13th ESA Conference (Un)Making Europe: Capitalism, Solidarities, Subjectivities - Athens, Greece, 29 Aug -1 Sep 2017

13th ESA Conference of the European Sociological Association

Un)Making Europe: Capitalism, Solidarities, Subjectivities
 
Athens, Greece, 29 August to 1 September 2017
http://www.europeansociology.org/conferences/13th-conference-2017/

Call for Papers (PDF), deadline: 1 February 2017

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  i n- herent  contradictions  of  capitalism  are  obviously  stronger  than  we  thought:  Greece,  where the emphatic idea of “Europe” originated, has experienced severe austerity mea s- ures; 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 Indi g- nados  movements  –   and  their  manifestations  at  the  level  of  political  parties  –   we  have  seen rebellions by citizens demanding political change. On the other hand, refugees fle e- ing  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, xen o- phobia, 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 Conferenc e  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,  solidar i- ties and subjectivities  in the processes of the making, unmaking and remaking of Europe?

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