of the (former) Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as selected countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

The book will feature contributions from a number CRC projects (A03, A04, A05, B05, B09, B10 and B11), as well as research of colleagues from Leiden University, the University of Medical Sciences in Havana, Arkansas State University, and State University of New York.

The workshop's goal is to bring together the contributors in order to discuss the drafts of the chapters.

You are also kindly invited to join the event online via Zoom:

Meeting-ID: 635 2116 3841
Password: 771713

This presentation will focus on the upcoming book “Stakeholder Relationships and Sustainability. The Case of Health Aid to the Kyrgyz Republic.” By building on public health, political science, and development studies, this interdisciplinary work analyzes health interventions in a geographic region overseen in these fields. It goes beyond universal paradigms and detailed single-case studies by offering a thorough analysis of development projects to identify the factors applicable to similar initiatives in comparable contexts. A unique combination of discussants with different professional backgrounds and from several countries allows for an exceptional synergy of expertise, providing a rewarding environment for fruitful discussion and identification of further research directions.

This book is a product of the research conducted in the Collaborative Research Center 1342 “Global Dynamics of Social Policy” at the University of Bremen. The center is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)—project number 374666841—SFB 1342.

The full book is available in open access: Stakeholder Relationships and Sustainability. The Case of Health Aid to the Kyrgyz Republic

List of panelists:

Author; Presenter: Gulnaz Isabekova, CRC 1342 "Global Dynamics of Social Policy"/ Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen

Facilitator: Prof. Dr. Heiko Pleines, CRC 1342 "Global Dynamics of Social Policy"/ Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen

Discussant (in-person): Dr. Erica Richardson (in-person), London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies

Discussant (in-person): Ohanna Kirakosyan, MD (in-person), Research Center Borstel - Leibniz Lung Center (FZB)

The PhD Dissertation of Gulnaz Isabekova is ready to be defended. 

The Examination Board is composed of:

• Prof. Dr. Heiko Pleines
• Dr. Monika Ewa Kaminska
• Assoc. Prof. Kristina Jönsson
• Prof. Dr. Tobias ten Brink
• Prof. Dr. Michael Rochlitz
• Dr. Amanda Shriwise
• Liva Stupele

The defense will be public, but will take place online only. To receive the link to the video conference, please send an email to Gulnaz Isabekova by June 21st, 2021.

Call for Papers

For a combined, three-day event we invite proposals for papers on "International Knowledge Transfer in Social Policy: The Case of the Post-Soviet Region". The event takes place from 7-9 November 2019 in Bremen (Germany).

It begins with a two-day conference on "Causal Mechanisms in the Analysis of Social Policy Dynamics" in the House of Science in Bremen. Confirmed keynote speakers are: Renate Mayntz (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies), James Mahoney (Northwestern University), and Peter Starke (University of Southern Denmark).

On the third day there will be a workshop on "International knowledge transfer in social policy: The case of the post-Soviet region". Participants selected from this call are invited to join the conference and to present their papers at the third-day workshop, which takes place at the Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen on 9 November 2019. It intends to complement the conference on causal mechanisms with the discussion of research on dynamics of international knowledge transfer in social policy in the post-Soviet region. Special emphasis is made on the policy fields of basic income security (alleviating poverty), health care and education.

The workshop aims to bring together approaches from political science, sociology and other relevant academic disciplines to get a more comprehensive picture of the influence of social policy concepts originating in the OECD world on reform processes in the post-Soviet region and of the role that international actors play in this knowledge transfer. The focus of invited papers should always be on the international knowledge transfer and on the domestic evaluation of these social policy concepts.

Deadline for proposals: 30 April 201

Deadline for the submission of paper proposals is 30 April 2019. In addition to a 300 word abstract, please include a brief biographical statement in your submission. Selected paper-givers will be invited by 31 May 2019. Full papers will be due 15 September 2019.

The workshop will involve around 15 scholars; early-career researchers are especially encouraged to apply. Travel expenses and accommodation costs of invited participants will be covered by the organiser. For further information on our research group, visit our website.

We plan to publish selected workshop papers in a special issue of Global Social Policy.

Paper proposals and any questions should be addressed to:
Dr Andreas Heinrich (heinrich@uni-bremen.de)

Auf dem Workshop werden die eingeladenen Teilnehmer über die SFB-Teilprojekte diskutieren, die sich mit Policy Diffusion und Policy Learning in postsozialistischen Ländern befassen und sich auf ausgewählte sozialpolitische Bereiche konzentrieren (insbesondere Gesundheitsversorgung). Zusätzlich wird es eine thematische Diskussion über konzeptionelle Ansätze zum internationalen Transfer von Politikideen geben.

In einem eigenen Panel wird Mitchel Orenstein seinen Social Impact of Transition (SIT) Index zur Diskussion stellen.

Schließlich werden Synergien zwischen den SFB-Teilprojekten und der Forschung der externen Experten ausgelotet, um Bereiche zukünftiger Zusammenarbeit zu definieren.

Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer

Teams der SFB-Teilprojekte B06 (Postsowjetische Region), B05 (China) und B08 (Zentral- und Osteuropa)
sowie
Andrea Chandler (Carleton University, Political Science)
Tatiana Chubarova (Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Economy, Center for Social Studies)
Damir Esenaliev (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)
Natalia Grigorieva (Moscow State University named after Lomonosov, School of Public Administration)
Nazim Habibov (University of Windsor, School of Social Work)
Alexandra Kaasch (Universität Bielefeld, Fakultät für Soziologie)
Elena Maltseva (University of Windsor, Political Science)
Mitchell Orenstein (University of Pennsylvania, Russian and East European Studies)