Newsletter 2011 A4 Statement

Theory The Newsletter of the Research Committee on Sociological Theory International Sociological Association Spring/Summer 2011 CURRENT BOARD TABLE OF CONTENTS Chairs Ronald N. Jacobs Craig Browne and Paul Jones: Editors’ In- Giuseppe Sciortino troduction …………………………...........1 Secretary/Treasurer Mid-Term Conference Call for Papers: Cul- Agnes Ku tures and Civilizations in the Modern- Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. World……………………………………...2 Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong Email: [email protected] Donald N. Levine: In Memoriam: Shmuel Board Members Noah (S. N.) Eisenstadt 1923-2010 Jeffrey Alexander ………………………………………….....3 Gianpaolo Baiocchi Patrick Baert Mabel Berezin Fuyuki Kurasawa Barbara A. Misztal: Sociology of Vulnerabi- Philip Smith lity and Critical Stance Frédéric Vandenberghe Gilles Verpraet .....................................................................5 Seung Kuk Kim Kiyomitsu Yui Raluca Soreanu: Outlaw Emotions Associate Board Members Working-Through a Psychoanalytic José Maurício Domingues Sociology of the Mind.................................9 Brad West Ken Thompson Eduardo de la Fuente Marcel Fournier Gilles Verpraet: How to Shape Society? The Sang-Jin Hang Elisa P. Reis Social Explanandum in Latour and Desco- Edmond Wright la.................................................................10 Consuelo Corradi Alexander Filipov Homa Zanjanizadeh Filipe Carreira da Silva Call for Nominations: Margaret Archer Best Junior Theorist Paper in Sociological Theory Editors of Theory …………………………………………...12 Craig Browne E-mail: [email protected] Paul Jones E-mail: [email protected] Department of Sociology and Social Po- licy A26, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia Editors’ Introduction Sociological theory evolves in various ways: returning to the same problems, disclosing new areas of inquiry, placing perspectives in new contexts, developing programmes and unending projects, feeling completely per- plexed, being open to dialogue. You will find all of these ways of sociological theori- sing and more in this issue of Theory. 1 We open with RC16’s co-chairs’ Call for and we welcome suggestions regarding fu- Papers for the next Interim Conference of ture issues. the Research Committee. Here we only want Craig Browne & Paul Jones to note, as is also mentioned in the call for papers, how enjoyable were RC16’s previ- ous interim conference meetings in Busan in 2008 and before that in Rio de Janeiro in 2004. We look forward to seeing you in Call for Papers: RC 16 Mid-term Con- Trento, Italy in 2012. ference – Cultures and Civilizations in the Although the death of S N Eisenstadt is an Contemporary World enormous loss to the sociological theory The RC16 mid-term conference will be held community, we are proud to be able to bela- in Trento, Italy, June 28-29, 2012. Those of tedly publish the obituary that we solicited us who attended the 2008 mid-term con- from our colleague Donald Levine. We ference in Pusan, South Korea will remem- believe that all of us working in the field of ber the lavish hospitality and the stimulating sociological theory, sociology and the social intellectual debate we enjoyed. Indeed, we sciences more generally can draw are daunted by the prospect of following the considerable inspiration and sustenance standard set by at that conference, which from Eisenstadt’s lifetime of dedication and was co-sponsored by the Korean Sociologi- achievement. cal Association and co-organized with Pro- It would be difficult to dispute the claim that fessor Seung Kuk Kim. Eisenstadt’s work has given us enormous The mid-term conference of RC16 provides insight into the human condition in its diver- the most diverse and cosmopolitan forum sity. The piece that follows by Barbara Mis- for all sociologists interested in theoretical ztal addresses one of the main features of debate and conceptual work. Designed to the human condition: vulnerability. We are foster critical debate among sociologists of sure that the piece will lead readers to turn various countries and persuasions, it is the to Barbara Misztal’s recently published optimal venue to discuss recent theoretical book: The Challenges of Vulnerability, research, beyond and across theoretical which deals, of course, with a topic of schools. We also work hard to provide a considerable contemporary importance. The forum that is friendly both to long-time next piece, by Raluca Soreanu, sits well members of RC16 and to newcomers. with Misztal’s, as it reconsiders the sociology of emotions and how emotions have been The mid-term conference, titled Cultures theorised. ‘Outlaw Emotions: Working- and Civilizations in the Contemporary Through a Psychoanalytic Sociology of the World, is open to all contributions to socio- Mind’ was originally presented at the last logical theory, broadly construed. In recent International Sociological Association conferences we have had exciting papers World Congress and Soreanu challenges and discussions about topics such as globa- certain common assumptions that lead to the lization and transnationalism, multiple mo- obscuring of outlaw emotions. She argues dernities, cultural difference and the cultural for a more inter-relational understanding, turn, civil society and the public sphere, something that Gilles Verpraet explores in a media and the creative industries, aesthetics, different way and in different terms in his performance, identity, intersubjectivity, cul- investigation of the question: How to Shape tural trauma, and postcolonialism, as well as Society: the social explanandum in Latour a variety of other interventions into debates and Descola. about classical and contemporary social theory. We look forward to continuing these Finally, we would like to reiterate once conversations, and beginning new ones. again our desire to publish contributions from members of the research committee If you would like to attend the mid- term meeting, please submit the title and 2 abstract of your proposed paper through the We look forward to seeing all of you in conference website: Trento. http://www2.unitn.it/events/isa2012abstract/ reg.aspx Yours sincerely, You can also email your proposed paper title Peppino Sciortino and Ron Jacobs and abstract to co-chairs, RC 16 [email protected]. The deadline for all proposals is November 30, 2011. IN MEMORIAM: SHMUEL NOAH (S. This year, in the night of June 27th, we will N.) EISENSTADT (1923-2010) also congregate to celebrate the winner of Shmuel Eisenstadt’s oeuvre stands as the our Best Junior Theorist Paper in Sociologi- worthy successor to Max Weber’s compara- cal Theory Award tive historical sociology. Beyond his prodi- (http://www.isasociolgy.org/rc16_award_02. gious productivity – author of more than htm). fifty books; editor or co-editor of some two Be sure to arrive in time! dozen compilations; builder of a respected The mid-term conference will be hosted by Department; University dean; mover in in- the Dipartimento di Sociologia of the Uni- ternational associations; peripatetic lecturer; versità di Trento. The oldest and more pres- generous mentor; indefatigably cheering tigious sociology department in Italy, it has colleague – Eisenstadt transformed the ways been consistently ranked among the very in which we have come to think about ci- best in the country vilization, modernity, and societal change. (http://www.unitn.it/en/dsrs). The seeds of this achievement sprouted at The conference will take place right in the Hebrew University in the early 1940s. At 12 center of Trento, right in the middle of the Shmuel came to Jerusalem from his native Italian Alps. The well-preserved historical Warsaw, whence his widowed mother res- center of the city is one of the jewels of cued the family moving first to the United North Eastern Italy, with plenty of Medieval States then to Palestine in 1935. An intellec- and Renaissance buildings, castles and tually curious teenager, he devoured new churches worth a visit Penguin paperbacks and loved to discern (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trento). It is historical patterns. In 1940 he began univer- the ideal location for exploring the Alps in a sity studies, gaining a Master’s thesis in variety of ways British labor history. His primary mentor at (http://www.visittrentino.it/en/turismo-in- the University was Martin Buber, under trentino), either before or after the con- whom he received his doctorate in 1947 with a dissertation on the history of sociolo- ference. Cities such as Verona, Venice, and Bozen (in the German speaking South Ty- gical thought. Since the University at that rol) are easy to reach by train, and can easily time contained no department of sociology, be integrated into your travel plans as well. Buber offered Shmuel access to core texts of the discipline from his personal library a- The official conference website will be lau- long with private tutorials once a month. nched December 1st 2012, and will provide all the necessary information for joining the This tutelage grounded a deep interest in the conference, booking the hotel at the con- field and moved young Eisenstadt toward ference rates and, more generally, organi- two hallmarks of his intellectual career: o- zing the trip. Those who cannot wait may penness to dialogue, and engagement with use the following general website: the interface between particularism and uni- versalism. When he came to publish a trea- http://international.unitn.it/welcome- tise on his doctoral project, The Form of services/how-arrive. Sociology

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