Just a reminder: December 15 is the deadline for paper abstracts for the
1999 PEWS conference. A copy of the Call for Papers is attached
below.
>>>Call for Papers: PEWS 1999
>>>Political Economy of the World-System XXIII Annual Conference
>>>
>>>INEQUALITY AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
>>>
>>>The twenty-third annual conference of the Political Economy of the
>>>World-System Section of the American Sociological Association will
take place March 26-27, 1999 on the campus of the University of
Maryland,
>>>College Park.
>>>
>>>In anticipation of the two plenary PEWS conferences to come in the
years 2000 and 2001, we are interested in examining two pivotal issues
in
>>>world-systems analysis from an inter-disciplinary perspective.
Inequality and social movements have not only motivated many of us to
work with
a world-systems approach, but they have provided the substance of our
work as well. They form two of the central concepts guiding the
formation of
>>>world-systems analysis. At the same time, they point to two of the
issues most contested across disciplinary boundaries. We hope to elicit
an
>>>interdisciplinary discussion around the ways in which contestation
over the centrality or limitations of these issues can inform
world-systems
analysis.
>>>
>>>*Inequality has been central to the development of world-system
analysis as both constituting an object of knowledge and as a set of
conceptual
>>>parameters for studying large-scale, long-term social change. What
have we learned about (a) changes in patterns of inequality in the
modern
>>>world-system; and (b) theoretical/methodological advantages of using
a world-historical perspective in studying these patterns of
large-scale,long-term social change?
>>>
>>>*Inequality has been linked to the development of social movements,
and social movements are in turn central to our understanding of
opposition and anti-systemic agency. What are some of the most salient
contemporary
>>>features of these processes? What are the theoretical/
methodological
>>>advantages of using a world-historical perspective in studying
patterns of
>>>opposition?
>>>
>>>*Recently, power has come to the fore as occupying an important axis
around
>>>which social differences are constructed and challenged. The
relationship
>>>between power and inequality has also been a topic of debate within
>>>world-systems analysis. What are the limits to the study of
inequality?
>>>Is power a more inclusive analytical category? Is inequality an
indicator
>>>of power?
>>>
>>>*We are interested in exploring areas of contention/intersection with
other
>>>theoretical perspectives on social difference and social movements,
and in
>>>analyzing how different perspectives produce knowledge(s) useful as
so many
>>>strategic interventions into multiple locations of power and
anti-systemic
>>>agency. For example, in what ways do post-colonial, postmodern,
feminist,
>>>and cultural studies enhance our understanding of world-systemic
processes
>>>and challenge the centrality of inequality to the study of the modern
>>>world-system? What are some of the similarities and differences in
their
>>>approach to the study of, for example, hegemony?
>>>
>>>*'Social movement' entails a set of assumptions about how we know
social
>>>change when we see it. New perspectives on power and social
difference
>>>often rattle existing understandings of anti-systemic agency. In
what
>>>ways? This set of questions has been reduced in the past to a debate
>>>between materialist and ideological/cultural positions. How can we
best
>>>analyze such debates as artifacts of world-historical processes? Are
there
>>>alternative ways of posing these questions that suggest innovations
in the
>>>study of long-term, large-scale social change?
>>>
>>>We will provide lodging and some meals for conference participants.
>>>Selected papers from the conference will be published in the annual
series
>>>edited through Greenwood Press. THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS OF
PAPERS OR DETAILED ABSTRACTS IS DECEMBER 15, 1998. Please submit
materials to either
>>>Nancy Forsythe (af55@umail.umd.edu) or Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz
>>>(rk81@umail.umd.edu), Department of Sociology, University of
Maryland,
>>>College Park, Maryland, USA, 20742.
>>>
>>
>>Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz
>>Associate Professor
>>Department of Sociology
>>University of Maryland, College Park
>>College Park MD 20742
>>ph. (301) 405-6398
>>fax (301) 314-6892
>>rk81@umail.umd.edu
>>
>
>Nancy Forsythe
>Dept. of Sociology and
>Center on Population, Gender and Social Inequality
>University of Maryland, College Park
>AF55@umail.umd.edu
>301-405-6408