Tag Archives: Session

Call for Papers: Session on “Mechanisms of Change in Organizational Networks” XXXIII. Sunbelt Conference, May 21 – 26, 2013 in Hamburg, Germany

Call for Papers
Session on “Mechanisms of Change in Organizational Networks” XXXIII. Sunbelt Conference, May 21 – 26, 2013 in Hamburg, Germany

Session organizers:
Henning Hillmann, University of Mannheim, Germany (hillmann@uni-mannheim.de)
Valery Yakubovich, ESSEC Business School, France (yakubovich@essec.fr)

One of the most exciting areas in recent studies of organizational networks concerns the emergence of new organizational forms (e.g. the volume on Emergence of Organizations and Markets, by John Padgett and Woody Powell): where do markets and organizations come from? What social structural conditions and contexts are particularly favorable to facilitate innovation in organizations and elsewhere? Social science research tends to be attracted to newness. Yet, just as important are questions about the persistence of established organizational networks: why exactly are some organizational networks more likely to survive than others? What social mechanisms may account for their long-run survival and the spill-over effects they may have into other areas of organizational life? At the same time, we routinely observe organizational change. Does such change emerge endogenously, from within organizational networks? Or, is it more likely to be triggered by exogenous shocks? We believe that a promising approach to answering these questions seeks to identify the micro-foundations and causal mechanisms that give rise to various organizational macro-structures (e.g. Peter Hedstrom and Peter Bearman, eds., Handbook of Analytical Sociology).

We invite submissions that advance our understanding of the emergence, persistence and change of organizational networks. We particularly welcome contributions that try to solve interesting empirical puzzles and advance theory through mechanism-based explanations.

Submission will be closing on December 31 at 11:59:59 EST. Please limit your abstract to 250 words.
Proceed to abstract submission: http://www.abstractserver.com/sunbelt2013/absmgm/

When submitting your abstract, please select “Mechanisms of Change in Organizational Networks” as session title in the drop down box on the submission site. To be extra sure please put a note in the “additional notes” box on the abstract submission form that states Henning Hillmann as the session organizer.

For further information on the venue an1d conference registration see http://hamburg-sunbelt2013.org

Call for Abstracts for the Session “Transnational Networks” at the XXXIII. Sunbelt Conference, May 21 – 26, 2013 in Hamburg, Germany

Transnational networks – Call for Abstracts for a session at the XXXIII. Sunbelt Conference, May 21 – 26, 2013 in Hamburg, Germany

organized by Andreas Herz, Sören Petermann and José Luis Molina

Transnational studies focus on the border-crossing activities of individuals, migrant groups, corporations and social movements. A central innovation of the concept “transnationalism” depends on a perspective which refers to cross-border relationships and networks. E.g. looking at personal networks it can be seen that more and more people have highly transnationally dispersed relationship structures wherein the “social” is only partly routed in the “local”. Especially relational approaches and social network analysis (SNA) allow reconsidering and researching the cross-cutting transfer of ideas, transnational support as well as the formation of opinions and lifestyles beyond different geographical spaces and nation states. We invite presentations to discuss the transnational and geographically dispersed social formations form a network perspective. Possible questions are:

  • What role do cross-border social networks play to migration, mobility, science and entrepreneurship?
  • What is the structure of cross-border formations? What role does transnationality play for the provision of different resources?
  • Which network approaches can be addressed in observing transnational distribution of networks? What measures have potential to express structure of transnationality?
  • How can network analysis help to understand the interrelationship between social space and transnational and/ or geographical space? What is the relation between distance and transnationality?

Submission will be closing on December 31 at 11:59:59 EST. Please limit your abstract to 250 words. Proceed to abstract submission: http://www.abstractserver.com/sunbelt2013/absmgm/

When submitting your abstract, please select “Transnational networks” as session title in the drop down box on the submission site. To be extra sure please put a note in the “additional notes” box on the abstract submission form that states Andreas Herz, Sören Petermann and José Luis Molina as the session organizers.

Best,
Andreas Herz, University of Hildesheim Foundation
Sören Petermann, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity

José Luis Molina, University Autònoma de Barcelona

Session on “Family Networks” at the XXXIII. Sunbelt 2013 – Hamburg

Call for Papers for a session on “Family Networks”
at the XXXIII. Sunbelt Conference, May 21 – 26, 2013 in Hamburg, Germany

Session organizers:

Andreas Klärner, University of Rostock, Germany, andreas.klaerner@uni-rostock.de
Sylvia Keim, University of Rostock, Germany, sylvia.keim@uni-rostock.de

Reaching back to Elizabeth Bott’s classic study on family relations and the division of labor within a couple, social network analysis has been an interesting perspective for family researchers. Since the discussion about “postmodern” or “patchwork”-families the traditional concept of family has been challenged and no longer can be conceived as given or unproblematic. Here the perspective of dynamically changing networks of family relations has become more and more prominent. Drawing on this discussion, we would like to ask how a network perspective can enhance our understanding of different processes in the making of families. Therefore, in this session we want to bring together researchers interested in family relations and social network analysis. We invite abstracts on theoretical as well as empirical work and appreciate different methodological approaches ranging from quantitative to qualitative and mixed-methods research methods.

Possible topics may include:

  • Family construction or the concept of family: How can a network perspective of dynamically changing family relations contribute to the discussion on changing and varying family patterns?
  • Union and family formation: How do personal relations and social support networks affect transitions to different stages in union and family formation? Do social networks have an effect on the transition to parenthood?
  • Family networks across the life course: How do family (and other) relations change across the life course? A special focus can be on specific life events as partnership formation, (re-)marriage, parenthood, separation/divorce, widowhood, children leaving home…
  • The effects of family ties in various research fields: What is the role of family ties and family support networks for e.g. individual health, education trajectories, (recovery from) drug addiction, criminal trajectories?
  • Intergenerational exchanges: What forms of social capital do intergenerational ties provide? Which financial transfers take place? How are they embedded in rules of reciprocity or solidarity? How are support for children and care of the elderly in “patchwork”-families organized?

Sunbelt Submission will be closing on December 31 at 11:59:59 EST. In order to organize the session, we will need the abstract a bit earlier, by December 20, 2012. Please limit your abstract to 250 words. The oral presentation is scheduled for 20 minutes. Please contact us, if you have any questions. For further information on the conference see http://hamburg-sunbelt2013.org

Contact: Andreas Klärner, Institut für Soziologie und Demographie, Universität Rostock, Ulmenstr. 69, D-18057 Rostock, Tel. +(0)381 498-4367, E-Mail