Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change



	Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change * The University of Manchester * Oxford Road * Manchester M13 9PL * United Kingdom



	Tel: +44 (0)161 275 8985 * Fax: +44 (0)161 275 8986 * [log in to unmask] * www.cresc.man.ac.uk <file://www.cresc.man.ac.uk> 







	CALL FOR PAPERS



	“Culture and Social Change: Disciplinary Exchanges”



	11-13 July 2005



	A conference hosted by



	ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC)



	to be held at



	Hulme Hall



	The University of Manchester, UK



	Keynote Speakers:



	Craig Calhoun (Sociology, New York University)  



	Veena Das (Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University)





	Conference Outline 

	Numerous accounts of contemporary epochal change now circulate in popular and academic thinking: globalization; de-traditionalization; individualization; neo-liberalism; the Third Way.  Claims such as these, with their bold arguments about the novelty and dramatic significance of emerging currents post huge challenges for our understanding of social change.  We need to think critically and reflexively about how our own intellectual foundations, based in disciplinary divides constructed in the early modern period, may prove inadequate to understand such changes.  We need to consider the limits of findings produced by research methods, and what kinds of empirical investigation allow us to assess and develop our awareness of change.



	The issue of culture is central here. All epochal theories place great significance on cultural change in  one way or another. Yet the place of culture differs radically. For those influenced by the cultural turn, all relationships are inflected by, and defined by, cultural processes. In other accounts, cultural change is a concomitant of other kinds of social, economic, or political changes, with the implication that culture itself is a more autonomous field. Cultural issues are also important in forcing us to reflect on the contributions of different disciplines to understanding social change. Many of the earliest and most influential accounts of change have been developed by writers within media and cultural studies, but these are often not translated into other academic disciplines. More established disciplines, such as anthropology, geography, history, and sociology also have extensive interests in ‘culture’, which cross cut but which, despite a certain common vocabulary, do not speak directly to each other. The aim of this conference is to encourage inter-disciplinary exchanges between researchers in anthropology, history, geography, sociology and management sciences to develop a greater dialogue about possible ways of understanding culture and social change, and to investigate the potential for systematic inter-disciplinary research. 



	The conference will appeal to those interested in questions such as: 



		*       What has the impact of the ‘cultural turn’ been on different academic disciplines, and has the ‘cultural turn’ now reached its limit? 



		*       What do different disciplines understand by culture, and is there convergence between different disciplinary frameworks? 



		*       What are the contemporary prospects for media and cultural studies, and more established disciplines? 

		*       How are different conceptions of culture implicated in theories of social change? 

		*       How best can empirical research inform debates on culture and social change?    



	This conference will be hosted by the new Centre for Research in Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC), a new ESRC funded research centre whose mission it is to develop and execute a structured programme of empirical research to allow us to develop and elaborate our understanding of socio-cultural change. This, our first annual conference will comprise a series of key note sessions exploring these issues, as well as papers in a series of themes focused to allow us to examine the different perspectives of academic disciplines on culture and social change. Leading anthropologists, historians, geographers, management scientists, and sociologists will talk about ways of conceiving culture within their disciplines. A particular feature will be a plenary roundtable where they debate different conceptions of culture in their disciplines with each other. 



	An invitation for papers 

	Papers are invited in any area which explores the themes discussed above. Where appropriate, papers will be streamed into four specific research fields especially pertinent to debates about socio-cultural change, and because of their interdisciplinary range. These are:- 



		1)      Cultural Economy If the term cultural economy implies some kind of break with earlier forms of analysis, the field of cultural economy includes diverse methods and objects which we aim to engage and debate by inviting papers on key issues which include: the reconfiguratation of the economy in a financialised and globalised world; new management practices in public and private sectors; and inequalities around new forms of production and consumption including the implications for the power elite.  (Theme contact: Professor Karel Williams, [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> , tel: +44 (0)161 275 8987).

		

		2)      Changing Media Cultures and Economies.   Grand claims about the nature and pace of  change are perhaps nowhere more  evident than in  current theories about  the putative epochal  transition  to a  knowledge economy, a network society or a global cultural economy. Current theories of societal change place  information and communication technologies at the heart of such change but their precise role in bringing about change is often exaggerated and rarely substantiated with empirical evidence. The polarities and  rifts between, broadly political economy and culturalist perspectives on questions of media and social change have  limited the potential of interdisciplinary dialogues. How can we bring  into closer and more productive dialogue those working on media economies and media cultures? We invite papers on three intersecting themes  a)  the impact of media convergence on media markets   b) the  implications of changing configurations of  media audiences for  the structure and organisation of  social and political life  and  c)  the consequences of current media and communications policies for  social inclusion and cohesion, and new forms of political and cultural identification.  (Theme contact: Dr Marie Gillespie, [log in to unmask]).

		

		3)      Cultural Governance and Citizenship.  The increasing significance of neo-liberal forms of governance has highlighted the importance and distinctive nature of the role played by culture in neo-liberal forms of governance. What has been the history of relations between culture, liberal government and varied regimes of citizenship? What bearing does this have in contemporary deployments of culture in both formal policy domains and everyday forms of social regulation? What light do the perspectives of historians, sociologists, anthropologists, cultural geographers and cultural studies academics throw on these questions? (Theme contact: Professor Tony Bennett, [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> , tel: +44 (0)1908 654431).



		4)      Changing Cultural Values and Politics It is argued that cultural values appear more unstable, fractured and complex than previously, leading to a greater fluidity of meaning and effects, so that social categories, such as class, ethnicity or gender, do not relate directly to personal cultural identity. However, ‘individualisation’ and ‘de-traditionalisation’ theories often rely limited historical understandings of the nature of cultural values in the past, superficial survey evidence, and pay inadequate attention to the way that stabilities and continuities can be detected even where claims to change are strong. We are also keen to explore the gaps between ‘expert’ accounts of change and lay beliefs in a variety of global locations. Accordingly, we welcome papers offering new and distinctive approaches to this issue from researchers in anthropology, history, sociology and geography, as well as other relevant disciplines.  (Theme contact: Professor Mike Savage, [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> , tel: +44 (0)161 275 8987).



	In addition, we also plan an open a theme on Culture and Social Change: disciplinary exchanges.  



	Abstracts/full papers 

	Any researcher with interests in any of these fields is encouraged to submit a paper to any one of these themes. Abstracts, of up to 200 words, should be submitted to [log in to unmask] by 28 Feburary 2005, with an indication of which theme it is particularly relevant to.  You will be informed by the end of March if your paper has been accepted. 



	Full papers to be submitted by 23 June 2005 for inclusion on conference CD.  For further details on the submission of papers, please contact: 



						Fiona Wilson (Centre Administrator) 

					[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>  



						tel: +44 (0)161 275 8990 

					fax: +44 (0)161 275 8986 



	Abstracts will be available to view before the conference on the CRESC website (http://www.cresc.man.ac.uk/ <http://www.cresc.man.ac.uk/> ).  A CD of papers will be given to delegates at the conference, and will be made available after the conference on the CRESC website.



	Organisation 

	The conference will run across three days in Manchester.  The residential conference fee includes bed and breakfast accommodation as well as morning and afternoon break refreshments and lunches.  The non-residential fee includes morning and afternoon break refreshments and lunches.  Evening meals are not included in the conference fee.  Please ensure you book an evening meal in addition, if required.



	Booking form available to download at http://www.cresc.man.ac.uk/events/july04/bookingform.htm <http://www.cresc.man.ac.uk/events/july04/bookingform.htm>  or email [log in to unmask]