CALL FOR PAPERS
ESA Research Network 32 – Political Sociology
The European Sociological Association’s Research Network on Political
Sociology (RN32) is pleased to announce its second mid-term
conference, to be held at the University of Milan (Italy), 30 November
and 1 December, 2012:
Political Participation and Beyond: Multi-level dynamics of
inclusion/exclusion in times of crisis
Political participation is a founding theme of political sociology. In
broadest terms, it refers to all forms and activities through which
individuals or collectives express opinions and also exert influence
on decisions that are of common concern. While concerned with apathy,
abstention and “exit”, political sociology has also described and
categorized a broad and ever-changing repertoire of citizen (and non
citizen) voice, i.e. activism and formal or informal involvement
whether individual/ collective, manifest/ latent, institutionalized/
unconventional, direct/ mediated, online/ offline. In an age of
globalization and multilevel (local, national, supranational, global)
networking of collective decision-making processes, in which social
and political boundaries are being reshaped and new dynamics of social
and political inclusion and exclusion are emerging, this scope of
political participation is potentially wider and rapidly changing. One
may wonder if participation is heightened in times of crisis, which
favour more exclusive forms of governance and tend to mobilise new
forms of protest, or on the contrary generates anomie.
The aim of this conference is to explore the extended scope of
political participation in relation to transnational government
arrangements and processes. Within this broad theme, all crucial
concepts of political sociology are embraced. These include:
challenged legitimisation of democratic representative institutions;
changing power relationships between citizens and the state; the
making of a new political order across the interaction of macro- and
micro-level actors; the battle for cultural, social, and institutional
change involving networked individuals and organized groups at local,
national and global levels.
A number of key contemporary political and social phenomena can
therefore be analysed from a political participation perspective:
• Globalizing forms of protest and new forms of political mobilization
• Changing interactions between public opinion, political elites,
mainstream media, and social media
• The plebiscitary nature of leader-followers relationships as regards
populist parties
• Party primary elections and campaigning
• New patterns of electoral turnout and volatility
• Citizens’ deliberations and experiments in participatory democracy
• The emergence of a new political cleavage along the nationalism vs.
cosmopolitanism value dimensions
• The ongoing conflict over norms of citizenship
• Processes of agenda-setting and the role of migrants’ organizations
in key policy areas
• Political dimensions of immigrant integration and the politics of
voting rights
• Urban governance and urban conflicts
Proposals can relate to all levels of – local to global – mobilization
and participation in the polity. Studies employing a European
comparative perspective or EU-wide framework, that address the
multi-level dimension of participation, or discuss more recent
challenges to citizens’ participation and legitimacy in times of
financial and economic crisis are particularly welcome.
Abstract submission: Both panel proposals and individual paper
proposals are encouraged. For panel proposals please submit a short
description of the theme of the panel and at least three individual
paper abstracts.
Deadline: The deadline for panel and paper proposals is Friday April
30th. Please submit abstracts of max 200 words to:
rn32mtc2012@socpol.unimi.it
The conference committee will notify applicants by May 30th.
Conference venue and organization: The conference will be hosted by
the Department of Social and Political Studies, University of Milan
(Italy). The Department is located in the centre of Milan.
Participants are asked to make their own travel arrangements and book
accommodation. We will suggest a list of hotels.
Information will be available at: http://www.socpol.unimi.it
To encourage participation by a broad range of early career
researchers and experienced academics, there is no registration fee.
To register, please write to rn32mtc2012@socpol.unimi.it with the
following information: name, position, affiliation with postal
address, country, email address and dietary preferences.
Further information: Contact Mauro BARISIONE at rn32mtc2012@socpol.unimi.it