2 June - at The University of Warwick

The Centre for Social Ontology invites applications for this practical workshop aimed at those investigating human reflexivity through empirical research. The ‘internal conversation’ was developed by Margaret Archer as a solution to the problem of structure and agency: a mediatory mechanism that accounts for how society’s objective features influence its members to reproduce or transform society through their actions. Since initially discussed in Being Human, this account of human reflexivity has been developed through a trilogy of books reporting on empirical studies into the distinct modes through which reflexivity operates. This body of work has been used in projects across a range of disciplines and been the topic of much theoretical and methodological debate.

This workshop intends to support those who are currently undertaking or in the process of planning empirical research investigating the internal conversation. The day will begin with an introductory lecture by Margaret Archer in which she will discuss the development of her work on reflexivity, ranging from the initial formulation in Being Human through to her recent work with Pierpaolo Donati on relational reflexivity. Then Mark Carrigan (Warwick), Monder Ram (Birmingham) and Balihar Sanghera (Kent) will each give a shorter talk about their experience of investigating reflexivity through empirical research. The rest of the day will address the methodological and theoretical questions often encountered when studying reflexivity e.g. how to identify the modes of reflexivity of research subjects.

The workshop is free but registration is essential. If you would like to participate then please e-mail socialontology@warwick.ac.uk with a brief description of your project. We’re keen to adapt the content as much as possible to meet the needs of participants. If there are particular issues you would like us to address then please suggest these in your initial e-mail.

July 8th - The Shard, London​

This innovative conference brings together leading figures from a variety of fields which address issues of digital technology and digital data. We’ve invited speakers with a range of intellectual perspectives and disciplinary backgrounds who engage with questions relating to digital data and digital technology in their work. Our suggestion is that social ontology, however this might be construed, represents a potential common ground that could cut across this still rather siloed domain of inquiry into the social dimensions of digital technology.

The conference aims to explore this possibility by assembling a diverse range of perspectives and drawing them into a dialogue about a common question, without assuming a shared understanding of the topic at hand. Our aim is to extend this digitally via twitter, podcast and blog beyond the event itself, in order to facilitate an extended conversation that will draw more people into its remit as it circulates after the conference itself.

To this end, we invite each speaker to address this theme (the social ontology of digital data & digital technology) in whatever way they choose. Each speaker will have 30 mins to talk and 15 mins for questions. We’ll have an accomplished audio editor on hand to record each talk as a podcast. These will be released on www.socialontology.org and will be circulated on social media in order to try and stimulate a continuing debate around the issues raised at the conference. The hashtag for the day will be #socialontology.

This conference is aimed at people actively working in this field.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Chair: Celia Lury (Warwick)
• Noortje Marres (Goldsmiths) – Does Digital Sociology have a Problem?
• Jochen Runde (Cambridge) – Non-materiality and the Ontology of Digital Objects
• Alistair Mutch (NTU) – title TBC
• Susan Halford (Southampton) – title TBC
• Nick Couldry (LSE) – title TBC
• Emma Uprichard (Warwick) – Big Data, Complexity and Time.

Social ontology is integral to the study of society. It is impossible to inquire into the social world without some understanding, at least tacitly, concerning the entities which make up that world and their properties and powers. However social ontology remains an often confused and contentious matter within the social sciences.

The first Centre for Social Ontology PhD and ECR conference seeks to address this matter through papers exploring the role of social ontology within sociology. This could include but is by no means limited to:

• The relationship between tacit assumptions concerning social ontology and reflective theoretical positions
• Social ontology and the formulation of research questions
• Social ontology as a topic standing at the interface between the social sciences and philosophy
• The methodological implications of social ontology
• The ontological assumptions implied by research methods
• The social ontology of particular areas of inquiry e.g. social movements or digital technology
• Disciplinary differences in approaches to social ontology
• Social ontology and philosophical under-labouring
• The limits of social ontology and where under-labouring has to stop
• New directions in sociological research through questions of social ontology

The conference is open to all PhD students and Early Career Researchers with an interest in social ontology.

