Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures

DIVERGENCE AND DIVERSITY. SOCIAL CONTROL AND PLURALISM 

 Guest Editor: Bernardo Pérez-Salazar (Universidad Católica de Colombia)

 

The journal Socioscapes (http://www.socioscapes.org/index.php/sc) welcomes proposals of articles in response to a call for a special issue on the sociology of social divergence  and its contributions to  general sociology and, specifically, to the various fields of legal sociology.

 Social Divergence Theory

The theory of social divergence proposed by Germán Silva García has been mainly applied by this author to the field of criminology or criminal legal sociology. However, the notion of divergence, which describes, understands, and analyzes social actions in conflictive social contexts, is not limited to the field of criminal law. As an approach to understand social actions in general, social divergence theory deals with assorted actions that concern different legal branches and specialties (civil, administrative, labor, criminal, etc.). Its scope also includes actions that are intervened by non-state normative systems that carry some type of sanction by social control mechanisms. In this regard, social actions are divergent insofar as they are the object of intervention by diverse forms of social control and labelled as infractions, transgressions, crimes, etc. With the intervention of social or penal control systems, the actions of at least one of the parties involved in a conflict will be branded as divergent and will carry consequences determined by some legally or socially recognized normative power.

 In the context of microsocial order, divergence theory is micro sociological. Yet, it is closely connected to the liberal conflictual sociological theory, which is a macrosociological theory. The main theoretical elements of this theory are briefly described as follows.

 Divergence has its starting point with the encounter of diverse and contradictory lines of social action. Conflicting parties confront each other with their social attributes and particular situation, in specific cultural and historical contexts. Personality, interests, ideology, personal and social identity, position of status, prestige and power comprise the main social attributes that each party brings to this contest.

 

 The space that opens between the diverging lines of action gives rise to a field of separation in which contentious confrontations arise, fed by different motivations and disparate forms of action. The field of separation constitutes the arena where different individual and collective interests come into contest, and ideological disputes occur between parties involved in the divergent relationship. In short, the separation field is where social conflicts are staged.

 

In this way, divergence highlights the diversity that emerges in conflictive situations as a result of disputes between parties concerning interests and ideologies. Social conflicts trigger the intervention of the civil, labor, administrative, constitutional, or criminal justice system, as well as of informal social control mechanisms. The outcome of these intervention generally labels and typifies the actions of one of the parties involved in the social conflict as reproachable offenses, and holds its protagonists as offenders, transgressors, criminals, etc.  Such interventions can be framed as acts of censure of social actions considered to be diverse. Pluralism flourishes where diversity is cherished and protected. In sum, interventions by social or legal systems generally control diversity stemming from divergence.

 

In this framework, the notion of social divergence is radically opposed to social deviance, a category very widely used in general sociology and criminology. In doing so, it underscores the prescriptive character of social deviation, indicating that it deceptively describes social actions while using value-laden terms such as illicit, transgressive, or criminal. Consequently, the sociology of divergence entails a deeply critical view of the idea of conformism that in conventional theory represents the opposite of social deviation. In contrast, it highlights the political origin of legal and especially penal classifications that are generally established in the context of contending divergent interests and actions, which per se cannot be branded as good or correct: both are simply divergent.

As a theoretical approach, the sociology of divergence offers significant potential for critical thinking. The absence of social control interventions or their ineffectiveness to dissuade or control certain forms of social action does not dissolve the divergent, conflictive relationship in which these behaviors occur and remain active. The lack or suspension of control interventions by law enforcement concerning certain social actions, such as recreational use of hallucinogenic drugs or practices related to reproductive health like abortions, simply acknowledges that these have not been or have ceased to be defined as legally or socially reproachable. In logical terms, this sort of outcomes is plausible only by accepting the premise that behaviors that trigger law enforcement must previously be the object of a political definition.

Given the richness of the sociology of divergence in the field of legal sociology, this call invites to explore and critically analyze the application of this approach to other areas of social conflict including social stigmatization, employment discrimination, political authoritarianism, environmental injustice, racism, and their theoretical or empirical linkages with other social problems.

In accordance with an inter-disciplinary perspective, this special issue of Socioscapes invites contributions from different fields of study that, in response to this call, discuss aspects concerned with social divergence. As a general bibliography on the theory of social divergence and its applications, the following texts can be consulted:

 Corvalán, Camila. “Divergencia social y encierro. El conflicto social vinculado a la privación de la libertad de los y las adolescentes”, en Estudios Paraguayos, vol. 35, No 1, pp. 187-202, 2017.

 Ghezzi, Morris L. “Per un pluralismo difunzionale”, en Vincenzo Ferrari, Paola Ronfani y Silvia Stabile (eds.). Conflitti e diritto nella società transnazionale, Franco Angeli, Milano, 2001.

