After an intense phase of writing in spring 2018, the season of conferences began for us in April. We used this chance and attended two international conferences during which we presented our latest works, including our recent paper on the different approaches to welfare state principles in food banks in South Wales and Ireland.

First of all, we visited the BSA Annual Conference in Newcastle, UK (10–12/04/2018) where we took part in the panel ‘Religious Institutions of Solidarity. Social Care between Communities and the Welfare State’ which had been submitted by Annette Schnabel. In this context we discussed the topic ‘Foodbanks and Tafeln: Faith-based and secular institutions of food provision for people in need in Germany, the UK and the Republic of Ireland’. In cooperation with the two speakers, Mrs. Schnabel and Heikki Ervasti, we enjoyed an inspired conversation with the audience, wondering to what extent co-workers and volunteers in food banks use their labour in order to missionize their clients. Furthermore, the remaining time of the conference was of great profit to us, as we saw old and new faces, intensified our international contacts and received some information about English-speaking publishers.

     

Shortly after the conference in Newcastle we headed for Uppsala, SWE (24–26/04/2018). Here, the ‘Impact of Religion Conference’ was hosted by the internationally renowned ‘Religion and Society Research Centre’ – on the basis of the decennial financial funding. Academics from all over the world and from different departments (apart from Social and Religious Sciences, especially Legal Practitioners) travelled to Uppsala. Like in Newcastle, we used this opportunity to present the results of our recent evaluations, this time under the title ‘Foodbanks: The Impact of Faith on Charity in the UK’. Once more, our ideas and suggestions for systematization were met with great interest. Nevertheless, we see ourselves in a position in which we have to
lay this topic aside, in order to focus on other aspects of our material.

     

At the conference in Uppsala we met Annette Schnabel again, together with some of her colleagues. On this occasion, we discussed plans for further cooperation, for instance a planned workshop on the field of tension between the welfare state and religion in spring 2019.

Currently, we are in Brighton, UK, for more research. We will soon update you about this fieldtrip!

Translation: Charlotte Nate