Welcome coffee - 8.45 am

Keynote Speech - 9-9:30 am

Bruno Cousin (Sciences Po, CEE)

Marta Pagnini (London School of Economics) 

Session 1. Why and for what purpose compare? - 9:30-11:30 am

• Using Comparison to Study the Articulation between the National and the Local: The Case of School Markets in Lille and Toulouse. Audrey Chamboredon (Sciences Po, CRIS)
• Comparer sinon rien ? Stratégies méthodologiques face à l’exigence de comparaison dans un contexte d’action publique. Léa Falco (Cired, École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées)
• Constructing Objects through Comparison: The Case of Electro-Mobility Ecosystems in France and Germany. Jean-Baptiste Bonnet (Sciences Po CEE)

Discussant: Tom Chevalier (Sciences Po, CEE, CNRS)

Coffee Break

Roundtable. Choosing comparison: Implications and strategies for data collection - 11:45-1 pm

Zsófia Barta (Sciences Po, CEE)

Marta Pagnini (London School of Economics) 

Benoît Rihoux (CESPOL, ISPOLE, University of Louvain)

Lunch break

Session 2. Rethinking Comparative Designs through the practice of comparison - 2-4pm

• Un-planned, uneven comparisons: how to deal with the temptation of extending the coverage of a study. Maxence Dutilleul (Sciences Po, CEE)
• Comparing in Time: Reiterated Problem-Solving and the Processual Study of Economic Reasoning in Policy Evaluation. Lea Dornacher (Sciences Po, CEE)
• Comparability by Resonance: Portable Experience and the Design of Cross-Cultural Ethnography. Fuyun Wei (Zhejiang University)

Discussant : Nathalie Morel (Sciences Po, CEE)

Coffee Break

Mini-Workshop. Engaging in systematic comparison: established and emerging research designs, from small-N to large-N (16:15-18:15) - Closed event

Animated by Benoît Rihoux (University of Louvain)

This workshop will first clarify the main ways in which social scientists may ‘think comparatively’. It will define ‘systematic comparison’ as an approach to social scientific enquiry, and especially present a series of research designs – including some innovative ‘hybrid’ and ‘mixed’ ones – that enable social scientists to conduct systematic comparison in agile ways, across a broad spectrum of research situations, from small-N to large-N. The workshop will also comprise an interactive part, in which the participants will confront the above suggestions with their ongoing projects.

Welcome Coffee - 8.45 am

Session 3. Asymmetrical positionality (9:00-11:00 am)

• Epistemological stakes and difficulties in the conduct of a comparative monography in Paris and Bogotá. Maël Alonzo, (Université Paris 8)
• Conducting fieldwork in France as a Belgian researcher: implications for data collection and interpretation. Marie Gerrienne, Université de Liège
• Rethinking Comparison through Confinement: A Comparative Ethnography of Intimate Relationships in Prison in France, Italy, and Spain. Altea Vaccaro, CMW, Université Lumière Lyon 2 

Discussant: Philippe Bezes (Sciences Po, CEE, CNRS)

Coffee Break 

Session 4. Data asymmetries (11:15-1:15pm)

• Exploring the Commensurability of a France-Germany Territorial Comparison: The Example of Social Investment in Minimum Income Policies. Eileen Michel, Sciences Po Rennes
• The Work Ethic in Europe. Overcoming Measurement Challenges to Track Change Across 18 Countries (1999-2017). Raphaël Piters, Paris 4
• Asymmetrical data in an iterative research process: comparing elite cohesion and scientization in Argentina and Brazil (2003-2016). Fernan Gaillardou, University of Edinburgh

Discussant : Paula Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik (CEE, Sciences Po, CEE)

Concluding remarks 

Lunch