Since our last newsletter, we have made significant progress towards organizing the XX ISA World Congress of Sociology, to be held in a hybrid format in Melbourne, Australia from June 25 to July 1, 2023.
Twenty-seven of your economy & society colleagues crafted session proposals and issued calls for abstracts. Many of their sessions received a very large number of high-quality abstracts. This created an uncomfortable situation for selecting among very strong abstracts for oral presentations. This pressure was partly relieved after the President of the ISA (Sari Hanafi) was able to allocate to RC02 an additional three sessions, and our colleagues in RC35 (Conceptual and Terminological Analysis) generously contributed an additional session that we are co-hosting. At the end of the day, RC02 is hosting or co-hosting 34 sessions, with approximately 200 papers. Whether you will join us in-person or virtually (or both), I believe that you will find a wealth of insights at RC02 sessions that will cover the breadth of economy and society. In addition to RC02, at the World Congress there are 66 other Research Committees, Thematic Groups and Working Groups organizing sessions to peak your sociological curiosity. I warmly invite you to mark your calendars and plan on joining us.
Would you like to become more involved with this international community? The work is gratifying. Over the next few months, I will be reaching out with diverse service opportunities in which you can express yourself and apply your skills. To give a small taste of what is to come: We’ll be organizing an Economy and Society Junior Scholars Laboratory in Melbourne immediately before the World Congress. The goal of the Laboratory is to attract junior scholars to RC02 and provide vehicles for mentorship, workshopping for publication, and career advice. We’ll be organizing social events to compensate for the tedium of COVID-lockdowns and the lost connections in virtual conferences. We’ll be organizing an inaugural committee to award an author for the best book in Economy and Society since the last World Congress. And in addition to all of this, we have space and money for YOUR IDEAS. To volunteer, sign up here:
https://tinyurl.com/RC02volunteerFor2023
RC02 is one of the largest and most active Research Committees in the International Sociological Association. In part, this is due to the centrality of our research to the discipline. And it is due, undoubtedly, to the present and past Boards of RC02. But the lifeblood of RC02 is its members. What do you want to do?
I look forward to finding out, and meeting you in Melbourne in 2023.
Sincerely,
Aaron Pitluck
President, Economy and Society Research Committee (ISA RC02, 2018-2023)
Illinois State University