Future Sociologies: Challenges to Practice, Policy and Politics

We will consider how sociology as a discipline has fared in recent exercises to measure the impact and value of academic practice as well as the implications of future developments in Higher Education

Contact details

If you have any questions relating to the conference please contact Emily Boldison e.boldison@leeds.ac.uk

This conference will explore recent developments in sociology in the context of austerity, inequalities and social justice. With keynote speakers on class, poverty, race and social policy, it will be a forum for critical reflection on the relevancy and value of sociological work and the means by which this is demonstrated and contested. We will consider how sociology as a discipline has fared in recent exercises to measure the impact and value of academic practice as well as the implications of future developments in Higher Education policy and funding. Looking beyond the academy (and the UK) we will also critically engage with possibilities of public sociology as a way to respond to pressing social challenges, locally, nationally and internationally.

The day will be split into two sessions of presentations from key speakers and panel discussions. The first session, entitled 'Sociology is Dead! Long live sociology!’, will explore the legacy and future of sociology in the context of post-crash socio-economic and political changes, including the role of markets and metrics in HE.  The second session will consider what we have gained from 'Ten Years of Public Sociology’, critically exploring the ways in which sociology can be said to have had a social impact in conventional and radical terms and reflecting on how to work alongside dominant and marginalised social actors and agendas. 

Les Back

Les Back is Professor of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London where he teaches, researches and writes on a wide array of topics of contemporary significance including race, young people, popular culture and belonging. Les is an active public sociologist and a leading voice in discussions on the ethics and politics of social research and its intersection with social policies. 

Gurminder Bhambra

Gurminder K. Bhambra is Professor of Sociology, University of Warwick and was a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Princeton University this year. Gurminder's research and teaching interests span historical sociology, postcolonial and decolonial perspectives, and global social theory. She is editor of the new monograph series, Theory for a Global Age, published by Bloomsbury and co-founder of the Campaign for the Public University.

Kirsteen Paton

Kirsteen Paton is a Lecturer in Sociology, University of Leeds, where she research and teaches on urban sociology, especially cities, class, crime and social policy. Kirsteen's recent book on the gentrification of Partick, Glasgow, explored working-class experiences of deindustrialisation and neoliberalism, themes she continues to develop in her work on the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Andrew McGettigan

Andrew McGettigan is a leading commentator on higher education policy, and blogs at Critical Education (http://andrewmcgettigan.org). He is the author of The Great University Gamble: money, markets and the future of higher education. 

Elspeth Probyn

Elspeth Probyn is Professor of Gender & Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney. Previously she was associate professor of sociology at the University de Montreal. She teaches feminist cultural studies. Her current research focuses on "sustainable fish" in terms of both production and consumption. She is a well known public academic in Australia where she wrote a fortnightly column in the national newspaper for 7 years.

Mark Monaghan

Mark Monaghan is Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds. Mark researches, writes and teaches on the troubled relationship between evidence and policy, particularly with respect to crime and drugs policy and the role of elites.

Tracy Shildrick

Tracy Shildrick is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds where she specialises in poverty, young people and social exclusion. Her work has critically interrogated dominant policy narratives around welfare dependancy and cultures of worklessness and she has recently worked with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on the development of their anti-poverty strategy.

Bev Skeggs

Bev Skeggs is Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London and joint managing editor of The Sociological Review. Bev's research and teaching interest span class, gender, media and culture. She currently holds an ESRC Professorial Fellowship where she is researching the relationship between value and values, and raising critical questions about how to live and work beyond the 'logic of capitalism'. 

Contact details

If you have any questions relating to the conference please contact Emily Boldison e.boldison@leeds.ac.uk

Conference Programme

9:30 - 10:00
Registration & refreshments

10:00 - 10:10
Welcome - Anne Kerr, Head of the School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds

10:10 - 12:00

Session 1: Sociology is Dead! Long Live Sociology!

• Andrew McGettigan: HE Policy in the context of Austerity
• Bev Skeggs: The Politics and politics of sociology: disciplining and challenging
• Kirsteen Paton: Going Live, Getting Real and DIY

12:00 - 13:00

Lunch

13:00 - 14:45

Session 2: Ten Years of Public Sociology

• Mark Monaghan: Public sociology and the evidence movement: Ten Years On
• Les Back: Narrowing public sociology: the naïve reformism of the ‘impact’ agenda
• Tracy Shildrick: Tackling poverty: the problems and possibilities of sociology
• Gurminder Bhambra: The publics of sociology: Global and local

15:15 - 15:45

Refreshments

15:45 - 16:30

• Elspeth Probyn - Closing reflections: What now for Sociology?

How to register

Registration for the event is now open. If you are a member of staff at the University of Leeds, please contact Emily Boldison e.boldison@leeds.ac.uk for details of how to register for the conference.

Conference Costs

Tickets are charged at £20.00 for a standard ticket and £5.00 for concessions (the concessionary rate applies to students, independent researchers and postdoctoral researchers within five years of their PhD).

Book your place

To book your place at the Future Sociologies: Challenges to Practice, Policy and Politics conference please use the following link.

http://store.leeds.ac.uk/browse/product.asp?compid=1&modid=1&catid=78

Lunch will be provided - please advise Emily of any dietary requirements.

Contact details

If you have any questions relating to the conference please contact Emily Boldison e.boldison@leeds.ac.uk (Please note that Emily’s hours of work are Monday & Wednesday 9.30-5pm and Thursday 9.30-1pm)