On 4-5 December 2014 a team from the University of Cambridge travelled to the University of Poitiers to discuss the legal implications of different forms of precariousness. The conference was titled 'Franco-British Perspectives on Precariousness Principle(s) - Law(s) - Practice(s) / Approches franco-britanniques de la précarité principe(s) – droit(s) – pratique(s)'.
The French hosts were Professor Céline Lageot and Professor Nathalie Martin-Papineau from the University of Poitiers, and the Cambridge team was led by Dr Matthew Dyson, from the Faculty of Law.
The event was conceived as a way to celebrate the longstanding links between the two Universities, seen annually in the Faculty of Law through the exchange of Erasmus students. The participants from Cambridge included Mrs Nicky Padfield, Master of Fitzwilliam College, Dr Dominic de Cogan, lecturer in tax law, Dr Dacia Viejo Rose, Lecturer in Archeology and Anthropology, Dr Jane Kennedy, a Policy Fellow at the University's Centre for Science and Policy and the London Borough of Newham, Mr Henry Demaria, Head of Deregulation, Strategic Analysis Team, Department for Communities and Local Government, HM Government. In addition, papers were presented on behalf of two further team members unable to attend: Mr David Howarth, Reader in Law in the Department of Land Economy and Ms Alysia Blackham, Faculty of Law.
The conference proceedings took place out in French and English, with a cohort of French Masters students attending in addition to commentators and participants from all over France. Papers from the conference will be published in the new year.