Conference map
Arrival Map
Social Theory and the Sociological Discipline(s)
Social Theory Conference (RN29),
European Sociological Association
September 11-13, 2008,
Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria
The ESA Social Theory Conference at Innsbruck University has been the midterm meeting of the RN29 Social Theory of the European Sociological Association. 80 scholars from 28 countries and all continents attended the conference.
Keynote speakers included Roland Robertson (Aberdeen ), Gesa Lindemann (Oldenburg) and Philip Selznick (Berkeley). For the full program and further information please download the
Conference brochure.
The conference further included: Social Theory Summit on 1,905m, Seegrube Social Theory Dinner. - The Nordkettenbahn Cableway (Zaha Hadid) whisks skiers, ramblers and theorists all the way up Nordpark-Seegrube. The view over the Inn Valley and Innsbruck is breathtaking, particularly from the Seegrube Restaurant.
| Reports | Call for Papers | Participants | Innsbruck | Accomodation | Travel & Leisure |
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| Please find reports on the meeting in the following journals |  |
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| Athens Journal | 2009, No.1 | Greek | Anastasia Marinopoulou (Athens) | ||||
| Austrian Journal of Sociology | 2009, 34(1): 99-101 | German | Steffen Roth (Bern) | ||||
| Czech Journal | 2009 | Czech | Jan Balon (Prague) | ||||
| European Sociologist (ESA bulletin) | 2009 | English | Willem Schinkel & Friso van Houdt, (Rotterdam) | ||||
| Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie | 2008, 60(4): 820-823 | German | Daniel Šuber (Konstanz) | ||||
| Philosophical Inquiry. International Quarterly | 2009, XXXI(1-2): 267-271 | English | Anastasia Marinopoulou (Athens) | ||||
| Sotziologicheskoye Obozrenie | 2009 | Russian | Nikita A. Kharlamov & Svetlana Kirdina (Moscow) | ||||
| Tiroler Tageszeitung | 28-09-2008 | German | Interview with Roland Robertson |
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| Participants | |
Speakers and further participants |
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| Zeynep Alemdar Istanbul, Turkey | Hans Bakker Guelph, Canada |
Jan Balon |
Gabriel A. Barhaim Netanya, Israel |
Henning Bech Copenh., Denmark |
| Michael Beetz Jena, Germany |
Dieter Bögenhold Bolzano, Italy |
Gerda Bohmann Vienna, Austria |
Eva Bravc Graz, Austria |
Craig Browne Sydney, Australia |
| Tine Buffel Brussels, Belgium |
Nilgun Celebi Ankara, Turkey |
Daniel Chernilo Santiago, Chile |
Rodrigo Cordero Warwick, UK |
Jens S. Dangschat Vienna, Austria |
| Liliana Donath Timisoara, Romania |
Keith Doubt Wittenberg, USA |
Nail Farkhatdinov Moscow, Russia |
Kenneth F. Ferraro West Lafayette, USA |
Alexander F. Filippov Moscow, Russia |
| Doris R. Fine Berkeley, US |
Robert Fine Warwick, UK |
Joachim Fischer Dresden, Germany |
Jürgen Fleiß Graz, Austria |
Stefan Fornos Klein Sao Paolo, Brazil |
| Christian Fuchs Salzburg, Austria |
Jeff Goodwin New York, USA |
Jens Greve Bielefeld, Germany |
Haldun Gulalp Istanbul, Turkey |
P. Paolo Guzzo Palermo/Calabria, Italy |
| Eleonóra Hamar Brno, Czech Republic |
Rasco Hartig-Perschke Hamburg, Germany |
Kornelia Hauser Innsbruck, Austria |
Jens Christian Hermansen Copenhag., Denmark |
Nikita A. Kharlamov Moscow, Russia |
| Christoph Kirchengast Innsbruck, Austria |
Svetlana Kirdina Moscow, Russia |
Gertraud Ladner Innsbruck, Austria |
Kanakis Leledakis Athens, Greece |
Marlene Lentner Linz, Austria |
| Gesa Lindemann Oldenburg, Germany | Nico Lüdtke Oldenburg, Germany |
Emiliana Mangone Fisciano/SA, Italy | Anastasia Marinopoulou Athens, Greece |
Paulin Mbecke Johannesb., S. Africa |
| Kevin McSorley Portsmouth, UK | Tamas Meleghy Innsbruck, Austria |
Mariam Meynert Lund, Sweden |
Anil Muhurdaroglu Ankara, Turkey |
Heinz-Jürgen Niedenzu Innsbruck, Austria |
Alaattin Oguz Ankara, Turkey |
Ian Parenteau Ottawa, Canada |
Seppo Poutanen Turku, Finland |
Max Preglau Innsbruck, Austria |
Werner Reichmann Konstanz, Germany |
Roland Robertson Aberdeen, Scotland |
Steffen Roth Bern, Switzerland |
Markus Schermer Innsbruck, Austria | Willem Schinkel Rotterdam, Netherl. | Philip Selznick Berkeley, USA |
