International Symposium on
Civil Society, Political Participation and Happiness
Conference schedule
23 – 25 May 2013
Werner Reimers Foundation, Bad Homburg

23 May, Thursday
19:00 – 20:30 Public opening lecture (held in German; scripts in English are provided)
Christopher Pleister, Federal Agency for Financial Market Stabilisation, FMSA
Social commitment, market principles and happiness – the view of the private sector
Florian Coulmas, German Institute for Japanese Studies, DIJ
Social commitment, market principles and happiness – the view of science
20:30 – 21:30 Get-together
24 May, Friday
09:30 – 11:00 Session 1: Setting the stage: Civil Society, Political Involvement and Happiness
Bernard Enjolras, Centre for Research on Civil Society & Voluntary Sector
Changing patterns of voluntarism and participation in Norway
Paul Dekker, Tilburg University
Social and political involvement and the machinery of trust, mastery and happiness
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 – 13:00 Session 1: Setting the stage: Civic Engagement and Social Well Being
Kristin Strømsnes, Centre for Research on Civil Society & Voluntary Sector
Voluntary association and trust
Elvira Cicognani, University of Bologna
Social participation, sense of community and social well-being
Carola Hommerich, German Institute for Japanese Studies, DIJ
Feeling involved – civic engagement and social well-being in Japan
13:00 – 14:30 Lunch
14:30 – 16:00 Session 2: Antecedents and consequences of political participation (part I)
Alois Stutzer, University of Basel
Direct democracy and procedural utility
Matthew S. Winters, University of Illinois
Untangling the relationship between political participation and happiness
1

Tim Tiefenbach, German Institute for Japanese Studies, DIJ
Political participation and happiness: Japan, the usual outlier?
16:00 – 16:30 Coffee break
16:30 – 18:00 Session 2: Antecedents and consequences of political participation (part II)
Phoebe Holdgrün, German Institute for Japanese Studies, DIJ
Political participation and well-being: A case study of political activists in Japan after
3/11
Robin LeBlanc, Washington and Lee University
What do we do when the young don’t party? Examining barriers to satisfactory youth
engagement in politics in Japan and Italy
Junko Yamashita, University of Bristol
Participative Democracy or Cheap Service Provider? – NPOs in the Japanese elderly
care system
25 May, Saturday
09:30 – 11:00 Session 3: Social movements (part I)
Matthew Hilton, University of Birmingham
The politics of expertise: NGOs in Britain since 1945
Koichi Hasegawa, Tohoku University Sendai
Anti-nuclear activities after the Fukushima nuclear disaster: A new stage of theJapanese Civil Society?
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 – 13:00 Session 3: Social movements (part II)
Patricia Steinhoff, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Advocacy can also be fun: Finding happiness through participation in Japan's invisible
civil society
Barbara Holthus, German Institute for Japanese Studies, DIJ
Framing processes among the invisible - Parental social movement organizations andwell-being in Japan
Millie Creighton, The University of British Columbia
Civil society and Japanese citizens' activism surrounding Japan's constitution and Article
9 debates, Okinawan peace movements, and post-311 disaster responses
13:00 – 14:30 Lunch
14:30 – 15:30 Final discussion2