Conference Title:
Plunging into Turmoil: Social Sciences and the Crisis
Organization: Political
Observatory (www.observatoriopolitico.pt), Assistant Professor Isabel David,
(School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lisbon) and PhD
Candidate André Saramago (Aberystwyth University)
Conference Date: 16-17 October 2014
Abstract Submissions: 31 May 2014
Abstract Approval: 15 June 2014
Paper Submissions: 9 October 2014
Keynote Speech: Andrew Linklater
Woodrow Wilson Professor in
International PoLITICs, Aberystwyth University
Call for Papers:
The Political
Observatory (PO) are organizing a two-day conference in Lisbon, Portugal, on
the relation between the social sciences and the current economic crisis.
The 2008
economic and financial crisis marked the beginning of a period of social
transformation and uncertainty that continues to characterize present and
future social development in unplanned and unexpected ways, frequently with
harmful effects. In this context, the social sciences and their role as a tool
of knowledge production about human social existence become all the more relevant.
On the one hand, as a means for acquiring a better understanding of the
character of this rapid and complex social transformation. And, on the other
hand, as a way of orientating people and social practice as to how greater
collective democratic control can be acquired over the manner and direction of
this overall process. This conference intends to provide a space where
contributions from different fields of the social sciences can come together in
order to address a series of questions that arise from the present period of
crisis. In particular, it strives to address two main strains of inquiry.
First, how different sociological and theoretical approaches, ranging from
political theory and political economy to sociology, might contribute to explaining
the crisis, analyse its effects, and identify its potential future paths of
development. And second, how the crisis and its effects on human social
existence demand a re-thinking of the role of the social sciences in society,
and what such a role might or should be. The conference is organized around a
set of themes through which these strains of inquiry are addressed:
- An economic crisis or a social
and civilizational crisis?;
- The crisis and democracy and the
interplay between capitalism and democracy;
- The crisis and the privatization
of the public space;
- The role of the social sciences
in society and in crisis prediction, analysis and resolution;
- The impact of the crisis on the
social sciences and their future;
- Are or should the social sciences be politically involved on the
basis of their understanding of society?
- Can the social sciences help
envisage alternative forms of social, political and economic organization?;
- Are the social sciences still Western-centred?
- Civilizing and decivilizing processes amidst the crisis.
If you are interested in participating, please send a 500 word
abstract to Assistant Professor Isabel David ([log in to unmask]) and
PhD candidate André Saramago ([log in to unmask]) by May 31, 2014.
We acknowledge
receipt of all emails and will reply to all. If you do not receive a reply,
please resend your abstract. Please include the following in your email:
- Author name;
- Affiliation;
- email address;
- abstract in Word format;
- a short CV.
Acceptance notices will be sent by
June 15, 2014.
In case your
abstract is accepted, a draft paper of around 8000 words is due one week prior
to the beginning of the conference. We intend to compile an edited volume with
the best papers for publication in an international reference publisher.
Registration for
the conference includes a fee of 30€ for participants and 15€ for
non-participants. Political Observatory members’ fee is 10€ and students’ fee
is 5€. Please note that we are unable to provide any financial help to
participants. Any
additional queries should be sent to [log in to unmask] and
[log in to unmask]
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