It is not possible to ignore the fact that cities are not only moving, vibrant and flourishing spaces, promising hope for better quality of life, but also accumulate and reflect significant problems. We need to recognise the complexity of economic, political, social, cultural and environmental mechanisms, which strengthen existing inequalities and add a great deal of uncertainty to life in cities and urban spaces of the globalised world. We want to gain a better understanding of the impact and consequences of inequality and uncertainty on the urban arena as much as the responses to current challenges in terms of  both informal and institutional practices.

Presentation

For the third mid-term conference we propose inequality and uncertainty as terms to guide our reflections about urban realities. Both inequalities and uncertainties impact everyday practices, individual and communal identities, fears and (im)possibilities, as well as visions of the future. Both are clearly evident in today’s urban contexts.

It is not possible to ignore the fact that cities are not only moving, vibrant and flourishing spaces, promising hope for better quality of life, but also accumulate and reflect significant problems. We need to recognise the complexity of economic, political, social, cultural and environmental mechanisms, which strengthen existing inequalities and add a great deal of uncertainty to life in cities and urban spaces of the globalised world. We want to gain a better understanding of the impact and consequences of inequality and uncertainty on the urban arena as much as the responses to current challenges in terms of both informal and institutional practices.

Inequalities and uncertainty as the key-questions of the conference can be discussed in the relation to the following topics:

1. Visibility and invisibility of urban inequalities and uncertainty
2. Individual and collective strategies of coping with contemporary urban challenges at the neighbourhood level
3. Class, gender, age and ethnicity as factors of inequalities and uncertainty
4. Urban policies and institutional effectiveness in times of crisis
5. Social responses to crisis – from everyday life practices to contemporary urban social movements
6. Spatiality and the new geographies of inequalities and uncertainty
7. (Im)mobility of urban inequalities – urban inequalities of (im)mobility
8. Urban sustainability and global environmental crisis
9. Innovative methodological contributions of urban sociology for studies on social inequalities and uncertainty

In this conference we also wish to celebrate and bring into the discussion the works of two social scientists who greatly contributed to Urban Sociology and Urban Studies in general: Lefebvre and Simmel. In that sense, we propose two additional topics:

10. Reading Henri Lefebvre’s “The Right to the City”, 50 years later.
11. Georg Simmel (1858-1918): reflecting on his multiple contributions for Urban Sociology

Submission guidelines

We welcome proposals exploring theoretical, methodological, and empirical issues. An abstract in English of maximum 300 words should be submitted by this form 

from December, 4th to January, 28th. 

Papers will be grouped thematically by the scientific committee.

However, we work on this from an interdisciplinarie perspective. We need the knowledge of architects, geographers, anthropologists, psychologists, economists, and other social scientists together sociologists. They are welcoming at the conference.

Abstract Submission

Scientific committee

• Marta Smagacz-Poziemska (Jagiellonian University, Poland)
• Maria Victoria Gómez (UC3M, Spain)
• Patrícia Pereira (CICS.NOVA, FCSH-UNL, Portugal)
• Laura Guarino (DISPO-UNIGE, Italy)
• Sebastian Kurtenbach (Bielefeld University, Germany)
• Juan Jose Villalon (UNED, Spain)

Information

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