It is with great sadness I have learned that Bob Deacon has died. He was my boss, colleague and friend as part of the Globalism and Social Policy Programme (GASPP) in STAKES, Helsinki and University of Sheffield. I am grateful for Bob’s continuous open-mindedness and willingness to engage social justice concerns as well as his ability to see the broader context of global social policy beyond strictly academic context or the global North. He influenced and shaped global social policies and academic analysis more than it would seem as much of this was done in collaboration with people, institutions and policy processes. He was ahead of his time in focus on global social policy and he will be remembered, not least in keeping us focused on rights, regulation and redistribution of global and regional public policies and policy processes.
Meri Koivusalo, GASPP researcher in STAKES