SASE local MIT organizer Susan S. Silbey and SASE member Ruthanne Huising have been awarded the Regulation & Governance prize for best article.
About the SASE Research Networks
This section provides a description of each of SASE's research networks and links to bios and contact information for SASE's network organizers. You can also contact the network organizers through this page.
Submissions to the SASE conference must be made through one of the research networks below (or through a mini-conference). Paper and session abstracts as well as full papers for grant, prize, and stipend applications must be submitted to all networks by January 15, 2012. Candidates will be notified by April 2, 2012. Please note that some networks may also require that a full paper be submitted by June 1, 2012 for the purposes of assigning a discussant or awarding a prize. For further information, please contact the organizer of the network to which you are submitting.
Click on any of the following for a full description and contact information of each Research Network.
A: Communitarian Ideals and Civil Society
B: Globalization and Socio-Economic Development
D: Professions and Organizations
E: Industrial Relations and the Political Economy
F: Knowledge, Technology, and Innovation
G: Labor Markets, Education, and Human Resources
H: Markets, Firms and Institutions
I: Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration
J: Rethinking the Welfare State
K: Law and the Social Sciences
A: Communitarian Ideals and Civil Society
This network focuses on the moral underpinnings of human thought, practices, and institutions. It examines the communal roles of both individual autonomy and social order in the building of a viable civil society. The network's core is social and scientific. Yet, while it relies on social-science theory and research, philosophers and ethicists are considered essential partners in examining communities and societies as cultural and social phenomena. Communities and societies are looked upon as much more than the aggregated products of free-standing individuals motivated merely be calculative self-interest.
Click here to meet Network A Co-Organizers Miguel Llofriu and Jose Antonio Ruiz San Roman
B: Globalization and Socio-Economic Development
The aim of this network is twofold: (1) To test the ambiguous effects of globalization on local socio-economic development. In particular, issues of traditional and new flexible forms of local economies, the role of local institutions and local governance models will be examined; and (2) To compare dominant and alternative models of country development and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of development policies for developed, developing, and transition countries.
Click here to meet Network B Co-Organizers Diego Sanchez-Ancochea and Aaron Major
C: Gender, Work and Family
This network focuses on exploring the current state, and the changes in institutions concerned with gender and family roles and workplace organization. A particular interest of the network is theory and research on social policies that produce greater compatibility between institutions geared toward production for the market and reproduction in the family. The network also focuses on cultural and social barriers that prevent positive integration of family and work, examines gender inequalities in work and family, and looks at the inter-relationship of gender roles across these institutions. Empirical as well as theoretical contributions are welcome.
Some possible themes for presentations and sessions (you can organize a session with 3-4 papers) include the following: care issues, work-life articulation, parental leave policies, working time and gender, elder care, the role of the State and firms in work-life issues, social policies and care regimes, international comparisons, etc.
Click here to meet Network C Co-Organizers Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay and Bernard Fusulier.
D: Professions and Organizations
The goal of this network is to consider how professions and organizations have evolved in recent years and to explore the ways in which the two interact. For many years, the study of professions and that of organizations developed separately, with no real interchange between the two. Now, the opposition between them has been thrown into question, or, at the very least, is no longer taken for granted. On the one hand, the phenomenon of professionalism has changed considerably, and academics are now defining new fields of study that differ from established professional models (loosely structured occupational categories). On the other, the study of organizations has highlighted the central role that certain occupational groups – and not necessarily those highest in the professional hierarchy – play in accomplishing organizational goals. Professions and organizations can therefore no longer be considered as hermetic, disconnected fields.
As there is more and more cross-pollination between professions and organizations, the two categories are themselves becoming more and more diverse. In private corporations, public administrations, and the citizen sector, the dialectic of organizational constraints and professional autonomy so central to the identity of professional bureaucracies has become more and more complex. This newfound complexity demands that the relationship between managerialism and professionalism be reexamined. At another level, the issue of professionalization has become more or less universal in the field of work, affecting organizations as a whole as well as individual workers, taken collectively or in categories. Professionalism has become a valued goal across the board – it helps managers define organizational goals; it is demanded by employees seeking to improve job skills or be recognized for them; customers seeking more professional services expect it; it is a broad policy goal for spurring economic development and job creation. With its many possible meanings, professionalization is naturally the subject of scholarly investigation: are professions and organizations locked in a battle to control the work world? Do their interests conflict or collide? What do can professionals contribute to an organization’s functioning, and how do organizations mobilize professionals within their ranks?
This network’s intellectual goal is to understand these changes by using multiple, overlapping approaches, different intellectual traditions (trends in the sociology of organizations and professions), multiple fields of study and empirical objects (professions, crafts, firms, administrations, etc.), and a variety of disciplines (sociology, political science, economics, management studies, etc.).
