The European Sociological Association's 2017 conference "(Un)Making
Europe: Capitalism, Solidarities, Subjectivities" will take place from
August 29-September 1 in Athens. Invited keynote speakers include David
Harvey, Silvia Federici, Yanis Varoufakis, Donatella della Porta, Eva
Illouz and Hartmut Rosa.
ESA is inviting submissions of abstracts for semi-plenaries on the topic
"(Un)Making Capitalism" (and other topics). 2 talks on the sociology of
capitalism will be selected from the received submissions.
Semi-plenaries attract a large audience at ESA conferences.
Submissions should analyse aspects of the overall conference theme from
the perspective of the sociology of capitalism.
For details and submission see:
http://esa13thconference.eu/index.php/call-for-papers/semi-plenaries/
Conference theme:
(Un)Making Europe: Capitalism, Solidarities, Subjectivities
Europe can be made or unmade, and this is especially true since the
‘Great Recession’ of 2008. European society, and even the very idea of
Europe, is under threat.
First, the inherent contradictions of capitalism are obviously stronger
than we thought: Greece, where the emphatic idea of “Europe” originated,
has experienced severe austerity measures; Europe has seen a deepening
of neo-liberal politics, threats to what remains of the welfare state
and increasing inequality. Second, solidarities are fragmented in and
between societies across Europe. The new world economic crisis formed a
context for both the constitution and the undermining of solidarities.
On the one hand, from the Arab Uprisings to the various Occupy and
Indignados movements – and their manifestations at the level of
political parties – we have seen rebellions by citizens demanding
political change. On the other hand, refugees fleeing wars have been
denied human rights and their lives have been threatened by the closure
of borders and the lack of a coordinated European strategy. Third,
subjectivities are formed that do not only result in resistance and
protest, but also in apathy, despair, depression, and anxiety.
Authoritarianism, nationalism, racism, xenophobia, right-wing extremism,
spirals of violence, and ideological fundamentalisms have proliferated
throughout the world, including in Europe.
As a result, the promise of Europe and the geographical, political, and
social borders of Europe have been unmade and this ‘unmaking’ poses a
profound challenge for sociology and the social sciences more generally.
It is in this context that the European Sociological Association’s 2017
Conference takes place in Athens at the epicentre of the European
crisis. The underlying question for the conference is:
How and where to should a sociology that matters evolve? How can
sociology’s analyses, theories and methods, across the whole spectrum of
ESA’s 37 research networks and various countries, be advanced in order
to explain and understand capitalism, solidarities and subjectivities in
the processes of the making, unmaking and remaking of Europe?
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