Category: Call for Papers

CALL FOR PAPERS FOR THE 50th ANNIVERSARY ISSUE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORY

What is the relationship between the past and the present? What is the nature of how change occurs or does not occur over time? This anniversary issue explores the multiple possibilities. For example, in some cases, the present is seen in the past, as a repetition of it. This can be conceptualized as cycles of history that reoccur over time. However, another conceptualization is the past as a creator of the present—that is, the past in different ways leads to the present. These paths might be linear, path dependent, or historically constructed. Yet another idea is that past and present are unique, and in fact, unrelated.

Thus, the relationship between the past and present takes many different forms. Scholars who emphasize the repercussions of a new and unexpected shock imply discontinuity and rupture between past and present. In contrast, the literatures that document the later life consequences of early life or intergenerational experience tend to focus attention on continuities and the past as a creator of the present. Similarly, the long-term persistence of the structures of inequality suggests a process of replication and even stasis. Even social scientists who use statistical models to analyze historical data over time implies some kind of relationship between the past and later points. Variety exists within fields: both technology history and historical institutionalism offer up examples of developments that are path dependent along with ones that represent a complete break from the past.  Whatever the field, the model, the literature and most importantly, the historical question, how the relationship between the past and present is perceived, is key to social science history research. These are just a few of the many possibilities!

The Fall 2026 issue is the 50th anniversary of Social Science History. For this issue, the theme of “past and present” will be explored. Papers should address this theme in some way, either theoretically, empirically, substantively (or some combination of them). All papers must be suitable for publication in Social Science History (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/social-science-history) and will undergo peer review before publication.

200-word abstracts are due by April 2nd, 2024, and a final paper must be ready for review by January 15, 2025. Abstracts should be sent to socialsciencehistory@ssha.org.

CHS Panels / Call for Papers for ASA 2024 in Montreal (Deadline February 26, 2024)

We are very excited to share our section panels being organized for next year’s ASA. These include an invited session, “Towards an Intersectional Comparative-Historical Sociology,” and three panels open for paper submission plus our roundtables session. 

The online portal is open for submissions! The deadline is February 26, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. 

Comparative and/or Historical Sociology: Open Session (*Open to papers/extended abstract submission)

We welcome submissions on topics of comparative and/or historical sociology, broadly defined.
(Session Organizer) Vasfiye Betul Toprak, University of Virginia; (Session Organizer) Simeon J. Newman 

Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Politics (*Open to papers/extended abstract submission)
Historical sociologists have increasingly turned attention to tracing various ways colonial and imperial state practices and rule have shaped social, political, and economic life in successor independent states and post-imperial metropoles. This panel welcomes papers across a wide range of regions and cases that address questions of colonial continuity or change related to contemporary political outcomes. These include, but are not limited to, liberal / authoritarian systems, identity politics and movements, political contention, ethnic and racial classifications, citizenship, and legal systems.
(Session Organizer) Yael H Berda, Hebrew University of Jerusalem 

Field Theory, History, and Sociological Analysis: New Directions (*Open to papers/extended abstract submission)
Field theory has increasingly been deployed as a vigorous framework for historical sociological analysis. Applied to history, Bourdieu’s field theory underscores the importance of examining processes of contestation among social actors as a means to highlight both the objective features of their social world and their subjective perception of it. This session invites papers that theoretically and empirically engage and advance field theory and its insights into a wide range of historical cases.
(Session Organizer) Sourabh Singh, Florida State University
(Discussant) George Steinmetz, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor 

Section on Comparative-Historical Sociology Roundtables (*Open to papers/extended abstract submission)
We welcome submissions on topics of comparative and/or historical sociology, broadly defined.
(Session Organizer) Vasfiye Betul Toprak, University of Virginia; (Session Organizer) Simeon J. Newman

Please consider submitting to this year’s special issue of Information Communication & Society (ICS). Drawing on papers presented at the 2021 or 2022 ASA conference and Media Sociology Symposium, the special issue welcomes papers that focus on any facet of media, technology, communication, information, or related topics.

ICS is a highly ranked, interdisciplinary journal that brings together current research on the social, economic, and cultural impacts of new information and communications technologies. The journal positions itself at the center of contemporary debates about the information age. (Please see Barry Wellman’s “CITASA and ICS: How the Relationship Began” for a history of the iCS-CITASA special issue.)

Submissions must conform to the ICS guidelines, are limited to 8,000 words (all inclusive), and must be submitted via Scholar One.  If you do not have an account, you will need to create one. Be sure to check the box for Special Issue and indicate “CITAMS” ( “Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology”) in it, so that it will be routed appropriately.