Click here to meet Network D Organizer Didier Demazière
E: Industrial Relations and the Political Economy
The general goal of this network is to advance a conceptually and empirically rigorous qualitative and quantitative study of comparative and international political economy. The specific aim is to better integrate research on changing labor markets and industrial relations with the study of contemporary capitalisms. Of particular interests to this network is the analysis of the dynamics of change in industrial relations, and its theoretical and conceptual contributions to the debate on institutional change in contemporary political economies. The network encourages interdisciplinary dialogue among sociologists, economists, and political scientists whose research draws on a variety of theoretical perspectives. Among more specific topics of interest are: state and societal actors' responses to increasing competition and integration of national economies; the role of strategic, purposeful action in changing industrial relations institutions; conditions, mechanics, and results of social concertation; emerging new institutions for labor regulation in global supply chains; international migration; and interest representation and collective action in the informal economy.
Click here to meet Network E Co-Organizers Sabina Avdagic and Lucio Baccaro
F: Knowledge, Technology, and Innovation
This network's goal is to promote theory and research on the socio-economic role, antecedents and consequences of knowledge, technology and innovation. Contributing to an interdisciplinary, critical perspective on world development, the network focuses on inter-relationships among knowledge/technology/innovation creation, adoption and diffusion in organizations and institutions locally, nationally, and internationally. This may involve micro-perspectives, macroperspectives as well as perspectives that incorporate both levels. The network intends to promote studies that research different aspects of knowledge/technology/innovation creation and diffusion and relate these processes to their interplay with society and the economy at different levels.
Topics of particular interest are: national, regional, local and industrial systems of innovation; knowledge-based economies; firms as knowledge systems; varieties of knowledge and knowing in organizations, knowledge work and workers; the socio-economic constitution of knowledge transfer and organizational learning; science, innovation and technology policies; technological change-based innovation; consequences of technological change for organizations and the economy; technological path dependence, break and creation; social and organizational conditions for entrepreneurship and innovation; diffusion of innovation and markets for innovation; intellectual property rights regimes; and product piracy.
Click here to meet Network F Organizers Florian Becker-Ritterspach, Knut Lange, and Matthew Allen
G: Labor Markets, Education, and Human Resources
Social institutions and social structures exert a huge influence on the workings of labor markets, the links between jobs and vocational education and training, and the way firms manage their human resources. The network welcomes contributions on the general issues of labor market segmentation, unemployment, and the link between training, skills and jobs, as well as on the implications of the new human resource management practices of firms for the future of skills and employment, and on the new incentive and reward structures that support these. It also welcomes theoretical work on the interaction between 'competitive' and 'institutional' forces in labor markets.
Click here to meet Network G Organizer David Marsden
H: Markets, Firms and Institutions
This network focuses on the interrelationships between markets, firms, and institutions. New approaches to the study of markets are needed to understand better how different markets (e.g. capital markets, product markets, etc.) and market processes (e.g. competition, cooperation, speculation, risk) are related to the changing strategies, structures and governance of business firms. Moreover, both markets and firms are themselves embedded within various institutional contexts at the sectoral, regional, national and international levels. Institutional diversity impact the capacities of firms and patterns of cooperation and competition in markets, while markets and business interests themselves are important factors in the politics of institutional change. We welcome a wide range of theoretical perspectives (e.g. political economy, economic sociology, management studies, neo-institutionalism, and comparative institutional analysis). Recent topics have included financial systems, corporate governance, inter-firm networks, strategy, national business systems, varieties of capitalism, internationalization and regional integration, business interest associations, and processes of institutional change.
Click here to meet Network H Co-Organizers Gerhard Schnyder and Christina Ahmadjian
I: Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration
This network addresses processes, patterns, and changes related to socio-economic aspects of race, ethnicity, and immigration in all parts of the world, and from different historical eras. The network seeks to develop a forum for theory and research on the study of these processes, which include but are not limited to: cooperation and conflict, inequality, identity, ideology, measurement and classification systems, policy implications, labor market incorporation, segregation, and stratification. The network welcomes research from diverse disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological perspectives, which address issues of race, ethnicity, and immigration.
Click here to meet Network I Co-Organizers David Bartram and Maritsa Poros
J: Rethinking the Welfare State
This network focuses on the contours, causes, and consequences of state policies aimed at insuring, supplementing, redistributing, or assuring growth in income by a diverse means including income or in-kind transfers, services, jobs policies, economic stabilization, and competitive policies. The network also examines reciprocal effects of policies and politics, including diverse political strategies and political and social movements from all parts of the political and institutional spectrum that bear on the fate of a broadly conceived definition of the welfare state.
Click here to meet Network J Organizer Alex Hicks
K: Law and the Social Sciences
Law is both a constraint upon social action and as a constituting force that shapes social institutions. Law operates at both an instrumental and normative level, and thus legal discourse provides a platform for social critique. This network will examine the role of law in shaping the institutions that define the labor market, the economy, and global trade. It will consider how legal rules, principles,and policies interact with methodologies and insights from the other social sciences.
