HomeCalifornia as the Epicenter of Social Sciences

California as the Epicenter of Social Sciences

La Californie : épicentre des sciences sociales ?

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Published on Friday, November 08, 2024

Abstract

Français English

This international symposium aims to gather and unify the various strands of social science research—including American studies, sociology, social anthropology, history, political science, and geography—whose methodologies (archival work, oral history, ethnography, participant observation, semi-structured interviews, etc.) allow for an intersectional examination of territorial, social, and racial inequalities and policies. It will offer a forum for field insights into the challenges and difficulties faced by France-based scholars in applying these methodologies to distant research fields.

 

Announcement

Français English

Argument

California occupies a central position in American studies and has inspired countless papers and books from its admission to statehood up to the present. While other U.S. cities and regions have in the past attracted the attention of social scientists on the occasion of international symposiums—such as the international conference on the Rust Belt held at Université Paris-Est Créteil in 2019, or the “France-Louisiana: A Special Relationship” symposium at Université Bordeaux Montaigne in 2023, in light of the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase and the tricentennial founding of New Orleans by the French—few other states have commanded similar attention in recent years. This renewed interest in California prompted the “California in Questions” seminar at Université Paris Sorbonne in 2022-2023, foregrounding anglophone studies on the State. At least two special journal issues were also dedicated to California (“California, at America’s Vanguard,” Politique américaine, 2007; “California,” Pouvoirs, 2010). French and U.S. funding policies have further highlighted the links between France and California, with the establishment of the Institut des Amériques’ branch at UCLA and the France-Berkeley and France-Stanford research funds in the late 1990s.

Often seen as a forge of liberalism since the late 1960s and a catalyst for new forms of social and political protest, California has become a true laboratory for the social sciences. Researchers have been keen to highlight its innovative and experimental social and environmental policies, many of which later spread to other regions, both nationally and internationally. Scholars have also emphasized the new epistemologies emerging from California in fields as diverse as gender studies, critical race theory, and queer and LGBTQ+ studies. With Silicon Valley’s technological leadership and the state’s pioneering efforts in ecological transition (Sims, 2022), California stands as a land of contrasts as well as a stage for social and political protest, especially regarding petroleum dependence, decarbonization, and the extractive economy of lithium mining (Slatery et al., 2023). 

California has likewise pioneered new immigration policies, such as Proposition 187 or SB54 in 2017, which designated it as a “sanctuary State.” Proposition 54 was the first law of its kind in the field of racial classification, while the state also broke new ground in voting redistricting with the creation of a citizens’ committee that later inspired a similar model in Michigan, as well as in primary vote reform through its Top-Two primaries of 2010.

While its innovative character is beyond dispute, it is worth examining the specificity and singularity of studies on California today, however diverse they may be. This research has explored rural spaces as well as the urban and suburban landscapes emblematic of the Los Angeles megalopolis (Le Goix, 2016). In this context, studies on Los Angeles hold particular significance. Where Chicago once symbolized an epistemological renewal in the social sciences—particularly with the Chicago School’s approach to urban ecology through Burgess’s concentric zone model (Rea, 2021)—Los Angeles has become a new field of inquiry, inspiring socio-historical approaches to urban transition.

Active since the 2000s, the Los Angeles school offers a new analytical model that examines how urban sprawl shapes activities at the city center (Sénécal, 2007). The Los Angeles megalopolis, with its unique characteristics, has attained the status of both model and exception, much as Chicago did in the early 20th century. A city of renewal but also one marked by enduring socio-spatial inequalities, Los Angeles remains a constantly evolving field of study for French scholars (Talpin, 2015; Le Moigne, 2016; Le Moigne, 2017; Coppolani, 2003; Devienne, 2015; Devienne, 2020; Edwards-Grossi, 2020; Edwards-Grossi, 2024).Due to its proximity to the Mexican border (Lestage, 2019) and its role as a North-South interface, California wields significant influence over national debates on border security (Fortuné, 2022) and demographic changes, particularly in Los Angeles, where non-Hispanic whites have lost numerical dominance. More broadly, the deeply multicultural and multiracial makeup of California’s major urban areas today encourages an approach to ethnoracial issues emphasizing interethnic relations rather than reductive white/non-white binaries (Kurashige, 2007; Pulido, 2006). California also embodies a transborder regional perspective, highlighting bilateral relations with Mexico, particularly since President Nieto’s 2014 visit.

