15 th Conference ESA 2021: Sociological Knowledges for Alternative Futures

Barcelona | 31 August – 3 September 2021 

Development Today: Accumulation, Surveillance, Redistribution

The ESA 2021 Conference will take place either with the full physical co-presence of all attendees, or wholly online, or in some hybrid mode combining these two possibilities.

In a context of pandemic due to the new Coronavirus, discussion about alternative futures is especially relevant. Across Europe we witness an array of actions, that range from utilitarian to humanistic approaches, which have made many people rethink solidarity, democracy and the search for more egalitarian, just and better environments which can sustain satisfactory and flourishing lives. Fighting social inequalities and protecting natural environments are seen not as contradictory but mutually reinforcing. Citizens want to decide which paths to take to achieve such goals, and sociological knowledges provide key analyses about which actions might contribute to practical accomplishments and which will not. In pandemic times of global crisis, closing borders, restricted mobilities, and growing unemployment, sociological knowledge can help to develop institutions able to cope with different risks and practical issues. We believe that the sociological imagination has a big role to play in rethinking alternatives for the future, starting from solid scientific knowledge and working outwards from it.