Sociologists to Explore Movement “Toward a Sociology of Citizenship”—at Annual Meeting in August
Press Registration for American Sociological Association’s Annual Meeting, Aug. 14-17 in Atlanta, Georgia, is now open
Newswise — About 5,000 sociologists will convene in Atlanta, Georgia, this August to explore ideas and scientific research indicative of how sociology can contribute to a more complete understanding of the complexities of citizenship, as part of the American Sociological Association’s 105th Annual Meeting.
In addition to three plenary sessions featuring leading sociological minds, a series of special presidential panels will explore aspects of the meeting theme in greater depth or focus on issues of special interest to ASA President Evelyn Nakano Glenn. Nearly 600 additional sessions will feature the latest sociological research and perspectives from top sociologists.
WHAT: The American Sociological Association’s 105th Annual Meeting: “Toward a Sociology of Citizenship”
WHEN: Saturday, Aug. 14, through Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010 (Opening Plenary Session is Friday, Aug. 13 from 7 to 9 PM)
WHERE: Hilton Atlanta (255 Courtland St. NE) and Atlanta Marriott Marquis (265 Peachtree Center Ave. NE)
MAJOR PLENARY SESSIONS:
• Where is the “Public” in the Public University? How Disinvestment in Higher Education Threatens Democratic Citizenship Friday, Aug. 13, 7 – 9 PM (Atlanta Marriott Marquis)Panelists examine the political and financial crises in universities and the acceleration of privatization and corporatization of the public university. They will also turn critical gazes on the consequences of privatization and corporatization for inclusion and participation in educational institutions and explore how the very notions of democracy and substantive citizenship have thereby been impoverished.
• T.H. Marshall’s “Citizenship and Social Class”: A 60th Anniversary Retrospective Saturday, Aug. 14, 12:30 – 2:10 PM (Atlanta Marriott Marquis)The 2010 Annual Meeting coincides with the 60th anniversary of the publication of Marshall’s seminal essay, which has remained the touchtone for contemporary scholarship on citizenship. Marshall’s essay identified three aspects of citizenship—civil, political, and social rights—and argued that the rise of the post-World War II welfare state gave members of the working class social rights that enabled them to realize substantive civil and political citizenship. This panel will explore which aspects of the essay have proven to be the most (and least) insightful in light of subsequent research and the many economic, social, and cultural changes that have taken place since it was written.
• The Global Financial Crisis: Passages to New Policies and a New Economic Citizenship? Monday, Aug. 16, 12:30 – 2:10 PM (Atlanta Marriott Marquis)This session will provide a sociological analysis of the current global financial crisis, tracing its roots to the rise and fall of market doctrines and the political forces that support them. The sociological analysis offered in this session will also show us that the opportunities for new citizenship rights are constrained by the reforms to save capitalism from its own excesses, which might only pave the way for the evolution of capitalism, incorporating new forms of ultimately destructive financial speculation.
PRESIDENTIAL PANELS
• Political Representation and the U.S. Census Saturday, Aug. 14, 10:30 AM – 12:10 PM (Hilton Atlanta)U.S. Census Director Robert M. Groves will describe the design and conduct of the 2010 census enumeration, the innovations and changes in the census this decade, and the roadmap for completing the census and delivering the apportionment and redistricting data to the President and Congress in late 2010 and early 2011. Groves will also offer some speculations of changes to censuses to match the increasing diversity of the American public and field questions from the audience.
• Rebuilding Society after Natural and Social Disasters Saturday, Aug. 14, 2:30 – 4:10 PM (Hilton Atlanta)Adam Mahomed Habib, a respected political scientist and Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research, Innovation and Advancement at the University of Johannesburg, as well as a Muslim of Indian extraction who has been a vocal critic of the war in Iraq and some U.S. terrorism-related policies, will offer his perspective on democratization and its consolidation in South Africa, philanthropy, giving and its impact on poverty alleviation and development. Habib had been denied entry to the United States for more than three years for political reasons before the State Department ended the ban earlier this year, thanks in part to ASA. Other panelists will discuss race and class issues in the context of Hurricane Katrina, “reconstructions,” with a particular emphasis on Haiti, and “decolonized disaster” with respect to post-partition reconstruction in India and Pakistan.
• Transnational Feminisms and Precarious Citizenship Sunday, Aug. 15, 10:30 AM – 12:10 PM (Hilton Atlanta)This panel provides a comparative perspective on the imbrications of gender, race, sexuality, class, and postcoloniality in precarious citizenship as it appears in various places around the world. Panelists will address conditions, subject formations, and conduct implicated in states of precarious citizenship for women, lesbians, transgendered people, and others in India, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Brazil.
CONTACT: Daniel Fowler, ASA Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer, [email protected], 202-527-7885
Editor’s Note: Complimentary media registration is open. Download the press policy and registration form online at http://www.asanet.org/images/press/docs/doc/2010PressRegistration.DOC. Visit http://www.asanet.org/2010Program.cfm for the meeting’s searchable preliminary program and additional details.
About the American Sociological AssociationThe American Sociological Association (www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society.
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