Comparative Historical Sociology, ASA

Category: Announcements

  • Crisis, Temporality, and Governance

    Co-organizers: André Vereta-Nahoum (Sociology, University of São Paulo)

    Simone Polillo (Sociology, University of Virginia)

    Call for papers

    The idea of crisis may be as old as modernity (Koselleck, 2015), but, over the past decade, as crisis texts have become a “veritable industry” (to paraphrase Roitman, 2013: 3), scholars have joined public debate by drawing attention to the conditions of possibility of crisis, its uses and effects (e.g. Appadurai, 2015; Bear, 2015; Mounk, 2018; Przeworski, 2019; Streeck 2017). Following up on this emerging interdisciplinary work on the multiple conceptualizations and practices of crisis, we are interested in two broad and interconnected themes: the relationship between crisis and governance, and the relationship between crisis and time.

    The first theme encompasses how crisis works as a political strategy and as a way of governing. Crisis is often associated with critique (Koselleck, 2015), when those who declare a state of affairs to be in crisis do so in the hope of summoning support towards changing the status quo. However, crisis makes it possible to associate a present state of affairs with previous choices, and so it serves to justify the implementation of significant reforms that are presented as exceptional but unavoidable measures – the only solutions to the emergencies. As a result, as Roitman (2013) argues, crisis can also blind critics to the assumptions behind declaring a state of affairs in crisis, to the effects of unexamined questions about what an enacted crisis refers to, and of policy options and shifts that are presented as necessary consequences of the enactment.

    The relationship between the practice of crisis, and narratives about what makes a state of affairs normal, conventional, or settled, also hinges on particular assumptions about time and temporality, which is the second theme we want to explore. A crisis declared to be temporary requires different interpretative work and temporal narratives and does different work than a crisis perceived to be more secular or structural; a past crisis can affect interpretations about the present and responses in the form of future developments, but so can the threat of crisis in some more or less distant future. Particular local, regional, and national historical trajectories may also affect how crises are enacted and perceived, and how responses to the crisis are debated and translated into policy. The exceptionality or normalcy associated with a state of affairs considered to be a crisis must be analyzed and critically assessed. Conflicts between different and potentially incompatible time horizons may generate crisis, but also open opportunities for the strategic deployment of crisis in order to shift the balance of power and shape the range of available policy choices.

    Within the broader themes of crisis and governance, and crisis and time, exemplary questions we invite participants to consider include the following:

    • Who has the authority to declare a crisis, and what happens when other powerful agents (whether experts or publics) reject this characterization?
    • Which material and ideational devices are employed to enact crises, and how does the temporal orientation of crisis vary as a result?
    • How do particular historical trajectories—punctuated by crises or not—influence the enactment of crises?

    Deadline for New Submissions: Friday, January 24, 2020

  • Extended CFP Deadline for CHSS Working Group at Northwestern

    The Comparative Historical Social Sciences Working Group at Northwestern University is calling graduate students, postdocs, and faculty to participate in our third annual conference this year entitled, “The Neoliberal State Reconsidered: Risk, Surveillance, and the Future of Global Capitalism.” Our keynote speaker is Sarah Quinn (University of Washington). We will also have a Closing Keynote panel featuring Bruce Carruthers, Patricia Posey, Destin Jenkins, and Sarah Quinn. 

     Talk of “Surveillance Capitalism” abounds in scholastic circles and public audiences alike. Tactics of state surveillance, techniques of social control, and profits within global financial capitalism all seem to increasingly rely upon the extraction of personal data and information through various technologies. What this spells for the power of states to monopolize violence, the stability of global capitalism, and the political possibilities for social movements remains to be seen. Our keynote and closing will begin to unfold the answers to these theoretically intriguing and politically troubling uncertainties.

     We are accepting paper proposals broadly oriented towards comparative and historical social science research, though we encourage scholars to submit papers relevant to the theme. In particular, this includes proposals that address key theoretical debates or contribute to new methodological ideas and tools in the subfield of comparative historical analysis. 

