International Sociological Association Research Committee 34 – Sociology of Youth
Young Scholar in Youth Sociology and Youth Research Competition (2014)
Call for Participation (July, 2013)
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1. Research Committee 34 (RC34) - Sociology of Youth – of the International Sociological Association (ISA) announces the third worldwide competition for young scholars engaged in youth research. The winner will be invited to participate in the XVIII World Congress of Sociology, which will be held 13-19 July 2014 in Yokohama, Japan. The winner’s paper will be considered for presentation in RC34’s presidential session and for publication, subject to editorial decision and revision, in a publication of the RC34. Closing date for submissions to the competition is 30 January 2014.
2. ‘Young Scholar’ means those below 35 years of age on 30 January 2014 or those within 5 years of having completed their highest degree—Ph.D. or Master’s degree. In case of joint or multiple authorships, this rule applies to all authors of the paper submitted. Participants should hold a Master’s degree (or an equivalent graduate diploma) or a PhD in sociology or in a related discipline.
3. Candidates must be in good standing with the ISA and RC34 at the time of submission/application. Their submission must be an original paper that has not been previously published elsewhere. It should be no more than 7,000 words (including references) typewritten in 12pt Times Roman font, double spaced, with standard margins, and numbered pages. Notes should be kept to a minimum or avoided, and the bibliography (no longer than 40 entries) should appear at the end of the text. Papers that do not conform to these rules run the risk of being rejected. Papers may fall into any area of the sociology of youth, although those with international or global relevance and dealing with the conference’s theme Facing an Unequal World: Challenges for Global Sociology will have a higher chance of success. The phenomena examined may be social, economic, political, cultural and/or comparative in nature, but their interpretation or analysis must show a scientific orientation (for instance, through methodical processes to explore the underlying social phenomena or youth issues under scrutiny, critique of commonsense interpretations or of well-established theories, etc.). Empirical based research papers must go beyond descriptive reporting of results to broader, analytical interpretations.
4. Papers are required to be written in English and must include an abstract of no more than 250 words.
5. An electronic copy of the paper should be sent to Prof. Sharlene Swartz: sswartz@hsrc.ac.za and copied to the Organizational Secretary Prof. Howard Williamson: howardw@glam.ac.uk. The paper should arrive no later than 30 January 2014. All papers will be acknowledged.
6. A jury of six members comprising the RC34 President, Past President, Organizational Secretary, 2 Vice Presidents, and the Newsletter Editor will decide which paper is awarded the prize by the 31 March 2014. Papers will be judged according to perceptiveness with which issues are treated, the quality of data analysis and the empirical materials or conceptual ideas advanced, the consistency with which an analytic framework is used, the originality of ideas, and the clarity of writing style.
7. The winner of the award will be invited to participate in the ISA World Congress in Yokohama, Japan. The first author’s conference registration fees will be paid by RC34 and a travel grant will be awarded graduated by the ISA’s country designation: A - US$500; B - US$600; C - US$700. No conference fees or travel grant will be awarded if the winner 1) does not hold a membership of RC34 at the time of their submission and presentation; and 2) does not attend and make a presentation of the paper at the conference. These grants will be paid to the winner after the conference when the appropriate receipts have been submitted to the RC34 Treasurer.
8. Prior to the submission of the paper, an abstract dealing with the same topic as the paper should be submitted in advance of the closing date (30 September 2013) via the usual ISA conference application process for Yokohama 2014.