 Quiroz Vitale, Marco A. “La criminologia di Germán Silva Silva García y la vittimizzacione”, en Società e Diritti, vol. II, No. 4, pp. 153-165, 2017.

 Rinaldi, Cirus. Deviazioni. Devianza, devianze, divergence, Roma, SAS, 2009.

 Silva García, Germán. “La concepción sobre el crimen: un punto de partida para la exploración teórica”, en Memorias congreso internacional. Derecho público, filosofía y sociología jurídicas: perspectivas para el próximo milenio, Bogotá, Universidad Externado de Colombia y Consejo Superior de la Judicatura, pp. 845-863,1996.

 Silva García, Germán. “Criminología, bases para una teoría sociológica del delito”, en Carlos Elbert (coord.). La criminología del siglo XXI en América Latina, Buenos Aires, Rubinzal y Culzoni, pp. 305-326,1999.

 Silva García, Germán. “Le basi della teoria sociologica del delitto”, en Sociologia del Diritto, No. 2, pp. 119-135, 2000.

 Silva García, Germán. “La teoría del conflicto. Un marco teórico necesario”, en Prolegómenos. Derecho y Valores, vol. 11, No. 22, Bogotá, pp. 29-43, 2008.

 Silva García, Germán. Criminología. Teoría sociológica del delito, Bogotá, ILAE, 2011.

Silva García, Germán. Criminologia. Teoria sociologica del delitto, Milano, Mimesis, 2018. Silva García, Germán, Fabiana Irala y Bernardo Pérez-Salazar. “Das distorções da criminología do Norte global a uma nova cosmovisão na criminologia do Sul”, en Dilemas. Revista de Estudos de Conflito e Controle Social, vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 179-199, 2022.

 Publication procedure and timetable

Articles must follow the Socioscapes guidelines for authors that can be consulted in the Journal´s website (http://www.socioscapes.org/index.php/sc). Articles will be peer-reviewed in accordance to the journal´s the double-blind system. The deadline for delivery is 5 February 2023 at 12 pm. Articles should be sent to Bernardo Pérez-Salazar, the editorial coordinator of this special issue number designated by Socioscapes, at bperez@ucatolica.edu.co. Articles should have between 8,000 and 10,000 words, and may be submitted in Spanish, English, French or Italian. The special issue will receive: 1. Theoretical articles discussing the premises, aspects, or components of the notion of social divergence or comparisons with other theories; 2. Articles with applications of social divergence theory to particular questions of general sociology, in different subjects or branches of legal sociology, or referred to topics of interest in other social sciences.

• Summer School titled 'Endangered Theories: Standing by Critical Race Theory in the Age of Ultraviolence'

  2022-04-02

  Dear all, 

  an updated version of the Programme of the Summer School titled 'Endangered Theories: Standing by Critical Race Theory in the Age of Ultraviolence' is now online. It will be held from July 18 to July 23, 2022, at the Center for Social Studies (CES), University of Coimbra. Each day is dedicated to one of the following critical paradigms: Critical Race Theory, Critical Whiteness Studies, Post-colonial Europe, Afro-Pessimism and Settler Colonial Studies.

   

  https://ces.uc.pt/summerwinterschools/?lang=2&id=36121

   

  The invited speakers are all leading researchers in their field of expertise and include the international scholars: Ruba Salih (SOAS); Annalisa Frisina (Padova University), Meera Sabaratnam (SOAS), David Marriott (Emory University) Linette Park (Emory University), Leopold Podlashuc (Durham University), and Erin Torkelson (Durham University).

   

  The programme mixes introductory lectures with seminars, workshops, roundtable discussions and social events.  The deadline to express the interest to participate is April 30, 2022. Selected participants will be notified by May 7, 2020. The early bird registration for unwaged participants is only 120 euros and we also offer 3 fee waivers.

  Postgraduate students, activists, policymakers and educators are all welcome to express their interest.

   

  The organisers

  Gaia Giuliani, Marilena indelicato, João Figueiredo

   

   

  On Sat, Feb 5, 2022 at 12:29 PM gaia giuliani <giuliani.gaia@gmail.com> wrote:

  
  Dear colleagues,

   

  We hope this email finds you well. As co-organiser of the summer school ‘Endangered Theories: Standing by Critical Race Theory in the Age of Ultraviolence,’ I invite you to circulate the call for participation that you can find in the link below.

  https://ces.uc.pt/summerwinterschools/?lang=1&id=36121

   

  The Summer School will be held from July 18 to July 23, 2022, at the Center for Social Studies (CES), University of Coimbra. Each day is dedicated to one of the following critical paradigms: Critical Race Theory, Critical Whiteness Studies, Post-colonial Europe, Afro-Pessimism and Settler Colonial Studies.

