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<DIV>12th ALEKSANTERI CONFERENCE: Competition and Good Society - the Eastern
Model<BR><BR>24th-26th October 2012, Aleksanteri Institute, University of
Helsinki, <BR>Finland<BR><A
href="">http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2012/</A><BR><BR>The link
between competition and good society has seldom been <BR>extensively discussed
on any international academic forum. Since the <BR>1980s there has been vivid
political discussion of and rivalry among the <BR>varieties of capitalist
models. The ongoing Western economic crisis with <BR>political decision-makers’
discord, a growing sense of social insecurity <BR>and global demonstrations all
point out how cutting-edge this topic is. <BR>Hence, we aim to discuss
competition and competitiveness not primarily <BR>in the economic context but,
more importantly, in reflection to societal <BR>life. We are interested in what
kind of preconditions competition <BR>creates for welfare, social justice,
equality and culture, in addition <BR>to how competition affects changes on the
level of mentality and ideas – <BR>subjects that have been greatly
neglected.<BR><BR>The purpose of the 12th Aleksanteri Conference is to generate
academic <BR>research and discourse on this subject. The focus of the conference
is <BR>on the Eastern angle. Its aim is to discuss how people in Eastern and
<BR>Central Europe, Russia, and even further in the East in Central Asia and
<BR>China understand the preconditions of a good society and what role
<BR>competition plays in it as well as how competition is reflected in the
<BR>semantic systems and the cultural structures of these countries.
<BR>Especially the area that faced the enormous task of building a new
<BR>social system after the collapse of socialism had to redefine its
<BR>relation to market forces, competitiveness and social well-being. What
<BR>are the experiences of this societal development after twenty years? Are
<BR>the Eastern models divergent or convergent with the varieties of Western
<BR>capitalism? What are the norms, limitations and practices of competition
<BR>in the diverse Eastern models? How has the understanding of competition
<BR>changed after the Second World War? Can we find continuities of ideas,
<BR>practices or mentalities rooted in the communist past and Cold War
<BR>period that still affect these issues?<BR><BR>We call for contributions from
a wide range of disciplines in social <BR>sciences and humanities since the aim
is a fruitful interdisciplinary <BR>discourse. The conference organisers welcome
presentations particularly <BR>on the following topics:<BR><BR>COMPETITION AS
INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL ACTION<BR>- Competition as individual performance,
rivalry, struggle or fulfillment<BR>- The merging of individual and social
purposes of competition<BR>- Competition as a channel and overarching bond
between the individual <BR>and community<BR>- The social appeal of competition:
the attraction of Olympic games, <BR>beauty contests, song and choir contests,
quizzes, survival <BR>competitions, chef contests, etc.<BR><BR>CHANGE AND
CONTINUITY<BR>- Influence of historical background and cultural traditions on
<BR>contemporary competitiveness and the understanding of social welfare<BR>-
Traces of the Cold War and state socialism<BR>- New forms of competition and new
interpretations of social well-being<BR>- Impact of competitive practices on
change in the political sphere, <BR>working sphere, education and gender
relations<BR><BR>REGIONAL, NATIONAL, INTERNATIONAL AND TRANSNATIONAL<BR>-
Regional, national and international differences and similarities: the
<BR>notion of competition and the needs of society<BR>- Transnational,
supranational and non-national aspects<BR>- Comparisons of Eastern and Western
models<BR><BR>INTERACTION AND JUXTAPOSITION<BR>- Spread of competition in
societal life<BR>- Interaction of the political and economic spheres:
integration, <BR>intervention, influence<BR>- Egalité, fraternité, liberté!
