This conference offers the opportunity to confront theories which attempt to understand by means of the concepts of crisis and critique our contemporary world. The conference theme assumes that it is not merely historical and political problems that are being raised by crisis and critique, but theoretical questions which are challenging us this day to search for an answer. Should the sociological critique abandon its pseudo-scientific assumption of exterior stance? How to understand scepticism and suspicion about making normative claims in theorizing current form of crisis? Is there a place for the utopian promise of revolutionary commitments in contemporary sociology? Can sociology address fundamental social, cultural and political issues without narratives of crisis? Participants are encouraged to bring up a critical perspective on topics related to both classical and contemporary social theory such as: The role of crisis and critique played in the mode how sociology have addressed basic social and cultural issues of modernity. The dual crisis of modern society and modern sociology. Sociology as a response to the recurrent experience of crisis within modernity. Sociology as a critical discipline challenging the taken for granted assumptions of dominant interpretive discourses. Critical social theory and its links to domination and emancipation. Theories of social action and the critique of behaviorist, utilitarian and positivist conceptual frames. Finally, crisis and critique is present in core texts of many social theorists from Mills and Gouldner to Habermas and Derrida, from the critique of mass society to the crisis of structuralism.
Thematic sessions will bearranged on the basis of papers submitted and themes proposed, but participants are invited to suggest proposals at an early stage, thus enabling the organizers to announce a number of discursive forums in advance.
Abstract submission deadline: 6th May 2012
Notification of authors deadline: 20th May 2012
Conference registration deadline: 30th June 2012
Please submit your proposal (max. 250 words) by email to:
Csaba Szaló (coordinator, ESA Social Theory, Masaryk University, Brno):
szalo@mail.muni.cz
Plus d’informations sur le site de l’association: European Sociological Association