Call for Papers

We would like to invite you to submit papers for consideration for inclusion in

The 8th European Sociological Association Conference
Glasgow, Scotland
3rd-6th September 2007

While there have been successful Sociology of Childhood Streams at the last four ESA conferences (1999-2005), Glasgow will represent the first meeting of a formalised ESA Research Network on the Sociology of Children and Childhood.

The Research Network aims to bring together scholars engaged in theoretical and empirical work on Children and Childhood across Europe. The general theme of the conference is Conflict, Citizenship and Civil Society and the various sessions will address how these topics specifically impact on the lives and everyday worlds of children and their childhoods.

Abstracts (200 words maximum) will only be accepted through completion of the online submission form available at the conference website at: www.esa8thconference.com.

The deadline for receipt of abstracts is 28th February 2007. Decisions on acceptance will be conveyed by 15th April 2007.

We invite abstracts on the following themes:

1. Children and Conflict

2. Citizenship and Participation

3. Children’s everyday lives

4. Childhood and children’s rights

5. Child Work and Economic Activity

6. Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Researching Childhood and Children’s Lives

7. Open theme

We will also be organising a launch event for the Sociology of Children and Childhood Research Network at the conference.
 

General information

From a modest start in the 1980s, through increasing empirical and theoretical activity in the 1990s, the sociology of childhood research has become well established internationally. This field of study has developed critical alternatives to mainstream research on children and has generated significant contributions to understanding childhood as a social phenomenon and children’s lives and positions in societies. The importance of children and childhood(s) as topics for sociological study is reflected in a growing community of scholars engaged in theoretical and empirical work in this area across Europe. This includes work looking at children living in times of political change and transition, engagements with understanding childhood as a structural space in societies, and explorations of children’s everyday lives from their own perspective. These areas, together with issues of theorising childhood and methodological developments, will form important foci for the Research Network.

With the establishment of a formal ESA Research Network we aim to create an academic space both at Conference and at interim events for scholars working in this area;  to foster international contacts; exchange ideas; plan collaborations and generally contribute to the disciplinary field. The Sociology of Children and Childhood Research Network would also play a role in facilitating debate and setting new research agendas and questions. It would also provide a medium through which further comparative work could be developed.

There have been successful Sociology of Childhood streams at the last four ESA conferences (1999-2005 incl) involving over 80 papers. We warmly welcome all working in this field who wish to become members of this network.

Initially the activities of the Sociology of Children and Childhood Research Network will focus on planning for the forthcoming 2007 Conference in Glasgow, and plan for a subsequent interim meeting in 2008. We also intend establishing a mailing list (JISC-based) to enable Network members and other ESA members to be in contact with each other between meetings, and to act as a means of communicating events and activities relevant to scholars in this area. We also wish to explore opportunities for producing edited books and special issues in journals

To date we have established a small interim group to take forward the work of the network: Jo Moran-Ellis (J.Moran-Ellis@surrey.ac.uk); Randi Dyblie Nilsen (Randi.Nilsen@SVT.NTNU.NO) and Madeleine Leonard (M.Leonard@Queens-Belfast.ac.uk). If you would like to become a member of the network, or actively involved, please do not hesitate to contact Jo Moran-Ellis (J.Moran-Ellis@surrey.ac.uk) who is acting as network coordinator.

We plan to have a launch of the network as part of the ESA congress in Glasgow, 3-6 September 207. All welcome!

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