New book: When Solidarity Works

Lee, Cheol-Sung. 2016. When Solidarity Works: Labor-Civic Networks and Welfare States in the Market Reform Era. Cambridge University Press.

When solidarity works coverWhy do some labor movements successfully defend the welfare state even under the pressures of neo-liberal market reform? Why do some unions (and their allied parties and civic associations) succeed in building more universal and comprehensive social policy regimes, while others fail to do so? In this innovative work, Cheol-Sung Lee explores these conundrums through a comparative historical analysis of four countries: Argentina, Brazil, South Korea and Taiwan. He introduces the notion of ’embedded cohesiveness’ in order to develop an explanatory model in which labor-civic solidarity and union-political party alliance jointly account for outcomes of welfare state retrenchment as well as welfare state expansion. Lee’s exploration of the critical roles of civil society and social movement processes in shaping democratic governance and public policies make this ideal for academic researchers and graduate students in comparative politics, political sociology and network analysis.

CfP: Broken: Barriers, Parties, and Conventional Wisdom in 2016 (conference)

On March 18th, 2017, Saint Anselm College will host the third academic symposium in its American Election series. This year’s conference, entitled Broken: Barriers, Parties and the Conventional Wisdom in 2016 will explore the dynamics of the 2016 elections, including trends at the national and state levels, focusing on how this election broke new ground and turned the convention wisdom on its head. Papers are welcome exploring a wide range of topics connected to the 2016 elections, including proposals in the areas of campaigns and elections, candidates, foreign and domestic policy and the election, the role of faith, race, and gender in electoral politics, political party dynamics, and elections at the state level. The conference will be held at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, which has served as ground zero for New Hampshire’s first-in-the nation primary. The symposium format is designed to facilitate feedback and discussion; therefore participants are expected to attend the full day of sessions.

Selected papers presented at the conference will serve as drafts of chapters in a proposed edited volume. Papers that will to be considered for the volume should use the following format: 1) What is the conventional wisdom on the topic, and 2) Did the conventional wisdom hold in 2016? Papers selected for the volume will be limited to 5,000 words, and must use Chicago style formatting (with in-text/parenthetical citations).

Proposals of not more than 250 words must be submitted by December 15th, 2016, to ensure full consideration. Please submit proposals to Dr. Tauna Sisco, at tsisco@anselm.edu. Further details about the conference, including registration fees, accommodations, and a tentative schedule of events, will be available on the conference website as details are announced. The website can be found at: http://www.anselm.edu/Institutes-Centers-and-the-Arts/NH-Institute-of-Politics/Programs/American-Elections-Conference-.htm

CfP: Development in the Face of Global Inequalities (conference)

An International, Interdisciplinary Conference sponsored by the World Society Foundation May 11-13, 2017, Barcelona, Spain, http://globalinequalitiesconference.weebly.com/

How can development occur in the face of mounting global inequalities and the rapid depletion of the world’s resource base? Innovative approaches are needed to better understand recent trends in the distribution of wealth, income and opportunities in the capitalist world economy, and more fully comprehend the availability, use, and governance of resources. Original ideas are equally needed to gain insights into the transformative politics that might help to address the tensions and possible trade-offs between inequality reduction and sustainability.

Co-organized by the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI), the World Society Foundation (WSF), the Sociology of Development Section of the American Sociological Association (ASA), and the International Center for Development and Decent Work (ICDD), this conference invites scholars, practitioners and policy-makers to explore new directions for analyzing these pressing challenges and identify the kinds of institutions, policies, and collective action that are (or would be) necessary for achieving the reduction of global inequalities in a sustainable manner.

Confirmed keynoters include Catherine Boone (LSE), Melani Cammett (Harvard), Patrick Heller (Brown), Sam Hickey (Manchester), Timur Kuran (Duke), Branko Milanovic (CUNY), and Maristella Svampa (CONICET).

The WSF provides 30 travel grants to participants for cover their travel and accommodation costs. These grants are given on a competetive basis for the strongest paper submissions, though with a preference for graduate students, and scholars and policymakers working at institutions in the Global South.

The organizing committee will develop sessions based on the pool of submissions it receives and group related papers into thematically connected panels.

CfP: Special Issue on Global Health and Development

Sociology of Development invites papers for a special issue on Global Health and Development. The issue welcomes sociological contributions across thematic foci and analytic approaches. Potential topics could include (but are by no means limited to): comparative analyses of health policies and policymaking, international organizations and health, inequalities in health outcomes, gender, class, race/ethnicity, and health, globalization and health challenges, migration and health in global perspective, and mental health policies and inequalities across the globe. Manuscripts should be approximately 8,000 words in length, including references, tables and figures. For formatting instructions, see: http://socdev.ucpress.edu/content/submit.

The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2017. All manuscripts should be submitted online through the journal’s submission system (https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ucpress-socdev). Please clearly state in your cover letter that the manuscript is for consideration in the Global Health and Development special issue. Questions about the special issue can be directed to the guest editor: Shiri Noy, at snoy@uwyo.edu.

Political Power and Social Theory call for themed volume submissions

Political Power and Social Theory, an award-winning peer-reviewed biannual journal series published by Emerald Press, is current accepting proposals for special themed volumes. Volumes should fit into the broad mission of the journal. Length of the entire volume should be between 80,000 and 120,000 words. Proposals of 2-5 pages should include (a) description of the volume theme, (b) list of proposed articles and authors (this can be tentative), and (c) date in which the completed first drafts can be submitted. They should be sent to the Editor, ppst@bu.edu. Acceptance of proposals does not guarantee publication, as each of the articles and the manuscript as a whole is subject to peer review. Deadline: rolling submission. For more information and titles of past special volumes see: www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/tk/ppst and http://www.politicalpowerandsocialtheory.com/.