Conferences and Activities

Youth Constructing Worlds: Capacities and Limits of Action for Change: Madrid October 14 & 15, 2010

The Youth and Society Postgraduate Studies of the Spanish Distance University (UNED) organize the International Congress “Youth Constructing Worlds. Capacities and Limits of Action for Change”. The Congress will be held on October 14 and 15th 2010 in the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. The objective of the Congress is to discuss about the capacities and limits that young people face when the try to transform the world in which they live. For this aim the different sessions are designed as a space for experts, youth workers and young people bringing together their reflections. Read more

Youth (Sub)cultures in Changing Societies

Rapid technological developments, structural changes in the society and economic uncertainty influence lifestyles of young people. One of the possibilities for identification and belonging is participation in different youth cultures. Youth (sub)cultures are oriented towards choices in music, style, sports or politics, but at the same time determined by structural circumstances. As the media tends to focus on their negative aspects, distinctive youth lifestyles have often been associated with deviance. The latter is especially the case in Eastern Europe, where the society has for a long time been understood as homogeneous, and where a plurality of lifestyles has only recently began to surface. Read more

ESA Youth and Generation Network Midterm Conference: September 9th– 12th 2010 Disley (nr. Manchester) UK

ESA Youth and Generation Network Midterm Conference: September 9th– 12th Disley (nr. Manchester) UK

Youth, Economy and Society
*Deadline for abstracts extended until 26th March 2010*

The ESA Youth and Generation Network third mid-term conference will address the core challenge facing young people in Europe today as the region confronts a period of extreme economic uncertainty. Young people – like women and migrant workers – are particularly vulnerable in times of recession and market realignment as economic activity contracts and employers reduce investment in training and seek to minimize ‘risk’ in their employment practices. Economic recession affects young people not only in terms of their employment opportunities but has significant impacts also on their educational aspirations, political engagement, social solidarities, leisure and cultural practices, ‘transition’ trajectories and family and emotional relationships. Focusing on how young people experience and negotiate economic recession thus provides the opportunity to compare and contrast experience across Europe as well as to consider how major economic dislocation affects young lives as a whole. Read more

XVII ISA World Congress: Updated RC 34 sessions

Following the central theme of the XVII ISA World Congress of Sociology – Sociology on the Move and its five sub-themes: violence and war, sustainability, worlds of difference, action and imagination, and religion and power, the Research Committee 34 (RC34) has come up with a theme: Sociology of Youth on Move, which aims to accommodate a comprehensive and extensive program addressing both the various sub-themes and specific areas of relevant youth studies in different societies all over the world. Totally the RC34 intends to organize 18 sessions including 12 regular sessions, 2 panel sessions, 1 roundtable session, 1 special session, and 2 joint sessions. Read more

Young People and Social Change after the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Young People and Social Change after the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Anniversary seminar of youth research, policy and practice

Place: Budapest, Central European University (DISC)
Time: November 20, 2009, 9:30 - 18:00 Read more

After the breakdown of state socialism in Europe the societal role of youth changed dramatically from that of an ideological driving force of communism to that of an agent and carrier of democratisation and marketisation. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall in November 1989, a symbol of both the raising of the Iron Curtain and the end of the Cold War, this seminar takes a look at how the opening up of these societies to Europe and the world changed the conditions and experiences of growing up in the area. The seminar examines the status of young people in these societies before and after 1989, their living conditions, issues of social participation, the way in which they construct their identity and constitute and represent current social realities, their cultures and gender constructions as well as the interplay of continuities and discontinuities beyond this historical separator.

“Connecting now for the future” conference at Montreal, Canada

"Connecting now for the future" is an important opportunity for a broad range of professionals to meet, exchange ideas and reflect on issues and practices in relation to the transition to independent living among youth at risk. It is addressed to youth, decision-makers and service-providers in community-based networks and in the public health system, as well as to academic researchers and professionals (working on different aspects of intervention with youth). Read more

ISA Forum of Sociology Barcelona Spain 2008

The idea of the Forum gathers and redefines the traditionally organised Research Council conference and the interim conferences of Research Committees. It will be an event with two kinds of programs: a general program conceived as a dialogue between RCs and made up of the papers presented by the RCs’ delegates to the Research Council conference, and the parallel programs of the RCs organised by them. The general theme is Sociological Research and Public Debate and a comprehensive plan of communication will be elaborated trying to project as much as possible the Forum towards the media and citizenry, and organizing a series of debates open to general public amongst prominent sociologists participating in the event, specialists of other disciplines and relevant actors of the public sphere. The Forum is an initiative of Arturo Rodríguez Morató, ISA VP for Research Council. It its organized by the ISA jointly with the Catalan Association of Sociology and the Spanish Federation of Sociology. Read more

Can policies enhance fertility in Europe? Vienna, Austria December 2007

The unprecedented, low fertility levels in Europe have raised considerable concern among policymakers. The European Commission’s White Paper The demographic future of Europe –from challenge to opportunity (COM (2006) 271 final) clearly expresses the need for governmental action. The purpose of this conference is to present and discuss past and future trends in the relation between fertility and the prevailing policy environment. In this context, two very different questions are frequently mixed up, namely: (1) Is there a reason for governments to take specific action to enhance fertility? (2) Which policies can influence fertility and to what extent? Read more

Are we there yet? Melbourne, Australia May 2007

A conference for youth workers, young people, educators, policy-makers, academics and researchers, and for anyone interested in youth affairs in Australia. International insights and comparative perspecitives are very welcome! Hosted by the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria in partnership with Australia's other State and Territory non-government youth affairs peak bodies, and supported by the Department of Victorian Communities, Victorian State Government. Read more