Commission on Urban Anthropology, IUAES http://urban.anthroweb.net
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University of Peloponnese
Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Social and Educational Policy

CUA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Corinth, Greece, 27-29 May 2011

Call for Papers

Market vs Society?
Human principles and economic rationale in changing times

The changes in the international economy during the 1970s and the ensuing shift towards neo-liberalism in the 1980s brought out a “rediscovery” of the ideas of Friedrich Hayek. The concept of liberalism was the ideological guise of economic globalization. The liberalization of market forces, as an ideological and economic project, imposed a model of compliance through employment flexibility, the minimisation of social security, the fragmentation of social solidarity and the conceptualisation of the economy as money exchanged in the market rather than as an efficient management of resources.

Within this framework, states and policy decision making are evaluated according to criteria related to the severity of macroeconomic strategies aiming at reducing fiscal deficits and cutting welfare and social benefits. It seems that Karl Polanyi’s claim is being confirmed that the economy has gained an independent life. Thus, the concepts of economy and society seem to be defined in terms of conflict rather than of harmonious coexistence. As a consequence, social life has become increasingly insecure and individualistic, the natural environment is being destroyed and the markets have changed into arenas of unfair competition and opportunistic speculation, while the unrestricted movement of capital jeopardizes the economic bases of the welfare state internationally and its subsequent ability to sustain full employment policies.

For many people it has become gradually impossible to make the connection between the impersonal market institutions and the reality that they experience in their daily life. As anthropologists have shown, although people try to resist explicitly or implicitly to “self-regulating” economic processes, they would appear to play no role in the calculation of economic theory and practice.

This Conference aims at addressing the complex connections between society and economy taking into account the processes that mark this often uneasy relationship in key social and political fields.

The Conference welcomes contributions and panels from anthropologists and scholars from other disciplines and encourages participation of research students.

Abstracts (300 words maximum) should be emailed by 1st December 2010 to Dr. Manos Spyridakis (maspy@uop.gr) or to Dr. Michael Fefes (mfefes@uop.gr). Selected papers and panels will be announced by 22th December 2010.

Selected papers will be published by the University of Peloponnese Press.

The Organizing Committee will make all possible efforts to cover accommodation costs (hotel and meals) for the participants.

Registration Fee

On-site registration fee equivalent to 25 Euros
Postgraduate and PhD students, 15 Euros

Contact persons of the Organizing Committee
Dr. Manos Spyridakis, maspy@uop.gr
Dr. Michael Fefes, mfefes@uop.gr

Scientific Committee
Dr. Giuliana Prato (University of Kent)
Dr. Italo Pardo (University of Kent)
Dr. Manos Spyridakis (University of Peloponnese)
Dr. Michael Fefes (University of Peloponnese)


On behalf of the Scientific Committee
Manos Spyridakis
Department of Social and Educational Politics
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Peloponnese
Greece