     Please see our full call for participation and our flyer attached. We would greatly appreciate if you could share this information with your graduate students, postdocs, and faculty!

     The conference is from April 9th to 10th, 2020. We welcome paper submissions at different stages of research, and especially invite graduate students and younger scholars to share their work. Submission deadline has been extended until January 24th – submit your abstract here! 

     Please feel free to contact us at CharlotteRosen2021@u.northwestern.edu with any questions.”

  • 2020 Section Call for Awards

    CALL FOR AWARD NOMINATIONS (CONSOLIDATED)

    ASA COMPARATIVE-HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY SECTION

    2019-2020

    Global Note: All nominees must be members of the ASA to be considered for section awards.

    IBN KHALDUN DISTINGUISHED CAREER AWARD                 

    The section presents the Ibn Khaldun Distinguished Career Award every year in order to recognize a lifetime of outstanding contributions to the subfield of comparative-historical sociology. This is one of the most celebrated awards given by the section, and it is presented only to scholars of the utmost distinction.

    To nominate someone for the award, please send a letter of nomination to the award committee below. The letter should briefly discuss the significance and impact of the nominee on the subfield of comparative-historical sociology. Please also provide the most current curriculum vitae for the nominee as well as the nominee’s contact information, including their e-mail address. Nominations must be received by all members of the committee by February 15, 2020.

    Please note that nominees must have received their Ph.D. no later than 1994. All nominees must be members of the ASA to be considered for any section award.

    Committee:

    Fatma Müge Göçek (chair), University of Michigan, gocek@umich.edu

    George Steinmetz, University of Michigan, geostein@umich.edu

    Bruce Carruthers, Northwestern University, b-carruthers@northwestern.edu

     

    BARRINGTON MOORE BOOK AWARD

    The section presents the Barrington Moore Book Award every year to the best book in the area of comparative-historical sociology.

    To be eligible for consideration, nominated books must have been published in one of the two years immediately prior to the year of the award (i.e., for the 2020 award only books published in 2018 or 2019 will be considered). Eligible books must also not have been previously nominated for the Moore Award. Thus, books that were nominated for the 2019 award are not eligible to be considered for the 2020 award.

    To nominate a book for the Moore Award, please send an email to each member of the award committee. The e-mail should indicate the author, title, publisher, and publication date of the book you wish to nominate. Please make arrangements for each member of the committee to receive a copy of the book by February 15, 2020. The nominating e-mail and the nominated book must be received by each member of the committee by this deadline. Books may be nominated by their authors or by other scholars, but not by publishing houses. Letters of nomination are not required.

    Please note that all nominees must be members of the ASA to be considered for any section award, and winners of the Moore Award are expected to be members of the comparative-historical sociology section at the time the award is presented.

    Committee:

    Andreas Wimmer (chair),  andreas.wimmer@columbia.edu
    Department of Sociology
    Columbia University
    606 West 122nd Street
    NY NY 10027
    United States

    Fabien Accominotti, f.accominotti@lse.ac.uk
    Department of Sociology
    London School of Economics
    Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE
    United Kingdom

    A.K.M. Skarpelis,  askarpelis@fas.harvard.edu
    Harvard University
    WCFIA room K208
    CGIS Loading Dock
    1737 Cambridge Street
    Cambridge, MA 02138-3016
    United States

     

    CHARLES TILLY ARTICLE AWARD

    The section presents the Charles Tilly Article Award every year to the best article in the subfield of comparative-historical sociology.

    To be eligible for consideration, nominated articles must have been published in one of the two years immediately prior to the year of the award (i.e., for the 2020 award only articles published in 2018 or 2019 will be considered).

    To nominate an article for the Tilly Award, please send an e-mail to each member of the award committee. The e-mail should indicate the author, title, journal, and publication date of the article that you wish to nominate, and it should also attach a PDF of the article. The nominating e-mail and PDF of the article must be received by each member of the committee by February 15, 2020.

    Please note that all nominees must be members of the ASA to be considered for any section award.

