34th SASE Annual Conference Amsterdam: Fractious Connections: Anarchy, Activism, Coordination, and Control
2022-07-09 - 2022-08-31
University of Amsterdam | 9 – 11 July 2022

Fractious Connections: Anarchy, Activism, Coordination and Control

The Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) is pleased to announce the 34th annual conference, “Fractious Connections: Anarchy, Activism, Coordination, and Control”, hosted by the University of Amsterdam from 9-11 July 2022.
The overarching theme of the SASE 2022 conference will be to explore the paradox of Fractious Connections. This will be done through the lens of four key concepts that have received varying degrees of attention in comparative political economy: Anarchism, Activism, Coordination, and Control.
The concept of Coordination in comparative political economy has received considerable attention in relation to debates around the Varieties of Capitalism. But has digital disruption undermined this coordination?
The concept of Control has been used to understand the labor process; but how is this evolving in relation to digital surveillance at work and in politics?
The concepts of Anarchy and Activism have, relatively speaking, received much less attention within the SASE community.
Activism is frequently discussed within an Industrial Relations framework. While traditional male, manufacturing union membership has declined; a plethora of new forms of organizing for an emergent “gig” workforce has included the voices of younger, female, and ethnically diverse communities. We need to know more about these developments evolving outside established organizations.
Anarchy is not often discussed in comparative political economy, although there is a vibrant discourse in international relations (Hedley Bull 1977), and in the work of Chomsky (1994). Understanding how disruptive digital practices have emerged anarchically exposes new structures and organization of power, opportunity, and oppression.
Re-examining these concepts and developments relates back to the work of Granovetter in connecting the individual experiences with global societal structures to understand the paradoxical way fractious connections are evolving.
While these concepts will inform the overall theme of the 34th SASE annual conference, a wide range of contributions are encouraged to participate in one of the 18 vibrant networks, or submit proposals to host a mini-conference.
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