This PhD workshop brings together early-career researchers working on the social costs of climate change across welfare states, labour markets, political economies, and systems of social protection. While climate change is often discussed in terms of environmental damage and macroeconomic costs, its social consequences—for inequality, employment, health, social cohesion, and political conflict—remain unevenly theorised and empirically fragmented. The workshop aims to provide a focused space to advance analytical clarity, conceptual integration, and comparative perspectives on these issues.
We invite PhD students to present work in progress that examines how climate change and climate policies interact with social institutions and distributional outcomes. Relevant themes include (but are not limited to): unequal exposure to climate risks; labour-market disruptions and just transition policies; welfare state adaptation to climate shocks; energy poverty; regional and class inequalities; political backlash and social conflict; and the governance of compensation, insurance, and social investment in the context of decarbonisation. Contributions may be theoretical, comparative, qualitative, or quantitative, and may focus on single countries or cross-national dynamics.
The workshop will combine participant presentations with two short, framing interventions by Bruno Palier and Anke Hassel, which will outline key analytical challenges, competing conceptual approaches, and open research questions at the intersection of climate change and social policy. These inputs are intended to stimulate discussion rather than set a single framework, encouraging critical engagement across disciplines and methods.
The format is designed to be intensive and interactive, with generous time for feedback, collective discussion, and methodological exchange. The workshop aims to support PhD researchers in refining their arguments, situating their work within broader debates, and building networks around a shared research agenda on the social foundations of climate transition.