| Mariana Slavin Timisoara, Romania | Mikhail Sokolov St. Petersb., Russia |
Helmut Staubmann Innsbruck, Austria | Daniel Šuber Konstanz, Germany |
Csaba Szaló Brno, Czech Republic |
| Ehud Toren Jerusalem, Israel |
Nina Toren Jerusalem, Israel |
Hirofumi Utsumi Osaka, Japan |
Frédéric Vandermoere Gent, Belgium |
Friso van Houdt Rotterdam, Netherl. |
| Gilles Verpraet Paris, France |
Paula-Irene Villa Munich, Germany | Mary Vogel Oxford/London, UK |
Tomoko Watarei Munich, Germany |
Frank Welz Innsbruck, Austria |
| Jan Winczorek Warsaw, Poland |
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| updated 2008-09-20 | ||||
| Call for Papers | |
One cost of sociology’s growth and its institutional success are fragmentation and specialization. However, the continual splicing off into new themes and subfields, and frequent cutting off from traditional links with the classical founders, discipline-wide issues, and subfield-transcending questions are often criticized at ESA and ISA meetings. It ultimately contradicts sociology’s self-understanding in two important ways: first, its widespread post-Kuhnian philosophical foundation and, second, its public role in society.
Consequently, it is increasingly important to remind ourselves what the identity of sociology is and look for unifying links that inspire the breadth of sociological studies, namely, for social theory: How does social theory keep sociology and social sciences together? And, in particular, how does it do that in practice?
The heterogeneity of the national streams of sociology stems not only from differences in the studied social structures but also from the infusion of varying theoretical traditions. Moreover, even the diversity among thematic fields and sub-disciplines within national communities of sociologists can be considered from a similar perspective. Social theory’s unity and diversification among these sociological or social scientific (sub)disciplines, its state-of-the-art, and new developments are thematic interests of the conference.
We invite papers that will analyze social theory at work, e.g. how (and which) social theories operate in one of the sociological sub-disciplines or in sociology in general. Case studies of theory’s impact, application, or neglect in the thematic fields and in the national streams of sociology will also be welcomed. -
We are looking forward to see participants of previous meetings but warmly welcome new colleagues too.
| Innsbruck University - SoWi (Social Sciences) - Innsbruck | |
Innsbruck |
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Innsbruck University, Sowi-Campus |
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| Accommodation | |
Hotels and Guest houses:
Hotel rooms are already reserved for conference guests. Prices are varying from 55/70 Euro to 102/134 Euro per night (single/double room). Please visit for further information and booking:
For Hotel booking please visit: "Innsbruck Tourism - ESA Social Theory Conference"
Following the link, for seeing prices please click to the relevant hotel. You will also find detailed descriptions and pictures of the hotels. When booking, Innsbruck tourism will usually ask by email reply for a credit card number for verifying your booking. They will not charge your creditcard, even not later; it is supposed that you will pay locally in Innsbruck. Booking Hotel booking link, see above, will put you in communication with Innsbruck tourist office. They will reply to you in any case. - If you have any further question, please contact us (details see below).
Hotel Innsbruck, Hotel Goldene Krone, and Hotel Central are in walking distance to the conference venue "Sowi university", University street (see conference map). The fourth one, Hotel Karwendel, is located 2,5 km from the venue. It is served by bus No. O every 7 minutes (bus stop "Höttinger Au"/Hotel Karwendel, to bus stop "Museumsstraße"; 1,70 Euro).
Weather:
Even in September you are likely to experience glorious sunshine in Innsbruck. Rainy days are not likely and temperatures generally range from 14° to 20°C in the morning. See the weather at www.wetter.at.