Click here to meet Network K Organizers Isabelle Ferreras, Alvaro Santos, and Katherine Stone
L: French Language
Click here to meet Network L Organizers Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay and Bernard Fusulier
M: Spanish Language
Participation in this network was unprecedented in Madrid. A lively Spanish-speaking section was established in 2011.
Click here to meet Network M Co-Organizers Santos Ruesga and Julimar da Silva Bichara
N: Finance and Society
The goal of this network is to promote cross-disciplinary dialogue on the study of finance and include perspectives from social sciences outside of economics. Specifically, we encourage research that highlights the social embeddedness of finance (for instance, the continuing importance of social networks and the role of ideas, theories and devices in shaping financial practices), or examines the links between finance and a number of other topics including public policy, legal and economic development, inequality, and corporate governance, inspired particularly by the recent financial crisis; investigates historic origins of modern financial instruments, analyzes regional or international differences in financial markets, or focuses on the social and cultural consequences of the redistribution of resources through financial markets, the financialization of everyday life and the expansion of credit. We welcome a wide range of methodological approaches, including but not limited to archival research, ethnography, interviews, formal network analysis and survey research.
O: Global Value Chains
The revolution in information and communication technologies (ICT) and trade liberalization have created new possibilities for breaking up and integrating global value chains (GVCs). While value chains in manufacturing have long since taken on global dimensions, knowledge-intensive business services are also increasingly managed in a value chain involving dispersed locations and ownership. This network aims to bring together social scientists interested in analyzing the causes and consequences of this offshoring-outsourcing phenomenon. In particular, it welcomes work that applies the GVC framework to knowledge-intensive business services, analyzes questions of economic and/or social upgrading, or explores the role that institutions play in shaping GVCs. It also welcomes conceptual work on either the theory or metrics of GVC analysis.
P: Accounting, Economics, and Law
This network focuses on the intersection of accounting, economics and law. Institutional design, rules and social norms are critical to the working of organizations in economy and society. Financial, economic, social, and legal processes and languages play an influential and largely neglected role in this working, and raise broad societal and global concerns. They lie at the heart of control, governance and regulation. The network will explore their influence in the context of social, cultural, and political economy and history. It will foster disciplinary cross-fertilization, novel investigations and institutional analyses of their role in the dynamic relationship between individuals, organizations and institutions. Among others, issues of control, valuation, finance (and financialisation), accountability, responsibility, governance, and regulation will be central to the concerns and development of the network. Methodological tolerance and pluralism are also essential to the overarching purpose of enhancing our understanding of the phenomena of interest.
Q: Asian Capitalisms
In the context of the extensive debates in social, economic, and political sciences about the diversity of capitalisms, and in contrast to the US or Europe, Asian capitalisms have largely been under-researched. Comparative capitalism (CC) theories and concepts have yet to be applied to Asia and tested within its specific institutional configurations. Capitalism in Asia is particularly challenging when faced with the key questions of CC approaches, such as the nature of capitalism, the internal diversity of capitalism, and institutional change. Many important questions posed by CC approaches remain unanswered; these questions include: the apparent lack of coherence and immense heterogeneity of capitalist production and regulation and the related institution building in the case of China; the different rates of institutional change in Japan and Korea despite seemingly similar institutional arrangements; the specific institutional structures of city states as Hong Kong and Singapore; the rapid integration of different models and levels of economic development within the “China Circle”, particularly between China and Taiwan; idiosyncratic industrial specialization in India based on textile, IT or services such as call centers, requiring a renewed analysis of institutional comparative advantage; and the interaction of various modes of capitalist growth at very different levels of development within the regional context.
Concrete panel topics within the network will include state and capitalism, industrialization/deindustrialization, the emergence of inequalities, innovation and specialization, welfare states, and the dynamics of a new labor division at the global level. This network will be included in the 2012 SASE conference, and will be structured into five subsections:
(a) De- or Re-industrialisation?
(b) Innovation and Knowledge Creation
(c) Beyond Market or State?
(d) The Future of Asian Capitalism
Interesting papers that do not fit to these four categories may be included in an additional subsection.
The basic idea of this first area network within SASE is thus to make Asia a central field of investigation for theories of institutional change and diversity of capitalism; in so doing, we expect to promote a fruitful dialogue between Asia specialists and comparative capitalism specialists, including those working on other regions. Papers focusing on Asian capitalisms and papers adopting a comparative perspective with other capitalisms are welcome. We are interested in papers dealing with fields that traditionally play a role in SASE, such as “industrial organization”, “production networks”, “technology and innovation”, or “labor and labor markets”.
Click here to meet Network Q Organizers Tobias ten Brink, Sebastien Lechevalier, Boy Lüthje, and Cornelia Storz
