Eddie Ashbee was co-director of a European Consortium for Political Research workshop at the ECPR’s Lisbon conference in mid-April.

Moral values, cultural change, and post-materialism in Europe and
north America

Directors: Edward Ashbee (Copenhagen Business School) Alex Waddan (University of Leicester)

The workshop had a threefold purpose. Firstly, it considered the degree to which calls for moral orthodoxy and “family values” and faith-based agendas play a part in shaping the political process, mass opinion and cultural perceptions within the individual countries of Europe and north America. Secondly, the workshop eought to draw cross-national comparisons so as to identify the relative importance of particular variables in determining the extent to which moral values play a part in structuring the political and cultural life of a country. Thirdly, the workshop sought, on the basis of this, to throw critical light on theoretical constructs such as post-materialism and the secularization thesis as well as the assumptions that underpin them.
The workshop attracted participants from the US and many different European countries.

Further details - http://www.ecprnet.eu/ecpr/lisbon/index.html