300232 International Summer School: The Transnational Social Question: Implications for Concepts and Methods (BS) (SoSe 2012)

A transnational perspective is nowadays widely used to describe and account for a broad range of phenomena, ranging from political participation, social movements and questions of identities. Less research exists on the production, reproduction and perception of social inequalities in cross-border contexts. This summer school embeds the analysis of social inequalities in a general context of inequalities of the world, namely the transnational social question. Whereas the ‘old’ social question in the 19th century focused on the dichotomies of class, there are manifold ‘new’ heterogeneities that have come into focus on transnational research, such as gender, ethnicity/race, age or transnationality. Two fields of analysis are discussed in detail: cross-border migration and commodity chains; the first relating to the mobility of people, the second to the mobility of capital. Regarding migration, inequalities between regions are not only among the roots of geographical mobility. Inequality is itself (re)produced or diminished through migration, for example, by remittances or care chains. From a transnational perspective, it is of utmost importance to consider the multiple reference points, in which different orders of inequalities may prevail, such as emigration and immigration regions. Regarding commodity chains, it is important to consider practices and rules regulating work and security, such as labor standards. Such regulations have implications for who is covered by standards and thus for social protection. The discussion of substantive topics is embedded in methodological reflections and the question of how to apply methods appropriate to avoid methodological nationalism.
The summer school provides advanced Master and PhD students of sociology and related disciplines an opportunity to present their research work in progress. We invite Master and PhD students to submit papers concerning the summer school theme. The papers can discuss theoretical, conceptual as well as empirical questions. During the summer school each slot will span 45 minutes (20 minutes for presentation, followed by a 5 minutes commentary by the discussant and another 20 minutes of open discussion). Moreover, each participant is asked to serve as a discussant for another paper presented. The language of the summer school is English.

If you would like to attend the summer school, please submit an abstract of your thesis (max. 400 words) together with a short CV until March 31, 2012. Moreover, all applicants are asked to send a full paper (max. 5.000 words) until June 31, 2012. The papers will be made accessible to the discussants and participants.

Please submit your application to the following address: international.soc@uni-bielefeld.de.

Requirements for participation, required level

Diese Lehrveranstaltung richtet sich an MA- und PhD-Studierende.

Bibliography

Thomas Faist, The Transnational Social Question: Social Rights and Citizenship in a Global Context, International Sociology 24, 1 (2009): 7-35.