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Call for Papers Theme: Classical Sociology Beyond the Nation-State? Subtitle: The Quest for Today's Europe Type: International Conference Institution: Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Sociali e delle Comunicazioni, Università degli Studi di Salerno Sezione Teorie Sociologiche e Trasformazioni Sociali, Associazione Italiana di Sociologia (AIS) Location: Fisciano (Italy) Date: 6.–7.10.2011 Deadline: 30.5.2011 __________________________________________________ According to a recent literature, sociology, at its birth and up until recent times, has assumed a substantial identity of ‘society’ and ‘nation’. Classic authors such as Simmel, Marx, Sombart, Weber, Durkheim would have taken for granted such a coincidence, paving the path to what would later be called ‘methodological nationalisms’. On the basis of this – it is argued – social theories of classic sociologists would not be capable of grasping the reality of today’s societies which are becoming more and more interdependent at a supranational level; furthermore, and more importantly, they cannot but fail to interpret the social changes taking place in contemporary Europe. The conference aims at rejecting such an understanding of the classics while accepting that a mere coincidence of ‘nation’ and ‘society’ is incapable of understanding today’s world. In particular, the hypothesis put forward is that their sociological categories were far more complex and that they already went beyond the idea of a society closed within the boundaries of the nation-state; because they were universalistic in nature, such categories are therefore, today, quite apt to understand social phenomena of an ever more interdependent world. The purpose of this conference is to reassess the way classic sociology looked at society between 1871 and 1945, when the nation was at its apogee, and try to shed light on the possible ways of using some of its ideas to understand the ongoing changes in today’s Europe; the conference will try to pursue such aims by addressing issues such as: 1) The relationship between the ‘nation’ and ‘society’ according to classic sociologists; 2) The relationship between the ‘national society’ and ‘European society’ in the works of these authors; 3) The way their analysis can help develop a sociology of global society capable of understanding today’s Europe . If you would like to present a paper (max 3500 words), please send an abstract in English (max 300 words), including a suitable title, together with a short biography by 30th May 2011 to Massimo Pendenza (University of Salerno), [email protected], or to Matthew D’Auria (University of Salerno), [email protected]. Please note that the working languages will be Italian, English and French. Limited funding is available. Contact: Matthew D'Auria Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Sociali e delle Comunicazioni Università degli Studi di Salerno Via Ponte don Melillo 84084 Fisciano Italy Email: [email protected] __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org __________________________________________________