   

  The invited speakers are all leading researchers in their field of expertise and include the international scholars: Ruba Salih (SOAS); David Marriott (Emory University) Linette Park (Emory University); Meera Sabaratnam (SOAS); and Annalisa Frisina (Padova University).

   

  The programme mixes introductory lectures with seminars, workshops, roundtable discussions and social events.  The deadline to express the interest to participate is April 30, 2022. Selected participants will be notified by May 7, 2020. The early bird registration for unwaged participants is only 120 euros and we also offer 3 fee waivers.

   

  Postgraduate students, activists, policymakers and educators are all welcome to express their interest.

   

  The organizers

  Gaia Giuliani, Maria Elena Indelicato, João Figueiredo

  Read More Read more about Summer School titled 'Endangered Theories: Standing by Critical Race Theory in the Age of Ultraviolence'

• Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures Fourth issue (Winter 2021) Call N. 3 «Digital work: more autonomy or a new subjugation of work?»

  2020-06-04

   

  Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures

  Fourth issue (Winter 2021)

  Call N.3

  «Digital work: more autonomy or a new subjugation of work?»

  Guest Editors:Antunes Ricardo – University of Campinas (rantunes@unicamp.br), Basso Pietro – University of Venice (pbasso@unive.it), and Perocco Fabio – University of Venice (fabio.perocco@unive.it).

  The last two decades have seen profound transformations of work, both in the process of work organisation and in the functioning of the labour market. Among these, the most recent and fastest is the computerisation of work, in particular the digitisation of work. A new frontier has thus opened up in the field of work and, at the same time, in the exploitation and precarisation of work, which the current health and social-economic crisis is widening out of all proportion. The practice and the myth of “smart working” are the visible signs of a planetary dynamic of capitalist matrix which, once again, presents the possible liberation and humanization of labour within the framework of a new, and perhaps more radical, alienation, atomization and subordination of labour to the imperatives of the market and profit.

  The aim of this issue of the Journal is to critically analyse this dynamic, paying particular attention to the relationship between the so-called “digital platforms” and their “applications”: alongside the intense development of informal and digital technology, we are witnessing the expansion of different modes of intense exploitation of the workforce, which is expressed in highly precarious working conditions, long working days, low wages, high levels of illness. Usually these new forms of work are presented as free and autonomous “services”, the workers involved become “self-entrepreneurs”, “masters” of their working time. And this allows the platforms, i.e. the companies that own and control them, to circumvent and cheat on the labour laws of the countries in which they operate.

  From this set of labour transformation processes, in which the technological element appears on the surface as prevalent on the structure of social relations that actually subsume it, important issues emerge that are of great interest for this call for papers dedicated to digital work:

  - What, in fact, characterizes this new mode of work? First of all: Is it something completely new, for the use it makes of ITC resources, or is it a combination of old and new forms of work organization? Based on what criteria, and for what purposes, were the algorithms built? How do they control the time and intensity of work? Who controls the algorithms? What is the role of artificial intelligence in these new forms of work delivery? What are, in them, the connections between materiality, immateriality, digital work and the creation of value and wealth? What about the exploitation of labour and overwork (surplus value)? How does the creation of surplus value take place when work is unpaid? What are the new ways taken up by the conflict between capital and labour? Is it possible to regulate these jobs that do not stop expanding?

  - There are also important questions relating to the social consequences of the computerization and digitization of work, which are also of great importance for this issue of the Journal: the impact of computerization on work intensification and working time; the effects of digitization on the qualification/dequalification processes of work and workers; the relationship between digitization and precarization; the impact of digitization on wages, and on de-salarization phenomena; digitization as an element of (material, social, psychological) impoverishment and a factor of new social inequalities.

  And last but not least: with the expansion of the so-called Industry 4.0 - which will further intensify the robotization and digital automation in all possible activities, through the "internet of things", the expansion of artificial intelligence, with profound consequences on employment - what are the main consequences for the working class? What is the new configuration of the working class? What are the possible forms of resistance, organisation and representation of this growing part of the working class?

  We invite article proposal submissions that respond to the above issues and questions. Proposal submissions should include information about the author(s), their institutional affiliations, their contact details, a 500 words (maximum) abstract, some keywords (from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 5). Once selected, papers should be between 5000 and 8000 words (excluding bibliography).

  Languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish. Please follow the instructions gathered in the Author’s guidelines. All texts must be transmitted in a format compatible with Windows (.doc or .rtf), following the instructions provided by the Peer Review Process. Please see the Journal’s Author’s guidelines.

  Abstracts must be submitted by email to: Antunes Ricardo – University of Campinas (rantunes@unicamp.br), Basso Pietro – University of Venice (pbasso@unive.it) and Perocco Fabio – University of Venice (fabio.perocco@unive.it).

  Timetable for the publishing process:

  1. May 15th, 2020 – proposals’ abstract submission

  2. May 30th, 2020 – selection

  3. November 1st, 2020 – articles proposal

  4. November 30th, 2020 – double blind peer review

  5. December 30th, 2020 revising of the articles according to the reviewers’ comments

  6. February 2021 – publishing

  Read More Read more about Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures Fourth issue (Winter 2021) Call N. 3 «Digital work: more autonomy or a new subjugation of work?»

• NEW DEADLINE CALL 2 - Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures Second issue (Summer 2020) “Gender and Sexualities Studies in Difficult Times: Uncertain Presents, Coalitional Futures”

  2020-06-04

  Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures

  Second issue (Summer 2020)

  “Gender and Sexualities Studies in Difficult Times: Uncertain Presents, Coalitional Futures”

  Guest Editors: Dr Samuele Grassi (University of Florence-Monash University), Dr Churnjeet Mahn (University of Strathclyde), Dr Cirus Rinaldi (University of Palermo), and Prof Yvette Taylor (University of Strathclyde)

  Abstracts are sought for the Special Issue of Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures, titled “Gender and Sexualities Studies in Difficult Times: Uncertain Presents, Coalitional Futures”.

  Media and press coverage of the coronavirus pandemic is building ostentatious narratives such as ‘the world being different after this’ and this being a ‘life-changing moment’. These discourses rest on the assumption that the not-too-distant future is going to open new possibilities for everyone. Not only do they extend the paradigmatic caveat of the pull of the present vs. the future, but also, they foreclose recognition of and engagement with the effects of this crisis that are already visible in the lives of vulnerable and precarious groups.

  Feminist and queer interventions in the social sciences and humanities have explored personal and public narratives of pandemics and illness, with notable examples ranging from Audre Lorde’s diaries (1980) to Susan Sontag’s use of illness-as-metaphor (1978; 1988), Eve K. Sedgwick’s narratives on AIDS and cancer (1993; 2000) and Ann Cvetkovich’s delving into trauma archives (2000). Times of crisis outbreak worsen the conditions of vulnerability shared by marginalised, oppressed, and under-represented groups (Heckert 2004) – casual and sessional workers, sex workers, care workers, the homeless, migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and people living in contexts of conflict. How can we address the rhetorical use of the mask of ‘a different world waiting for us’ to justify and to cover over acts of institutional violence, often legitimised through discourse about citizenship (including sexual citizenship)? What can be learned from past ‘crises’ and ‘pandemics’?

  The second issue of Socioscapes seeks contributions combining disciplines, approaches and methods to expose the economic, social, pedagogic, emotional, and political strains of ‘crises’ and to offer new directions for the socially engaged humanities and social sciences. It aims to provide a platform for networking, coalition-building, and alliances in these difficult times. Proposals are welcome in one or more of the following themes and their interrelations:

  • Crises and/or pandemic(s) seen from ‘the margins’;
  • The effects of the coronavirus pandemic on increasing future labour insecurity;
  • Gender, queer and intersectional approaches to ‘living in difficult times’;
  • Gender, queer and intersectional approaches to histories of illnesses and pandemics;
  • Representations of pandemic(s) in literature, theatre, and film;
  • The current pandemic and the resurgence of nationalistic rhetoric: the ‘enemies’ of the State

  We invite proposals from academics and non-academics that respond to the above issues and questions in any of the journal sections and subsections (‘Topics’; ‘Research, interventions, and ‘Works in progress’; ‘Conflicts, resistances, and voices’; ‘Reprints and represented: old and new classics’; ‘Keywords’; ‘Reviews and portraits’). Information on the journal is available on the website: http://www.socioscapes.org/index.php/sc/about. Proposals should include information about the author(s), institutional affiliations, contact details, a 250-300 words (maximum) abstract, keywords (3 to 5). Once selected, papers should be between 5000-6000 words (including Bibliography). Languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish. Please follow the instructions gathered in the Author’s guidelines. All texts must be transmitted in a format compatible with Windows (.doc or .rtf), following the instructions provided by the Peer Review Process. Please see the Journal’s Author’s guidelines.

  Abstracts must be submitted in English, French, Italian, and Spanish by email to: samuele.grassi@unifi.it, churnjeet.mahn@strath.ac.uk, cirus.rinaldi@unipa.it, yvette.taylor@strath.ac.uk.

  In thanking you again for submitting your abstract proposals for the Second issue of Socioscapes: International Journal or Societies, Politics and Cultures, we are sending the extended deadlines for your information, as follows:

  • July 15th, 2020 – abstract submission;
  • July 31th, 2020 – selection;
  • September 15th, 2020 – submissions due;
  • October 2020 – submissions published.

   

  Read More Read more about NEW DEADLINE CALL 2 - Socioscapes. International Journal of Societies, Politics and Cultures Second issue (Summer 2020) “Gender and Sexualities Studies in Difficult Times: Uncertain Presents, Coalitional Futures”