Please send abstracts of 200 words or less and a short biographical note to socialontology@warwick.ac.uk by May 1st

The Conference will be held on the 23rd June from 10am-4pm

Charles Turner will be screening The Five Obstructions on Tuesday 10th March at 6pm in S0.28.

Lars von Trier has his hero Jorgen Leth remake his 1967 experimental film The Perfect Human five times under various constraints. A brilliant duel/dialogue on film-making, the culture of the copy, repetition/variation and frame analysis.

All welcome!

Thursday 5 March, 4-6pm, Reinvention Centre at Westwood

The film, Teachers' Views on Returning Schools, is a short documentary which looks at the experiences and views of teachers and young people at schools in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which cater for kids who have been excluded from, or do not participate in, education.

The film has been made by a Sociologist, Dr Analía Meo, from the University of Buenos Aires. Analia is also a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Sociology at the Unvierity of Warwick. Analía has researched on educational exclusion in the UK and in Argentina and through this film she provides a moving, engaging and provocative account of the difficulties and possibilities of school inclusion. The film offers some challenges to UK based programmes for excluded young people.

After the viewing of the film, there will be a discussion between Analía Meo and Cath Lambert from the Department of Sociology. There will also be an opportunity for audience questions and discussion.

The event will be followed by a drinks reception.

The event is organised and supported by the Department of Socioogy's Culture, Media and Creativity research cluster.

All are welcome.

The Reinvention Centre at Westwood is located in the Westwood Cafe building on Westwood campus, number 74 on th campus map http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/visiting/maps​

Applications are now open for an ESRC-funded collaborative PhD between the Department of Sociology, the Centre for Cultural Policy Studies, and The Drum Arts Centre in Birmingham.

The Economic and Social Research Council Doctoral Training Centre at the University of Warwick, one of 21 such centres in the UK, embodies the university’s commitment to producing the next generation of leaders in social science research. Internationally renowned for its research excellence, Warwick is now inviting applications for an ESRC Doctoral Studentship in association with our collaborative partner The Drum Arts Centre, Birmingham, to commence in October 2015.

Visit the webpage for more information.

Evidence from MYPLACE (www.fp7-myplace.eu) suggests that interest in politics, political attitudes and behaviour varies according to dimensions such as locality, class, gender, ethnicity, religion and age. In other words, political interest and engagement links closely to a young person’s economic, social and cultural capital. This sets significant challenges for policy makers and suggests the need for a differentiated policy approach that takes account of social structural inequality and diversity.

Watch the documentary on our website.

Monday 26th January 2015, The Arts Centre Cinema, 5pm (followed by refreshments and a discussion in Social Sciences S0.21)

Evidence from MYPLACE suggests that interest in politics, political attitudes and behaviour varies according to dimensions such as locality, class, gender, ethnicity, religion and age. In other words, political interest and engagement links closely to a young person’s economic, social and cultural capital. This sets significant challenges for policy makers and suggests the need for a differentiated policy approach that takes account of social structural inequality and diversity.

If the good news is that, on the whole, young people have a fairly substantial interest in politics and political issues, the bad news is that this does not translate into comparable levels of engagement with formal politics and the political system. The most important reasons to emerge from the research to date are low levels of trust and high levels of cynicism in most of the MYPLACE countries towards politics, politicians and the political system. While there is general support for democracy as a system, many young people seem to feel that it is not working well for them. A significant number believe that politicians are corrupt, and there is an overriding feeling that politicians are not interested in young people ‘like them’.

Whatever the causes, MYPLACE has revealed a vicious circle in which young people feel that the political system is not responsive to their needs and therefore do not try to influence it.

"Not My Place" draws on the MYPLACE research data and explores some of the key findings on political participation with a group of young people who are active and engaged in local political issues and youth democracy. Further comment and insight is provided by elected politicians and practitioners. Through the film, we hope to pull out some of the policy implications of the findings through the reflections of young people and policy makers, and also to suggest some constructive ways forward to address the challenges that the findings present.”

Since smaller academic departments still need access to the same level of strategic capacity as larger units, how best to deliver such capacity in an affordable and sustainable way? The answer: Collaborative working between Academic Departments and the central Administration. Find out more on the We've Simplified! page.