FAQ’s:

Who’s eligible? Anyone on the program for 2021 OR 2022 ASA events or the 2021 OR 2022 Media Sociology Symposium. This includes papers from any session or roundtable, as long as those papers address technology and/or media. It is not restricted to CITAMS sponsored sessions. This is an expanded window of eligibility to include the previous year as well as the current year.

Deadline? October 1, 2022

Is there wiggle room on the deadline?  Sorry, no. The timeline is tight and our deadline is hard.

In the past, the CITAMS special issue has included research notes. Can I submit one of those?  Yes, but please contact the lead editor (Dustin Kidd) prior to submitting a research note.

Who are the editors? Dustin Kidd is co-editing with Tim Recuber (Smith College) and a team of graduate students from Temple University

Who should I contact with questions? Please send all questions to Dustin Kidd (dkidd@temple.edu)

Timeline:

·      Complete papers due (submit via Scholar One) on October 1, 2022 before midnight AoE (Anywhere on Earth)

·      First round of reviews back to authors on November 1, 2022.

·      Final decisions made on December 15, 2022

·      Final papers due January 3, 2023

·      Special issue publication anticipated May 2023

* CITAMS thanks iCS for partnering with us for our annual special issues showcasing some of the best work from our section.

The American Sociological Association (ASA) invites you to submit your abstract for the session The Toolkit of Emerging Autocrats to present at the International Sociological Association’s XX World Congress of Sociology. The conference will take place in Melbourne, Australia from June 25th to July 1st, 2023. 

Description

How are the emerging autocrats grabbing and maintaining power across the world? Many aspiring autocrats share strategies and tools to undermine democratic processes. These strategies include changing political institutions, rewriting constitutions, silencing opposition, spreading misinformation, and crafting divisions by instigating racism, nativism, and nationalism. Through a global and comparative lens, the session panelists will examine the tools, conditions, and mechanisms that allow strongmen to successfully undermine democratic traditions and constrain civil rights.

The Toolkit of Emerging Autocrats will be the ASA session at the International Sociological Association (ISA) conference. It is organized by Cecilia Menjívar (ASA president) and Deisy Del Real (ASA delegate to ISA). Please, direct your questions to (deisydel@usc.edu) and submit your 300-word abstracts by September 15, 2022.

In a world of vertiginous inequality, escalating ecological disaster, and extraordinary political and economic turbulence generated by a winner take all society seemingly designed to concentrate privilege and power in the hands of a very few, the central question that faces sociology is whether social protest will change anything or whether elites will continue to lead the planet and its population to disaster. All the important topics of contemporary sociology, including racial justice, environmental change, immigration, economic inequality, and education, to name a few, turn around this issue. The question of the power of elites, and the conditions under which that power might be tamed, happened to lie at the heart of the historical sociology of Richard Lachmann, who died tragically and suddenly this Fall. In his honor, we solicit papers that address the issues of elite and nonelite influences on political and social processes and outcomes. We welcome both theoretical and empirical papers. Submissions could be, for example, reprises of elite theory, critical summaries, critiques, discussions of class versus elite power, developments of alternatives (i.e., nonelite influences, people power), empirical evaluations of the relative power of elites and nonelites, or concrete investigations into the processes that maintain and undermine that power. Possible topics include the origins of capitalism, empires, elites and contemporary capitalism, social movements and elite conflict, and popular culture and influencers.

Abstracts are due to Rebecca Jean Emigh (emigh@soc.ucla.edu) and Dylan Riley on January 28^th, 2022 and should be no longer than 500 words. We are collecting papers with an eye to publishing them as an edited volume for a major university press.

Held as a hybrid in-person/zoom event on August 4th (additional details TBD)* 

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Friday, February 25, 2022 by 11:59PM PST 

We invite submissions of précis for the 16th Junior Theorists Symposium (JTS). The annual symposium will be held in person on August 4th (additional details TBD) prior to the 2022 ASA Annual Meeting. The JTS is a conference featuring the work of up-and-coming sociologists, sponsored in part by the Theory Section of the ASA. Since 2005, the conference has brought together early career sociologists who engage in theoretical work, broadly defined.  

It is our honor to announce that Steven Epstein (Northwestern University), Saskia Sassen (Columbia University), and Mario Small (Harvard University) will serve as discussants for this year’s symposium. Paul Joosse (Hong Kong University) and Robin Willey (Concordia University of Edmonton), winners of the 2021 Junior Theorist Award, will deliver a keynote address. Finally, the symposium will include an after-panel titled “Theorizing Intersections,” with panelists Tey Meadow (Columbia University), Tianna Paschel (UC Berkeley), Vrushali Patil (Florida International University), Mary Romero (Arizona State), and Adia Harvey Wingfield (Washington University St. Louis). 

