RN 37 Programme

Boundaries and belonging in urban realities – RN 37 (Urban Sociology) call for papers within ESA’s 2019 Conference

Europe is going through difficult times: of rising nationalism, populism and unstable political, social and economic situations which have the city as their main setting. We take the theme of this ESA Conference “Europe and Beyond: Boundaries, Borders and Belonging” as an opportunity to debate social, symbolic and physical dimensions of the boundaries and borders creation, negotiation and transgression in urban areas. Within a critical approach, belonging has the potential to help us rethink attachment to place and local life in a time of increased mobility between world cities, of virtual networks and communities, but also of privatisation of public spaces and commodification of urban life. 
We welcome papers on topics including, but not limited to:
• RN37_a – Urban Sociology (Open Session)
• RN37_b – Segregation and spatial forms of inequality
• RN37_c – Urban movements, the right to the city and new urban policies
• RN37_d – Consequences of digitalization in cities and urban life
• RN37_e – Mobility and its impact on urban communities
• RN37_f – Materiality in urban life
• RN37_g – Everyday life: continuities, changes, resistances
• RN37_h – Housing and dwelling
• RN37_i – Gender, age, ethnicity in urban space

The ESA RN37 Urban Sociology aims to continue the work developed at the previous ESA conferences and Midterm Conferences, by stimulating the cross-disciplinary debate on urban life, urban spaces and urban dynamics. At the Manchester ESA Conference we are interested in receiving proposals focusing on empirical data, but also specifically on the theoretical and methodological aspects of research, especially papers proposing innovative approaches.

Urban Ageing: Towards an enhanced spatial perspective

Joint Session of RN 37 (Urban Sociology) and RN01 (Ageing in Europe)

Call for papers of the Joint Session
Cities have become central to research on the complexities and multidimensionality of ageing. By combining the perspectives of urban sociology and the sociology of ageing we seek a better understanding of what urbanity represents in terms of experiences, advantages and disadvantages for older residents. We would welcome papers applying innovative theoretical and methodological approaches in studies on urban ageing, but also papers comparing aspects of ageing in urban, suburban, or rural settings.

Transforming cities in a global transforming world

Joint Session with RN15 – Global, Transnational and Cosmopolitan Sociology 

Call for papers of the Joint Session

Cities are places where globalization manifests itself with particular intensity; and cities, in turn, contribute decisively to shaping globalization processes. For this reason, cities are a privileged observation point for globalization and in particular for global / local dialectics. So, we welcome contributions which analyze, on one side, the impact of globalization processes on cities’ life and structure, and, on the other side, the role of cities in shaping and directing globalization itself.

Migration and the city: Urban spaces and the reordering of borders, boundaries, and belongings in contemporary Europe

Joint Session with RN35  – Sociology of Migration

Call for papers of the Joint Session

Migration and urban realities are deeply entangled. Cities and metropolises have had an important impact on migrants’ everyday life and biographies throughout our modern times. In turn, urban neighbourhoods are socially, politically, and economically affected by transnational mobility. The key question of this joint session is how the political and the spatial dimensions are intertwined in the current European context. It focuses, first, on the tensions that currently evolve between urban, national, and European political dynamics and, second, on the “urban” opportunities for countering everyday racisms and authoritarian backlashes in European migration regimes.

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