Democracy and civil society from the <BR>point of view of competition<BR>- Role
of the media<BR>- Individual manoeuvring space and social boundaries<BR>-
Intersectional approaches: gender, class, ethnicity<BR>- Gendered
competition<BR>- Competition and corruption: trust and the idea of the
constitutional state<BR><BR>IDEA OF DEVELOPMENT<BR>- Competition,
entrepreneurship, innovations<BR>- Competing ideas: theories of individualism
and communality<BR>- New resistance and global phenomena<BR>- Ideology of growth
and sustainable development in connection with <BR>competition<BR><BR>KEYNOTE
SPEAKERS:<BR><BR>Ivan Berend<BR>Ivan Berend is Distinguish Professor of the
University of California, <BR>Los Angeles, member of the British Academy, the
Academia Europea, and <BR>four other European Academies of Sciences. He is
author of 29 books on <BR>economic history; the most recent ones being "Europe
Since 1980" (2010), <BR>"Industrialization and Diversity. A Regional Economic
History of 19th <BR>Century Europe" (forthcoming in 2012) and he is currently
working on <BR>"Out of the Blue? The 2008-12 European Economic
Crisis."<BR><BR>Vladimir Gel'man<BR>Vladimir Gel'man is Professor of Political
Science and Sociology at <BR>the European University in St. Petersburg, visiting
Professor at the <BR>Central European University in Budapest, the University of
Texas in <BR>Austin and the Center for Modernization Studies at the Aleksanteri
<BR>Institute, Helsinki. He is member of the editorial board of journals
<BR>Polis, European Political Science and International Journal of Urban and
<BR>Regional Research. He has published 17 books and over 120 articles on
<BR>Russian and Post-Soviet politics and comparative politology.<BR><BR>Andrea
Petö<BR>Andrea Petö is Associate Professor at the Department of Gender Studies
<BR>at the Central European University in Budapest, the President of the
<BR>gender and women’s history section of the Hungarian Historical
<BR>Association, the Feminist Section of the Hungarian Sociological
<BR>Association and co-President of AtGender, The European Association for
<BR>Gender Research, Education and Documentation. Petö is author of several
<BR>books and articles on European comparative social and gender
history.<BR><BR>Colin Sparks<BR>Colin Sparks is Professor of Media Studies at
the University of <BR>Westminster (UK) and Director of Communication and Media
Research <BR>Institute (CAMRI). He was one of the founders of Media, Culture and
<BR>Society, and was a founder of the European Institute for Communication
<BR>and Culture. His current research interests include the comparative
<BR>study of media systems undergoing rapid change. He is particularly
<BR>interested in comparing the media systems of post-communist countries
<BR>with those of other societies that have moved away from different forms
<BR>of dictatorship towards more democratic forms of political rule.<BR><BR>Iván
Szelényi<BR>Iván Szelényi is William Garam Sumner Emeritus Professor of
Sociology <BR>and Political Science, Yale University, Max Weber Professor of
Social <BR>Science and Foundation Dean of Social Sciences at NYUAD. He is a
Fellow <BR>of American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as member of the
<BR>Hungarian National Academy of Sciences. Szelenyi has published several
<BR>books and articles on social inequalities from a comparative and
<BR>historical perspective in Communist and Post-Communist
countries.<BR><BR>CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AND DEADLINES<BR><BR>Proposals for panels
(500 words): April 30th, 2012<BR>Abstracts for individual papers (300 words):
April 30th, 2012<BR>Notification of acceptance: May 31st, 2012<BR>Publication of
the conference programme: June 30th, 2012<BR>Conference: October 24-26th,
2012<BR><BR>Please submit your abstract and contact information through the
abstract <BR>submission form:<BR><BR><A
href="">https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/32730/lomake.html</A><BR><BR>or
panel proposal submission form:<BR><BR><A
href="">https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/32733/lomake.html</A> .<BR><BR>For
further assistance or more details, please see the conference website<BR><BR><A
href="">http://www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/conference2012/</A><BR><BR>or contact
the Conference Coordinators at <A href="">fcree-aleksconf@helsinki.fi</A>
.<BR><BR>The Aleksanteri Conference is an annual, multidisciplinary,
<BR>international conference organised by the Aleksanteri Institute, the
<BR>Finnish Centre for Russian and Eastern European Studies, affiliated with
<BR>the University of Helsinki. Aleksanteri Conferences have attracted broad
<BR>interest among researchers and policy-makers in a wide variety of
<BR>disciplines, both in Finland and abroad, interested in the development
<BR>of post-socialist countries.<BR><BR>Please feel free to spread this
message.</DIV></BODY></HTML>