California, as fertile ground for renewed research questions, has been studied from multiple perspectives through archive-centered and qualitative approaches: Mexican California (Perez Tisserant, 2019; Perez Tisserant, 2023); the reintegration of the West into the Union during Reconstruction (Barreyre, 2002); the history of ethnic studies at San Francisco State College and UCLA (Rolland-Diamond, 2012); the student movements of the 1960s (Rolland-Diamond, 2018); higher education policies (Sabbagh, 2008); resistance to public transit (Bénit-Gbaffou et al., 2007); community organizing (Talpin, 2016); the subprime crisis (Lefebvre, 2013); environmental policies on water conservation (Thoyer et al., 2004) and environmental injustice; the history of the railroad (Payen-Variéras, 2008); the reception of Foucault’s ideas (Lamy, 2022; Godet and Edwards-Grossi, 2022); the history of national parks such as Yosemite (Figueiredo, 2007); leisure practices and theme parks (Clément, 2017; Clément, 2018); consumption practices in San Francisco (Ortar, 2015); popular initiatives (Peretz, 2017; Richomme, 2011); the music industry (Martin, 2001); political institutions such as the California Supreme Court (Grivet, 2016); and the political representation of ethno-racial minorities and redistricting practices (Richomme, 2020; Richomme, 2019; Richomme, 2013).

These works resonate with major U.S. publications on varied topics, such as the socio-history of the Black Panther Party in Oakland and Los Angeles (Nelson, 2013); gentrification processes in Los Angeles neighborhoods such as Venice (Deener, 2007); the history of prisons in Los Angeles (Hernandez, 2015); environmental racism in Southern California (Pulido, 2000); the history of sterilization and eugenics in California’s medical institutions (Braslow, 1996; Stern, 2015); social movements for environmental justice and against environmental racism (Carter, 2016; Morello-Frosch et al., 2005; Kim, 2021); and the rights and activism of Indigenous populations (Forbes, 1982, 1993; Dunbar-Ortiz, 2015). Additionally, there have been numerous works on environmentalism, the founding of national parks such as Muir Woods (Nash, 1967), scientific and technological innovation, and California’s role in World War II, especially on the Pacific front (Linn, 2000).

Submission guidelines

Aiming to foster international dialogue, we welcome submissions from scholars beyond France and encourage participation from researchers at all career stages and in all positions. In doing so, this symposium seeks to contribute to the vitality of research on California both in France and internationally.

Proposals should be submitted as 300-word summaries to the following address: californiasocialsciences@gmail.com.

before January 15, 2025

Contributors are also asked to include a brief 150-word bio.

English will be the preferred language of the symposium.

Date and Venue : 16 and 17th October, Center of Chicago University, Paris

Scientific committee

  • Hugo Bouvard
  • Thibaut Clément (HDEA, Sorbonne Université & IUF fellow)
  • Elsa Devienne
  • Frédérique Douzet
  • Elodie Edwards-Grossi (IRISSO, U. Paris Dauphine-PSL & IUF fellow)
  • Olivier Richomme (Triangle, U. Lyon 2)
  • Julien Talpin

Works cited

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Kim, Nadia. Refusing Death: Immigrant Women and the Fight for Environmental Justice in LA, Stanford University Press, 2021.

Kurashige, Scott. The Shifting Grounds of Race: Black and Japanese Americans in the Making of Multiethnic Los Angeles, Princeton University Press, 2007

Hernandez, Kelly Lytle, City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles, University of North Carolina Press, 2015.

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Lefebvre, Hugo. « Subprimes et saisies immobilières : le cas de la Californie ». La Géographie 1548, no 1 (2013): 27―29. https://doi.org/10.3917/geo.1548.0027

Le Goix, Renaud. « L’immobilier résidentiel suburbain en régime financiarisé de production dans la région de Los Angeles », Revue d’Économie Régionale & Urbaine, no. 1, (2016), pp. 101-130.

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Le Moigne, Yohann. 2017, « Les graffitis de gangs comme marqueurs de rapports de force politiques sur le territoire. L’exemple de Compton (Californie) », Urbanités, n°9, en ligne : http://www.revue-urbanites.fr/9-les-graffitis-de-gangs-comme-marqueurs-de-rapports-de-force-politiques-sur-le-territoire-lexemple-de-compton-californie/ 

Le Moigne, Yohann. « La pensée colorblind à l’épreuve du ghetto : retour réflexif sur un terrain étatsunien ». E-rea. Revue électronique d’études sur le monde anglophone, no 20.1 (15 décembre 2022). https://doi.org/10.4000/erea.15753.

Lestage, Françoise. “Murs et caravanes. Les migrants centraméricains à Tijuana en décembre 2018.” Problèmes d'Amérique Latine, 2019, n°113 (2): 73.