We invite all ABD graduate students, recent PhDs, postdocs, and assistant professors who received their PhDs from 2018 onwards to submit up to a three-page précis (800-1000 words). The précis should include the key theoretical contribution of the paper and a general outline of the argument. Successful précis from last year’s symposium can be viewed here. Please note that the précis must be for a paper that is not under review or forthcoming at a journal. 

As in previous years, there is no pre-specified theme for the conference. Papers will be grouped into sessions based on emergent themes and discussants’ areas of interest and expertise. We invite submissions from all substantive areas of sociology. and we especially encourage papers that are works-in-progress and would benefit from the discussions at JTS. 

Please remove all identifying information from your précis and submit it via this Google form. Tara Gonsalves (University of California at Berkeley) and Davon Norris (The Ohio State University) will review the anonymized submissions. You can also contact them at juniortheorists@gmail.com with any questions. The deadline is Friday, February 25th. By mid-March, we will extend 9 invitations to present at JTS 2022. Please plan to share a full paper by July 5, 2022. Presenters will be asked to attend the symposium in its entirety in order to hear fellow scholars’ work. Please plan accordingly.  

*Presenters should plan to attend in-person, though this may change based on the Covid-19 pandemic. 

MARCO GARRIDO

We invite submissions for an edited volume on the sociology of
corruption. As we see it, a sociological approach treats corruption as
embedded “in concrete, ongoing systems of social relations”
(Granovetter 1985), with a particular focus on relations of power.

Embedding means understanding corruption with respect to the various
contexts constituting it as a social object with moral and
institutional force. These contexts may include various forms of
social organization (e.g., state, agency, corporation, association),
social groups, transactions, situations, and social processes (e.g.,
modernization and post-socialist transition). Our premise is that
corruption only makes sense as part of a larger map for organizing and
knowing the world, and thus our approach seeks to understand
corruption with an eye to this map. This is different from approaches
treating corruption as disembedded (i.e., the same everywhere
independently of context) or so analytically and conceptually absorbed
by social relations as to be reducible to prevailing norms and
discourses. The first approach emphasizes behavior and the second
culture. A focus on embeddedness allows us to bridge these approaches
by highlighting the social processes and organizations in which
corruption acquires identity or meaning within particular contexts.

The second distinctive feature of our approach is its focus on the
production, contestation, and exercise of power through and in
relation to corruption. The sociological study of corruption is
fundamentally concerned with how different social actors and groups gain
advantage relative to others through the definition of what is and
what is not corruption, the making of claims about corruption, the
actual transfer of resources via corruption, and the development and
implementation of policies in the name of fighting corruption. In
contrast to other scholarship, our approach rejects any assumptions
about the (im)morality of corruption and anti-corruption, focusing
instead on empirical inquiry into the meanings and implications of
corruption-related processes for actors in specific contexts.

We invite submissions that align with this approach and treat
corruption-related processes as (1) socially-embedded and (2)
generative and reflective of power relations. Substantively, chapters
may highlight processes of emergence and institutionalization (i.e.,
how corrupt practices take shape and become entrenched), articulation
(i.e., how corruption relates to other social objects, such as the
state and democracy), and mobilization (i.e., how the label of
corruption is invoked or used).

We envision a volume consisting of ten chapters of 10,000 words each.
Chapters should be new and not repackaged work and speak directly to
our framework. Interested parties should submit a paper title and
abstract to Marina Zaloznaya marina-zaloznaya@uiowa.edu, Nick Wilson
nicholas.wilson@stonybrook.edu, and Marco Garrido garrido@uchicago.edu by July 30. We will then invite 10 scholars to present their papers at a symposium in the University of Chicago on September 23-25 (travel and accommodations will be covered). We will produce a book proposal shortly thereafter and expect full chapter drafts by December 10,
2021. Please email Nick, Marina, and Marco with any questions.

SPRING/SUMMER 2021

We are soliciting content for our next issue of
Trajectories.  We are interested in 3 categories:

1)    If you are beginning or in the middle of a dissertation, please
write us and tell us about it;

2)    If you are a graduate student on the market, please take the
opportunity to tell us about yourself and your job aspirations

3)    Lastly, any other member who has news:  new job, new
publication; new projects—send us a brief description as if you were
running into us at an ASA cocktail party.  July 25 is the latest for
this content.