    Committee:

    Paul Y. Chang (chair), Harvard University, paulchang@fas.harvard.edu

    Christopher Muller, University of California, Berkeley, cmuller@berkeley.edu

    Barış Büyükokutan, Koç University, bbuyukokutan@ku.edu.tr

     

    THEDA SKOCPOL DISSERTATION AWARD

    The section presents the Theda Skocpol Dissertation Award every year to the best doctoral dissertation in the area of comparative-historical sociology.

    To be eligible for consideration, nominated dissertations must have been defended and filed between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019.

    To nominate a dissertation, please send an e-mail to each member of the award committee. The e-mail should indicate the author, title, and filing year of the dissertation that you wish to nominate, and it should briefly discuss the strengths and contributions of the dissertation. An electronic copy of the dissertation must also be sent to each member of the award committee. (For dissertations that are too large to send over email, please e-mail the committee members a durable link to a downloadable version of the dissertation.) Both the nominating e-mail and the electronic copy of the nominated dissertation must be received by each member of the committee by February 15, 2020. Dissertations may be nominated by dissertation chairs, advisors, or current department chairs; self-nominations are not allowed for this award.

    Please note that all nominees must be members of the ASA to be considered for any section award.

    Committee:

    Edwin Ackerman (chair), Syracuse University, efackerm@maxwell.syr.edu

    Sefika Kumral, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, s_kumral@uncg.edu

    Cameron Campbell, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, camcam@ust.hk

     

    REINHARD BENDIX STUDENT PAPER AWARD

    The section presents the Reinhard Bendix Student Paper Award every year to the best graduate student paper in the subfield of comparative-historical sociology.

    To be eligible for consideration, nominated papers must have been written by students enrolled in a graduate program at the time the paper was written. Both published and unpublished papers are eligible.

    To nominate a paper, authors and/or mentors should send an e-mail to each member of the award committee. The e-mail should indicate the author and title of the paper, and it should attach a PDF of the article. The e-mail and the nominated paper must be received by each member of the committee by February 15, 2020. Students may self-nominate their finest work, or a paper may be nominated by a student’s mentors.

    Please note that all nominees must be members of the ASA to be considered for any section award.

    Committee:

    Eric Schoon (chair), The Ohio State University, schoon.1@osu.edu

    Luciana de Souza Leão, University of Michigan, lsleao@umich.edu

    Joris Gjata, University of Colorado, Joris.Gjata@Colorado.EDU

     

     

  • Tenure-Track Assistant Professor: Quantitative Methodology at Florida Atlantic University

    Tenure-Track Assistant Professor: Quantitative Methodology

    Department of Sociology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL

    ASA Job ID: 15932

    Job Description:

    The Department of Sociology at Florida Atlantic University invites applications for an appointment at the rank of assistant professor. This position is open to all substantive areas of research, but the successful candidate must demonstrate the ability to teach quantitative research methodology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

    We seek a candidate who will balance high-quality scholarship with excellence in teaching and service. Given the high level of diversity among our student population at FAU, we will also consider ability to work with a diverse student population.  Faculty typically teach a 3-2 course schedule. Faculty teach and mentor undergraduate and graduate students in the department’s Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree program.

    The hired candidate will teach primarily on the Boca Raton campus, with a possible minor assignment on the Davie campus. We will consider applications from those who are currently ABD but, in order to be appointed at the rank of assistant professor, all requirements for the PhD must be completed before employment begins in August 2020.

    This position is contingent upon funding.

    We will begin screening applications on November 1, 2019. The position will remain open until filled.

    All applicants must apply electronically to the currently posted position (Assistant Professor) on the Office of Human Resources’ job website (https://fau.edu/jobs)  by completing the required online employment application and submitting the related documents. When completing the online application, please upload the following: a cover letter, curriculum vitae, copies of official transcripts scanned into an electronic format, teaching Portfolio/statement, publications, and three (3) letters of recommendations.

    If letters of recommendation are confidential, they may be sent directly to the department; in this case, please have letters sent to cathy.king@fau.edu.

    A background check will be required for the candidate selected for this position. This position is subject to funding.

