To: Members of the INTERNATIONAL SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
From: ISA Research Committee for the Study of Alienation Theory and
Research (RC36)
Re: INTERIM REGIONAL SEMINAR ON
“RESEARCHING ALIENATION IN THE LIGHT OF GLOBALIZATION”
In Conjunction with the 34th World Congress of the
International Institute of Sociology
Dates: July 11-15, 1999
Venue: Tel Aviv, Israel
CALL FOR PAPERS
Deadline for submission of Titles and Presenters: October 15, 1998
Deadline for submission of Abstracts: November 15, 1998
The conceptualization of alienation has undergone interesting
changes in the last decade. While philosophers continue to investigate the
inner significance of the construct of alienation, many researchers have
focused on explorations of Marxist theory, attempting to draw conclusions
about how to describe conditions of alienation in contrast to conditions of de-
alienation, or liberation. Others have followed the lead of empiricists,
formulating and adapting measures for locating alienation in responses to
pen and pencil tests, in discourse, and in behavior.
The development of globalization sets new challenges for social
scientists. In a world linked by presumably irrevocable economic ties and
political interests, which stretch across continents and oceans, the
appropriateness of thinking in terms of alienation has to be re-examined.
Variations in objective alienation as a function of different kinds of social
order is one pole of interest. At the other pole, there is the variability of the
social psychological and psycho-analytic evidence of alienation. A
sociological understanding of the ways in which theories of alienation help us
to grasp structure and process necessarily has implications for political action
on every level of analysis.
The central theme of the seminar will be :
RESEARCHING ALIENATION IN THE LIGHT OF GLOBALIZATION
Suggested Topics:
Local vs. Global alienation
Regionalism and alienation
Globalized virtual realities and alienation
Race and alienation
Gender and alienation
Alienation and the new religions
The practical economics of alienation
The alienation of labor
The significance of alienation under conditions of dependency
Alienation and the state
Alienation and new forms of organization
Culture and alienation
We are particularly interested in comparative papers. However, case studies
of phenomena of alienation in delimited areas will provide a basis for
comparative discussions in the course of the conference. We invite scholars
involved in the study of related themes to submit abstracts (ca. 300 words) to
the organizer:
Dr. Devorah Kalekin-Fishman
President, RC36
Faculty of Education
University of Haifa
Haifa, Israel 31905
Tel: +972-4-8642032 Fax: +972-4-8240911
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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