FINAL CONFERENCE DATE: January 21-22, 2021
on-line

Research Network “Sociology of Families and Intimate Lives” (RN13)
Extended family relationships: What are they in late modernity?

The conference puts the focus on family relationships. The call to “think relationally “ resonates in numerous influential works in contemporary sociology of the family. Family sociologists have heard the appeal “to go beyond the nuclear family” and have been seeking to explain or understand the relationships within the extended family framework. Empirical research has shown that notwithstanding increased family diversity, highly diversified family patterns, values and practices, the extended family has not completely disappeared. More recently, the life course perspective also emphasized the importance of contextualizing family relationships within their historical and spatial dimensions.

The conference organizers encourage submissions focused on family relationships or roles to which relatively little attention has been devoted thus far, by considering “overlooked, or forgotten kin” such as siblings, brothers or sisters in-law and other in-laws, aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, etc. These relationships or roles should be discussed in the wider context of contemporary social and demographic changes. Grasping family bonds through the life course perspective will also be appreciated. Special attention should be devoted to family relationships in adulthood and old age.

The aforementioned specific thematic orientation of the conference certainly does not mean excluding papers on marital relationships, intergenerational bonds or non-normative families, nor contributions concerning earlier stages of life. All of these will also be enthusiastically received.

We welcome empirical and theoretical papers. Abstracts of max. 800 words outlining (as appropriate) the research question, theoretical approach, data, methodology, and research findings should be submitted via the conference email – the deadline was extended to 30 September 2020. Notification of acceptance will be sent by 15 October 2020. Accepted papers exceeding the scheduled number of oral presentations have the opportunity to be displayed as a poster. Selected papers of the ESA RN13 IM 2021 in Olomouc will have the opportunity to be published in a special issue of the journal Social Inclusion.

Please send abstracts to conference email: esarn13.im2020@gmail.com

• Conference attendance is free to members of the ESA RN13 and €50 for non-members.

• RN13 wants to encourage junior scholars and PhD students to attend the interim meeting. To this end, the two best PhD papers will be awarded a prize of €250 each. When submitting your abstract, please indicate that you want to participate in the competition and indicate whether your research is (predominantly) quantitative, qualitative or theoretical.

Keynote speaker: François de Singly, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Sorbonne University of Paris Descartes, Center for Research on Social Relations (CERLIS).

Local organizer: Dana Sýkorová, Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc (dana.sykorova@upol.cz).

Conference email: esarn13.im2020@gmail.com

The text of the call for papers can be downloaded here (.pdf).

The conference is organized in cooperation with a team of the research project “Graying Siblinghood. A Sociological Study of Siblinghood in Late Adulthood” (GACR, No. 17-07 321S).