    For more information and to apply, visit  www.fau.edu/jobs and go to Apply Now (REQ07397).

    Florida Atlantic University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action/equal access institution and all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veterans status or other protected status. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation, please call 561-297-3057. 711.

    FAU is committed to the principles of engaged teaching, research and service.  All persons aspiring to achieve excellence in the practice of these principles are encouraged to apply.

    Employer Description:

    Contact: Human Resources

    Email: sociology@fau.edu

    Phone: (561) 297-3270

    Website: http://www.fau.edu/artsandletters/sociology/

  • Tenure-Track Assistant Professor: Sociology of Race and Ethnicity at Florida Atlantic University

    Tenure-Track Assistant Professor: Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

    Department of Sociology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL

    ASA Job ID: 15970

    Job Description:

    The Department of Sociology at Florida Atlantic University invites applications for an appointment at the rank of Assistant professor, with research specialization in the area of race and ethnicity.  The successful candidate will balance high-quality scholarship with excellence in teaching and service. Given the high level of diversity among our student population at FAU, we seek those with the ability to work with a diverse student population. Faculty typically teach a 3-2 course schedule, teaching and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in the department’s Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree programs.  The hired candidate will teach primarily at our Boca Raton campus, with a possible minor assignment at our Davie campus.

    The position is part of a College multidisciplinary cluster hire with research-intensive focus on the transhistorical African Diaspora in the Americas. These faculty will join current faculty who contribute to the overall hemispheric studies emphasis of the college’s Americas Initiative, taking advantage of FAU’s unique location at the nexus of South America, North America and the Caribbean. The College seeks scholars wishing to engage with the diverse FAU student body, multicultural South Florida, community partners such as the Spady Museum, Fort Lauderdale African American Library, Perez Art Museum, UM Cuban Heritage Collection, among others, and institutional exchange programs in the Americas, Africa and Europe. Given FAU’s status as a Hispanic Serving Institution, research and teaching intersections with Latin American and Latinx cultural, social and artistic histories are also welcome.

    Faculty are expected to conduct research and teach courses in the areas of their specialization, but will also have the opportunity to work on interdisciplinary teams to advance a distinctive scholarly agenda. There are also be opportunities to mentor graduate students in the home department, in our college-wide interdisciplinary PhD program, and in other graduate and undergraduate programs within the College. Collaborative multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary extramural grant opportunities will be encouraged with internal seed grants, robust institutional grant-writing support, and post-award administrative assistance.

    Screening of applications will begin on November 1, 2019.

    Minimum Qualification:   PhD in Sociology from an accredited institution required by time of appointment. We will consider applications from those who are currently ABD but, in order to be appointed at the rank of assistant professor, all requirements for the PhD must be completed before employment begins in August 2020.

    All applicants must apply electronically to the currently posted position Assistant Professor on the Office of Human Resources’ job website (https://fau.edu/jobs)  by completing the required online employment application and submitting the related documents. When completing the online application, please upload the following: a cover letter, curriculum vitae, teaching portfolio and publications, and copies of official transcripts scanned into an electronic format.

    A background check will be required for the candidate selected for this position. This position is subject to funding.

    For more information and to apply, visit  www.fau.edu/jobs and go to Apply Now REQ07429.

    Florida Atlantic University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action/equal access institution and all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veterans status or other protected status. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation, please call 561-297-3057. 711.

    FAU is committed to the principles of engaged teaching, research and service.  All persons aspiring to achieve excellence in the practice of these principles are encouraged to apply.

    Employer Description:

    Contact: Human Resources

    Email: sociology@fau.edu

    Phone: (561) 297-3270

    Website: http://www.fau.edu/artsandletters/sociology/

  • 44th Annual Conference on the Political Economy of the World-System (PEWS)

    Deadline Extended to Monday, October 7th
    Call for Papers: “World-Systems Analysis in a Critical Juncture”

    44th Annual Conference on the Political Economy of the World-System (PEWS)
    Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
    The Arrighi Center for Global Studies at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
    April 10-11, 2020

    The 44th Annual Conference on the Political Economy of the World-System takes place during a critical juncture for both the field of world-systems analysis and for the world-system itself. In this time of escalating systemic chaos, we seek papers that utilize a world-systems perspective to analyze the social, political, and economic challenges of the current juncture. To more effectively grapple with these challenges, this conference also aims to reconstruct the foundations of world-systems analysis and to develop useful synergies with other critical perspectives within the social sciences.

    1. Global Crisis and Systemic Chaos. A world-systems perspective can provide unique insights into the multiple system-level problems facing the world today—for example, xenophobic nationalism, militarism, neo-fascism, the refugee crisis, and environmental degradation. We seek papers that use the tools of world-systems analysis to shed light on the current global crisis.
    2. Reconstructing the Lineages of World-Systems Analysis. While some of the foundational contributions of world-systems analysis continue to be well-examined by its practitioners today, others have fallen outside the main corpus of the perspective. We seek papers that evaluate the contemporary relevance of contributions such as Terence K. Hopkins’ methodological essays in World-Systems Analysis: Theory and Methodology; Giovanni Arrighi’s Geometry of Imperialism; Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa; Ruy Mauro Marini’s Dialética da Dependência; Samir Amin’s Accumulation on a World Scale; and Janet Abu-Lughod’s Before European Hegemony.
    3. Epistemological Inclusion and Exclusion in World-Systems Analysis. In what ways has world-systems analysis succeeded (or failed) to incorporate major insights from other critical perspectives that share key epistemological premises? How can world-systems analysis develop new synergies with these other critical perspectives? Of particular interest are papers that enter into a dialogue with analyses focusing on race, gender, sexuality, and/or kinship.

    Submissions and Support: Please send paper proposals (less than 500 words) by Monday, October 7, 2019 to [pews-2020@umd.edu<mailto:pews-2020@umd.edu>]. Please include affiliations and contact information for all authors. Conference presenters will be provided lodging and meals during their stay. Papers selected for the conference will be considered for publication in a peer-reviewed edited book.

    Conference organization:
    Patricio Korzeniewicz, Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park
    Beverly Silver, The Arrighi Center for Global Studies, Johns Hopkins University
    Corey Payne, The Arrighi Center for Global Studies, Johns Hopkins University

  • Job Opening at Wisconsin Madison

    The Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is conducting several job searches this fall. As we are recruiting both in specialized subfields and also at advanced rank, I fear that these ads may be missed by some of those on the market. If you would kindly distribute our advertisements to your ASA section members and to anyone else that may be interested, I would be very grateful.

    1. We are conducting an open area search at the assistant or associate professor level. The deadline for full consideration is October 15, 2019.https://jobs.hr.wisc.edu/en-us/job/502698/assistant-or-associate-professor-of-sociology
    2. In conjunction with the School of Social Work, we are recruiting an assistant professor to lead a research program on the Societal Aspects of Sexual Violence cluster hire position.  The deadline for full consideration is October 1.https://jobs.hr.wisc.edu/cw/en-us/job/502049/assistant-professor-societal-aspects-of-sexual-violence-cluster-hire
    3. With the Department of Gender and Women’s studies we are recruiting an assistant professor with a research agenda on the Social Causes and Consequences of Reproductive Health Inequities.  The deadline for full consideration is October 1.https://jobs.hr.wisc.edu/en-us/job/502301/professor-causes-consequences-of-reproductive-health-inequities-cluster

  • Opening at UC Riverside

    The Department of Sociology at the University of California, Riverside invites applications for a tenured faculty position at the rank of Associate Professor in Organizations and Institutions. The Organizations and Institutions specialization at UC Riverside examines the development and contemporary structure of organizations and the institutional systems (e.g., economy, polity, law, education, kinship, and religion) in which they are embedded. The organizations component of the specialization focuses on research related to the theoretical traditions in the study of organizations, including but not limited to neo-institutional, ecological, resource dependence, network, and institutional economic approaches. It also focuses on the organizational influences on behavioral and distributional outcomes. The institutional component of the specialization focuses on the historical development of institutions, their inter-relations over time, as well as institutional effects on behavior, organizational structure, and distributional outcomes. Candidates for this position may work in the area of organizations, institutions, or both.