In autumn and winter the mountain regions receive more sunshine and clear air than the valleys. The daily and yearly variations in temperature are more pronounced and there is less precipitation
| Travel & Leisure Activities | |
Route planner
The official website of the 2008 European Football Championship - "Tirol is the Heart of the Alps and it’s situated in the center of the European Football Championship 2008" - offers an intelligent route planner for your route to Tyrol and Innsbruck. Please visit their homepage at Tyrol :08.
Flying to Innsbruck
Innsbruck has its own airport in town. You will come by taxi or bus "F" (5 minutes) to the center of city. The Bus F stop is just outside the arrival hall. It operates every 15 minutes. - The airport is served by Austrian Airlines, British Airways, etc. but also Easyjet, SkyEurope, Tui/HLX and Transavia.
However, another option could be via Munich airport (further "Easyjet" connections) and getting to Innsbruck in 2 hours by train from Munich. Flying to Tyrol.
Flying to Munich
The airport shuttle from Munich, Germany, to Innsbruck, Austria, would take about 2 hours by car (42 Euro one way; roundtrip 72 Euro). It is served in both directions by Four Seasons Travel airport Taxi, Innsbruck (phone +43 512 584157). For the shuttle you need to make reservations in advance internet. - By regular train it takes 2:18 hrs. (bahn.de, please type "Munich airport", not just "Munich") and will cost about 35 Euro one-way. There are trains leaving Munich airport terminal (first you use the subway "S8" to Munich East/Muenchen Ost, there you will have to change to an EC eurocity train - the subway and the train stop at adjacent platforms, so it's a fast and easy change) every two hours. If your planned train journey Munich-Innsbruck exceeds 3 or even 4 hours, please take care that it does not include an uncomfortable long stop during the night hours anywhere between Munich and Innsbruck.
By train to Innsbruck
Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB: bahn.at From the railway station in Innsbruck it is a 10 minutes walk to the Sowi University building. It is located 2 hrs to Munich (north/160 km) by train or 2 hrs to Bozen (south/117 km).
By car to Innsbruck
By car the A12 Autobahn network (East and West) is easily accessible from all directions. A toll sticker is required. The Arlberg tunnel is a toll road. Extra toll fees are also charged on the A13 Autobahn starting at Innsbruck South entrance. Federal road No 182 towards Brenner pass/ltaly to Ost-Tyrol is easily accessible Felbertauem tunnel or the Italian Val Pusteria. Please note that in Austria also during the day you need to have your car lights on.
SoWi Conference building for you
Wireless internet services are available on the whole SoWi-Campus at no charge; social science library included, plus rooms with a view!
Tyrol for your companions & after work
Tirol - a peak experience 15 000 km of marked mountain and hiking trails, 150 mountains huts and 500 alpine refreshment stations
The cultural diversity to be found in the "Heart of the Alps" offers countless possibilities for discovering the country and its people during your hiking holidays. Walk the culture road - for instance on the Via Claudia Augusta culture trail. Meet the past in one of the museums and pick up interesting architectural and culinary impressions.
Tirol adventure - the very special kick. Tirolean rivers and gorges are a paradise for rafting, kayak or canoe trips. Mountain bikers will find 4000 km of marked bike trails and the new Bike Trail Tirol.
The ancient part of the town
The ancient part of the town can easily be reached on foot. Just a five minutes walk away from the Innsbruck School of Political Science and Sociology (SoWi Building) you can leisurely stroll in the pedestrian zone with its souvenir shops and traditional cafés. Within walking distance you can also find some remarkable churches and historical buildings as well as museums and art galleries.
If you feel more adventurous you can 'climb' the surrounding mountains either by rack railway from the station at the Congress/theater "Landestheater" 2 minutes from SoWi to its "Hungerburg" station (or by taking bus "J" to the "Hungerburg") where you can either continue your altitude flight up the mountain to the top by a further cable car or simply enjoy the beautiful views right there.
Arriving in Innsbruck: Despite its olympic reputation Innsbruck is a small city with only 130 000 inhabitants. Main buildings and places are in short walking distance to each other. However, please take care when you will book your hotel and in particular when you arrive in Innsbruck:
Our university conference building is located north, the main university southern. Our building hosts the social sciences, it is well known by everyone in town as "SoWi" building, for the Social and Economic Sciences. It is located close to 'Goldenes Dachl' (Golden roof), 'Hofburg' and 'Theater' in the north from the main station (10 minutes walk) whereas the main university is located south-west, 15 minutes from "SoWi".