Voluntary Action History Society’s 8TH International Conference:
‘New Ways of Doing Voluntary Action History?’
University of Liverpool, UK, 2-3 July 2025
Registration now open
VAHS is pleased to announce that the registration for its 8th International Conference is now open. This is a ‘boutique’ conference which will take place over two days rather than the traditional three. It recognises the current economic crisis, particularly in higher education, which has undermined voluntary action researchers’ capacity to participate in conferences such as ours. This year we offer registration fees scaled down to reflect the shorter duration of the conference, and we are also offering a number of bursaries to assist those who might not be able to present papers without help.
Overview of the conference
We are delighted to welcome as our keynote speaker Jon Dean, who has written compellingly about critical issues in voluntary action history (for example, the neglect of informal volunteering and the moral dilemmas of charity fundraising) and has been a leader in promoting innovative research methods. Based at Sheffield Hallam University, he is a former Chair of the Voluntary Sector Studies Network and currently Director of Advanced Qualitative Methods for the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership (WRDTP), which offers advanced training to postgraduate students in research methods and data literacy. He is co-editor (with Eddy Hogg) of the recent important study, Researching Voluntary Action: Innovations and Challenges (Policy Press, 2023). He will be reflecting on his research and his approach to methodological innovation in his address, ‘Asking Different Questions Differently: Theory and Method in the Then and Now of Voluntary Action’.
The conference will, for the first time, foreground our sources and methodologies and the challenges arising from ‘critical’ rethinking of subjects; ongoing debates about the efficacy of empirical and theoretical approaches; changes in the context of research such as different sources of funding, issues of autonomy, social responsibility and academic freedom; and the expectations of new audiences. The changes in our environment suggest that we cannot remain ‘the way we were’ but should embrace – at least to a debatable extent – new ways of doing voluntary action history.
Our conference will – as always – provide an opportunity for researchers from different backgrounds, different disciplines and different countries to share knowledge of sources, methodologies and findings of research on voluntary action. It will also provide an opportunity for conviviality.
The Conference venue
VAHS has a long and happy association with Liverpool, the venue for its international conferences in 2001, 2008 (when Liverpool was European Capital of Culture), 2016 and 2022. This city, once a great entrepot for global trade, was one of the drivers of the Industrial Revolution and is now a leader in urban regeneration. It also made a substantial contribution to the development of voluntary social service – for example, the Victoria Women’s Settlement, opened in 1898; Liverpool University’s School of Social Science, which worked with the Settlement to test theories of voluntary action practice; and Liverpool Council of Voluntary Aid, founded in 1909. The city is home to magnificent civic architecture, fine art galleries and the Mersey Beat.
The conference will take place on the main campus in the Management School (conference activities), Crown Place (hall of residence) and the Victoria Gallery & Museum (drinks party and conference dinner). See map of the campus:
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/fi
Registration fees
For members of VAHS
Full residential package:£275
Non-residential package: £120
For non-members of VAHS
Full residential package: £305
Non-residential package: £150
Conference dinner supplement for non-residential delegates: £50
Non-members may wish to join VAHS before booking in order to be eligible for reduced members’ rates; if so go to
http://www.vahs.org.uk/members
Fully waged: £25
Unwaged (including students/retired/unemployed): £20
For both members and non-members of VAHS
Late booking fee after 6 June 2025: £30
Extra night B & B before (1 July) or after (3 July) the conference: £63
Registration
To register for the conference go to: Online Registration: https://payments.liv.ac.uk/con
For information about the conference programme e-mail Meta Zimmeck: mzimmeck@btinternet.com
For information about booking and other administrative issues e-mail Becki Harris: r.worgan@liverpool.ac.uk