    Competitive candidates will engage in theoretically informed empirical research in Organizations and/or Institutions. The candidate selected for this position will contribute to the teaching mission of the university and be encouraged to establish cooperative research activities with other campus departments and/or professional schools, research centers and colleges. Candidates should demonstrate a strong record of publication and an established record of teaching excellence. Applicants must have a PhD in Sociology and have Organizations and/or Institutions as their primary research interest. Salary will be competitive and commensurate with education and experience. The appointment will be effective July 1, 2020.

    Applicants will be required to submit a cover letter of interest, an updated CV, a research statement, evidence of teaching excellence, two writing samples, a Statement of Past and/or Planned Future Contributions to Advancing Diversity and Inclusive Excellence, and three letters of reference.  Review of applications will begin on November 15, 2019 and will continue until the position is filled. Applications and supporting materials received by November 15, 2019 will receive full consideration.  Applications and materials will be submitted using UCR’s on-line application system located at https://aprecruit.ucr.edu/apply/JPF01184.

    Advancement through the faculty ranks at the University of California is through a series of structured, merit-based evaluations, occurring every 2-3 years, each of which includes substantial peer input.

    UCR is a world-class research university with an exceptionally diverse undergraduate student body. Its mission is explicitly linked to providing routes to educational success for underrepresented and first-generation college students. A commitment to this mission is a preferred qualification.

    The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

    Department Contact Person: Tanya Nieri, PhD, Search Committee Chair, tanyan@ucr.edu

    ASA Job Bank #15882

  • IPE Subsection of the Sociology of Development

    The International Political Economy (IPE) subsection of the Sociology of Development seeks to bring together scholars who study the intersection of states and markets through a cross-national lens.  IPE scholars recognize the centrality of the political economy for studying international development.  Scholars in this subsection examine a range of issues, including economic growth, income inequality, poverty, health conditions, environmental degradation, institutions, and much more.  IPE emphasizes the significance of economic and political globalization, including the flow of goods, capital, and people, as well as the formation of international organizations and other multilateral institutions that exist in the world economy.  IPE scholars also investigate political economies within individual societies and how they influence race, class, gender, and other forms of stratification.  IPE embraces a wide variety of theoretical and methodological approaches that help advance our understanding of the political economy in a global context.  Ultimately, the subsection aims to facilitate the formation of scholarly networks comprised of those studying IPE in sociology and related disciplines, including international relations, political science, and economics.

    The IPE subsection operates a mailing list that enables members to have conversations and share information and resources related to IPE, including funding opportunities, job advertisements, calls for papers, conference announcements, teaching materials, and links to scholarly work.  To subscribe to the IPE mailing list (ipesocdev@googlegroups.com), contact Rob Clark (robclark@ou.edu).

    Founding Members

    Rob Clark (University of Oklahoma)

    Jeffrey Kentor (Wayne State University)

    Matthew Mahutga (University of California-Riverside)

  • Immanuel Wallerstein

    Immanuel Wallerstein

    It is with profound sorrow that we at the Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems, and Civilizations join the family, friends and colleagues of Immanuel Wallerstein, founding Director of the Center, in mourning his passing Saturday last, 31 August 2019.  Immanuel changed the way we see the world; indeed, he changed the world that we see.  He changed the way we understand what we experience and the forms of meaningful action we can take to transform our world into a more egalitarian and substantively rational one.  But we shall miss more than his intellectual leadership and scholarly example; we shall miss the man—his consideration, humor, and generosity.  He practiced his own dictum, “It is encouraged to encourage.”  For all who knew him, it was a supreme privilege.

    Richard E. Lee

    Director                                                      Bartle Professor
    Fernand Braudel Center                   Department of Sociology
    SUNY-Binghamton                               SUNY-Binghamton
    Binghamton, NY                                    Binghamton, NY
    13902-6000                                            13902-6000