Linn, Brian McAllister. Guardians of Empire: The US Army and the Pacific, 1902-1940. University of North Carolina Press, 2000.

Martin, Denis-Constant. « Un orage braille sur Los Angeles : racisme et invention musicale dans la Californie des années quarante ». Revue française d’études américaines Hors-série, no 5 (2001): 28―37. https://doi.org/10.3917/rfea.hs01.0028.

Morello-Frosch, Rachel, Manuel Pastor, James L. Sadd, M. Prichard, et M. Matsuoka. “Citizens, Science, and Data Judo: Leveraging Secondary Data Analysis to Build a Community-Academic Collaborative for Environmental Justice in Southern California”. In Methods in Community-Based Participatory Research for Health, Jossey-Bass., 371―92. San Francisco, 2005.

Nash, Roderick. "John Muir, William Kent, and the conservation schism." Pacific Historical Review 36.4 (1967): 423-433.

Nelson, Alondra. Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination, University of Minnesota Press, 2013.

Ortar, Nathalie. « Le quotidien peut-il être durable ? Routines dans la baie de San Francisco ». Norois. Environnement, aménagement, société, no 231 (30 septembre 2014): 13―25. https://doi.org/10.4000/norois.5066.

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Pulido, Laura. Black, Brown, Yellow, and Left Radical Activism in Los Angeles, University of California Press, 2006.

Pulido, Laura. “Rethinking Environmental Racism: White Privilege and Urban Development in Southern California”. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 90, no 1 (2000): 12―40.

Rea, Andrea. « III / Chicago : naissance de la sociologie de l’immigration », Sociologie de l’immigration. La Découverte, (2021): 29-40.

Richomme, Olivier. “‘Fair’ Minority Representation and the California Voting Rights Act”. National Political Science Review 20, 2 (June 2020): 55-75.

Richomme, Olivier. Race and Partisanship in California Redistricting: From the 1965 Voting Rights Act to Present. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2019.

Richomme, Olivier, “Géographie politique de la Californie,” Outre-Terre, 2013, n°37, p. 105-124.

Richomme, Olivier, “Débat étatsunien sur les statistiques ethno-raciales : l’exemple de la Proposition 54 en Californie”, Transatlantica, 1, 2011, http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/5276

Rolland-Diamond, Caroline. « Sociohistoire des Black Studies Departments ». IdeAs. Idées d’Amériques, no 2 (8 février 2012). https://doi.org/10.4000/ideas.266.

Rolland-Diamond, Caroline. « Être étudiant et conservateur dans les années 1968 en Californie ». Matériaux pour l’histoire de notre temps 127-128, no 1-2 (2018): 16―23. https://doi.org/10.3917/mate.127.0016.

Sabbagh, Daniel. « Vertus et limites de la discrimination positive indirecte dans l’enseignement supérieur : l’expérience du Texas et de la Californie ». Mouvements 55―56, no 3-4 (2008): 102-11. https://doi.org/10.3917/mouv.055.0102.

Sénécal, Gilles. « Métaphores et modèles en géographie urbaine : le continuum de l'école de Chicago à celle de Los Angeles », Annales de géographie, vol. 657, no. 5, (2007): 513-532.

Sims, Christo. “Green Magic: On Technologies of Enchantment at Apple's Corporate Headquarters.” Public Culture 34.2 (2022): 291-317.  

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Stern, Alexandra Minna. Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better Breeding in Modern America, University of California Press, 2015.

Talpin, Julien. « Los Angeles, de l’émeute à l’auto-organisation des quartiers populaires », Mouvements, vol. 83, no. 3, 2015, pp. 130-137.

Talpin, Julien. « Améliorer le quartier ou changer la société ? À propos de deux expériences contrastées de community organizing à l’échelle californienne », Mouvements, vol. 85, no. 1, 2016, pp. 129-137.

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Thoyer, Sophie, Sylvie Morardet, Patrick Rio, et Rachel Goodhue. « Comparaison des procédures de décentralisation et de négociation de la gestion de l’eau en France et en Californie ». Natures Sciences Sociétés 12, no 1 (2004): 7-17.

Places

  • Campus Condorcet
    Paris, France (75)

Event attendance modalities

Full on-site event


Date(s)

  • Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Keywords

  • Californie

Contact(s)

  • Elodie Edwards-Grossi
    courriel : californiasocialsciences [at] gmail [dot] com

Information source

  • Elodie Edwards-Grossi
    courriel : californiasocialsciences [at] gmail [dot] com

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« California as the Epicenter of Social Sciences », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Friday, November 08, 2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/12n6n

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