28 - 31 August 2013
Torino, Italy

RN36 – Sociology of Transformations: East and West

Coordinators:
Elena Danilova endanilova@gmail.com Institute of sociology, Moscow, Russia
Peeter Vihalemm peeter.vihalemm@ut.ee University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

This is a call for papers on different sociological aspects of transformation European countries that have already joined EU or constitute its neighbors and partners in the wider world. The Research Network 36 positions itself as a platform for scholars who are interested in the field of social transformations in these countries and European integration processes.

The main purpose of our sessions will be to explore the main global and regional challenges and dynamics of Eastern and Central European countries. We invite papers addressing various issues of social transformation in countries of Eastern Europe either in comparative perspective or in a single country. Many questions are under scope. What are the driving forces of social transformations? What are the impacts of global forces and current crisis? What are the consequences of certain social transformations with respect to social structures of society, the emerging social inequalities, etc? How do social transformations overlap with cultural change? What is the role of regional and comparative studies in understanding the process of transformation?

One of the aims is to develop a discourse on social transformations and contribute to the theoretical interpretation of social transformations and complexity of transformation processes going on in institutional structures, cultures, societies and individual lives. The Research Network will bring together researchers from competing paradigms.

We invite papers both on macro-theorizing and resulting from empirical studies which takes into account the changes in individual lives, their identities and solidarities, and focus on everyday life practices in the particular spheres of social life tied to certain local and historical contexts.

We want to bring together younger researchers and prominent scholars, so that they have a chance to share their thoughts and views and collaborate in future. Comparative studies can be one of main foci of the collaboration.

We propose preliminary streaming of the sessions in the following way:

Sessions

Joint Sessions

  • 29JS36European Integration Revisited: from Teleological to Critical Approach

    Joint session with RN29 – Social Theory

    Chair: Marju Lauristin (Social and Educational Sciences/Institute of Journalism and Communication University of Tartu, Estonia)

    We want to bring together younger researchers and prominent scholars, so that they have a chance to share their thoughts and views and collaborate in future. Comparative studies can be one of main foci of the collaboration.


Thank you very much to all participants for making esa torino an outstanding conference.