Power, Institutions & Authority – 5th International Power Conference University of Tampere

Power, Institutions & Authority – 5th International Power Conference University of Tampere
Published 6 April 2016 in: News

Relations between power, institutions, and authority have formed a mainstay of sociological accounts and theorizing since the time of Weber. However, new institutionalisms have begun to challenge traditional rational-choice and functionalist assumptions of society, and are reformulating theories of how power operates. Historical, discursive, economic and sociological neoinstitutionalisms stress different patterns of behavior that shape and limit the understanding of options open to actors. This spurt of theoretical development is part of a now-widespread popular sense that institutions guide and direct many aspects of social life, from micro choices of lifestyles to organizational fashions to macro economies and geopolitics.

In this backdrop the 5th international, biennial Power Conference will concentrate on how institutions and authority are related to power in the modern world. Special sessions will explore this inter-relationship around the themes of six keynotes, while a number of parallel sessions on related themes are also being organized. In keeping with the tradition of the Power Conferences, papers can be theoretically or empirically focused, and represent a broad geographic spectrum of participants and topics.

For more information, please see the conference website at
www.uta.fi/power2016

Confirmed keynote speakers:
Dr. Evan Schofer – University of California–Irvine, USA Dr. Merle Jacob – Lund University, Sweden Dr. Selina Gallo-Cruz – College of the Holy Cross, USA Dr. Francisco O. Ramirez – Stanford University, USA Dr. Kerstin Sahlin – Uppsala University, Sweden Dr. Pertti Alasuutari – Tampere University, Finland

Each keynote speaker has organized and is chairing a special session on the same theme. We are delighted to invite you to submit abstracts for one of the special sessions, a parallel session, or as a general submission (list of accepted sessions atwww.uta.fi/power2016

To submit a paper, please send the title and abstract (100–200 words) through the conference management systemhttps://www.lyyti.in/power2016cfp by 1 May 2016 at the latest. Please select whether you want your paper to be included in one of the special sessions, one of the other accepted parallel sessions, or as a general submission.Contributors will be notified by 1 June 2016.