The Paradox of Paradox?

Workshop on Contradictions, Ironies and Surprises in Law, Economy and Society
 
Polish Sociological Association: Sociology of Law Section & Warsaw Department
11-12 May 2015 Warsaw

Sociology always showed a keen eye for the paradoxical and a theoretical taste for the ironic and counter-intuitive sequences of events. It explored more or less strong manifestations of these ranging from ironic and surprising outcomes of social action to apparent contradictory features of phenomena. It dealt with acknowledged and “instant classic” paradoxes in two steps: the satisfaction of discovering the surprising outcomes followed by a tendency to reveal the structural and cultural conditions which rendered the specific paradox less universal. In a similar vein, it moved from zooming in to zooming out in paradoxes and to showing how coping with tensions is constitutive, and even inherent, of social life. The present workshop aims to develop this research path by revealing and explaining apparent contradictions of social phenomena. It invites treatments which look behind the internal dynamism and sense of fatefulness in paradoxes, and which investigate the opportunity structure for the emergence of these. Further, it welcomes presentations discussing perspectives on paradoxes in neighboring disciplines which point out the manner in which other methodological approaches in social sciences could be beneficial for sociology of the paradoxical.
 
The Workshop welcomes papers dealing with such topics as:

• Old and new paradoxes in sociology;
• Contradictions, ironies and surprises in law, economy and society;
• Paradoxication, de-paradoxication;
• Coping with paradoxes;
• Unintended consequences of social action, perverse effects;
• Theoretical agenda and methodological tools in sociology of the paradoxical;
• Theoretical blind-spots and methodological shortcuts in sociology of the paradoxical;
• The paradox of paradox?
• What can sociology of the paradoxical learn from other disciplines?

The Organizing Committee hopes the Workshop will contribute to the conceptual and theoretical enrichment of the studies of the paradoxical, create an apt platform for revisiting well established assumptions and paradigms, and help opening new research sites for empirical investigation.
 
Registration and Deadlines:
Deadline for submitting paper proposals (aprox. 500 words) - 15 December 2014
Notification of paper acceptance - 15 January 2015
Deadline for registration - 15 March 2015
Abstracts should be submitted to Adriana Mica (a.mica@uw.edu.pl)
Please provide your personal information and institutional affiliation along with your proposal.
 
Conference Fee:
Regular fee - 110 Euro
Members of Polish Sociological Association in good standing - 90 Euro
The conference fee covers lunch breaks, conference dinner in the evening of the first day of the conference.
 
Conference Bank Account:
The Polish Sociological Association (Polskie Towarzystwo Socjologiczne)
PKO PB XV O/Warszawa
75 1020 1156 0000 7802 0059 7252
Please mention: „Paradox of paradox, … [your name]”
 
Data (Registration):
The Polish Sociological Association (Polskie Towarzystwo Socjologiczne)
ul. Nowy Świat 72, room 216
00-330 Warsaw, POLAND
NIP: 526-030-01-73
IBAN: PL 75 1020 1156 0000 7802 0059 7252
SWIFT: BPKOPLPW
 
Organizing Committee:
Adriana Mica (University of Warsaw)
Jan Winczorek (University of Warsaw)
Rafał Wiśniewski (Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw).