Venue:
Bielefeld University, Germany, September 3–7, 2012
From 3–7 September 2012, the Research Training Group of the Collaborative Research Centre "From Heterogeneity to Inequality" (SFB 882) in cooperation with the Research Unit on "Transnationalization, Development and Migration" (Professor Thomas Faist) is organizing an International Summer School. The summer school offers advanced Masters and PhD students the opportunity to discuss their social scientific research work.
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Summer school theme:
A transnational perspective is an approach widely used to describe and account for a broad range of phenomena, ranging from political participation, social movements and questions of identities. The production, reproduction and perception of social inequalities in cross-border contexts is still underresearched, however. This summer school embeds the analysis of social inequalities in a general context of inequalities in the world, namely the transnational social question. Whereas the ‘old’ social question in the nineteenth century focused on the dichotomies of class, there are manifold ‘new’ heterogeneities that have come into focus in transnational research, such as gender, ethnicity/race, age or transnationality. Two fields of analysis are discussed in detail: cross-border migration and commodity chains—the first relating to the mobility of people, the second to the mobility of capital. Where migration is concerned, inequalities between regions are among the roots of geographical mobility, but inequality itself is (re)produced or diminished through migration, for example, by remittances or care chains. From a transnational perspective, it is of utmost importance to consider the multiple reference points in which different orders of inequalities may prevail, such as emigration and immigration regions. With respect to commodity chains, it is important to consider practices and rules regulating work and security, such as labour standards. Questions arise in this regard as to who is covered by standards and thus who receives social protection. The discussion of substantive topics is embedded in methodological reflections and the question of how to apply methods in ways that avoid methodological nationalism.
Submitting papers:
The summer school offers a combined structure of lecture and presentation. It provides advanced Masters and PhD students of sociology and related disciplines an opportunity to present their research work in progress. We invite Masters and PhD students to submit papers on the summer school theme; these can be of a theoretical, conceptual as well as empirical nature. During the summer school each slot will span 45 minutes (20 minutes for presentation, followed by a 5 minutes commentary by the discussant and another 20 minutes of open discussion). In addition, each participant is asked to serve as a discussant for another paper presented. The language of the summer school is English.
If you would like to attend the summer school, please submit an abstract of your thesis (max. 400 words) together with a short CV by March 31, 2012. The 12 accepted applicants are asked to send a full paper (max. 5.000 words) by June 30, 2012. The papers will be circulated to the summer school discussants and participants.
Please submit your application to the following address: international.soc@uni-bielefeld.de.
Costs:
There are no conference fees. For external Masters and PhD students a contribution toward travel and accommodation expenses can be granted on demand. Participants will need to cover the costs of meals and other expenses themselves.
Further information
Contact of organizers:
Professor Thomas Faist (Bielefeld University)
thomas.faist@uni-bielefeld.de
Eveline Reisenauer (Bielefeld University)
international.soc@uni-bielefeld.de
For inquiries please contact:
Eveline Reisenauer
Faculty of Sociology
Bielefeld University
PO Box 100131
33501 Bielefeld
Germany
Fon: +49 521 106-4636
Email: international.soc@uni-bielefeld.de
