Contemporary Governance and the Question of the Social
Call for Conference Papers & Panels
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Edmonton, Canada
June 11-13, 2004
At the dawn of the 21st century scholars from across the social sciences
and humanities are grappling with the concept of 'the
social' and its relationship to historical, contemporary and future modes
of governance. To be sure, there is no consensus on
the meaning and content of the social. To some it was a legitimating
construct of welfarism, a notion that temporarily mediated
the conflicts and contradictions of capitalist social relations. For
others, the social has a longer history and is related to concepts
such as 'civil society', 'the commons' and the 'public sphere'. Still
others are grappling with notions of the social as 'not-yet
realized', as an emancipatory, even utopian, notion of identity and
community that would be in keeping with what Marx may
have meant by 'socialized humanity'. Interestingly, however, a wide range
of scholars suggest that the future of the social is
threatened by the new social geographies associated with the rise of
individualization, consumerism, globalism, and the politics
of social pluralization. It appears, moreover, that the once common
practice of mapping the social onto the territory of the
nation state is increasingly problematic as globalism undermines the
sanctity of national sovereignty and the primacy of national
economies.
This conference invites participants to think through the question of the
social in contemporary governance. It is hoped that
papers will grapple with the meaning of the social, as well as with its
relationship to evolving modes of governance. Amongst the
types of political and philosophical issues that papers might address, are
the following:
How is contestation over the meaning and relevance of public goods,
social justice and democracy tied to the place of
the social in contemporary global governance?
In what ways is understanding sociality and building 'the social'
associated with achieving sustainable societies?
How are freedom, responsibility, social rights and citizenship
transformed in light of the changing relationship of the social
to contemporary governance in the North and the South?
What are the bases of sociality, solidarity and political community in
light of the changing character and content of the
social?
Do the increasingly popular notions of social cohesion, social
inclusion and social capital express new perspectives on
the use of the social as an instrument and object of governance?
Is a new conception of the social essential to embedding and taming
hyper-liberal global capitalism?
This open call for papers and panels goes out to scholars from policy
studies to social theory, from democratic theory to
political economy, from social movement studies to research on
globalization, from political philosophy to sociology and history.
Single-page abstracts (approx. 250 words).
Submitted to: [log in to unmask]
By: Due Date
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