Presentation of the sociological research «Assessment of the court system work in Ukraine» took place on the 22^nd of January 2015.

The research was implemented by the Research & Branding Group in December, 2014. 

A profound challenge that the social sciences, and sociology in particular, are now called upon to confront has to do with the depth and extraordinary acceleration of global processes of social and cultural change. Today's byword 'globalisation' only partially captures the full significance of these processes. Sociological knowledge therefore encounters a limitation: it is easier to see what is disappearing than what is coming into being. Yet this limitation can be overturned and become a resource: a stimulus to intensify our theoretical and empirical exploration of the world around us by relating everyday life to history, connecting individual experiences to major issues of democracy and justice, and viewing the exercise of agency in the light of processes of domination. Sociological imagination is the tool that our discipline has honed over the decades to accomplish this.

But what are the major issues that the global sociological community now has the responsibility to tackle? First and foremost, they arise from the exponential increase in social inequalities, a process that the international economic crisis has exacerbated beyond measure. This situation threatens the very existence of democracy and calls for the construction of forms of social analysis which are strongly connected to  the arena of public policy. Concurrently, these forms of analysis must also be capable of offering communities and individuals knowledge and insight that can help to stem the tide of fatalism and apathy.

Yet an analysis of how inequalities are produced and reinforced would be incomplete without reflection on differences. Recognising and acknowledging the multiple expressions of difference – such as gender, social class, age, ethnic background, religion, and sexual orientation... - are vital when it comes to gaining insight into the ‘multiple positioning’ that characterises contemporary individuals. And this entails rethinking the meaning of integration today.

The International Visual Sociology Association 2015 Annual Conference will take place June 25-27, 2015 at the Cultural Foundation of Tinos, located in the city ofChora of Tinos island,Greece. The Conference will be hosted by the Department of Communication, Media and Culture –PanteionUniversity.

Theme: What You See Is What You Get: Old and New Ways of Seeing Society

The theme “What You See Is What You Get: Old and New Ways of Seeing Society”  stands for the idea of innovation gone obsolete: the computer interface is not just a new way of seeing, but also a signifier of the visual turn at large. The much-advertised feature of visually compelling software is now a commonplace feature gone unnoticed – unseen.

At the crossroads between ways of seeing, tradition and innovation are both revered by visual researchers. Yet, today’s innovation may prove next week’s old news. Umberto Eco’s aphorism about the “theory of next Thursday” is the story of modern (and postmodern) visuality, as it flees between forms. New visual forms prove to be the test bed for methodologies. While subjects like mobile visual cultures, intermediated visualities, computer vision, etc. demand scientific attention, visual researchers strive to respond renovating their methodologies.

Submission

The 2015 International Visual Sociology Association conference is inviting scholars, artists, independent researchers, and other visual professionals to submit proposals for papers to be part of our annual meeting.

Submitted papers may address the conference theme directly. We also invite papers that raise a wide range of questions regarding visual methods, theory, and content in visual sociology and related disciplines.

To submit a paper for consideration, fill out the Abstract Submission Form (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ivsa2015) by 15 January 2015.

All presenters will receive a notification regarding acceptance by 15 February 2015.

Registration to the conference must be done by April 1^st, 2015

For any information contact  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.