American Sociological Association: 2012 Annual Meeting Home Page

2012 Annual Meeting

Important Notes

ASA Housing Reservations is now open.
Request meeting space for other group activities at the Annual Meeting.
Submit a film to be screened at the meeting.
Access Session Organizers Module.
Track the Status of Your Paper Submission.
All program participants must preregister by May 11, 2012.
Program Schedule announced April 30, 2012.

MEETING THEME: “Real Utopias” seems like an oxymoron: Utopia means “nowhere”—a fantasy world of perfect harmony and social justice. To describe a proposal for social transformation as “utopian” is to dismiss it as an impractical dream outside the limits of possibility. Realists reject such fantasies as a distraction from the serious business of making practical improvements in existing institutions. The idea of real utopias embraces this tension between dreams and practice: “utopia” implies developing clear-headed visions of alternatives to existing institutions that embody our deepest aspirations for a world in which all people have access to the conditions to live flourishing lives; “real” means taking seriously the problem of the viability of the institutions that could move us in the direction of that world. The goal is to elaborate utopian ideals that are grounded in the real potentials of humanity, utopian destinations that have accessible way stations, utopian designs of viable institutions that can inform our practical tasks of navigating a world of imperfect conditions for social change.[Read entire theme statement...]

-Erik Olin Wright, ASA President and 2012 Program Committee Chair, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Program Information

Authors may track the status of their submission to this year's Call for Papers. Authors will need their ID and password (used at the time of submission) to access the tracking feature. Please be advised that Organizers are currently making their decisions; Organizers have until March 15, 2012 to complete the reviews for their session(s). Track the status of your submission here.

Session Organizers may now access the module to complete the reviews of submissions. The Online System for submitting papers is closed.The Program Schedule will be announced April 30, 2012.

View the listing of Invited Sessions developed by the Program Committee. The listings include: Plenary and Presidential Panels, Thematic, Special, Author-Meets-Critics and a new category of sessions this year, Real Utopia Proposal Sessions. Regional Spotlight Sessions developed by the local arrangements committee are also featured here.

Register for the Annual Meeting here. Pre-registration closes July 11, 2012.

Regional Spotlight

Start planning your visit to Denver. With so much to do, you might even want to come a day earlier or stay a day later to experience the city lights and mountain heights.

View the listing of Invited Sessions developed by the Denver-area Local Arrangements Committee.

ASA Annual Meeting 2012: Photo of Denver Convention Center at Night

Convention Services

ASA Housing Reservations is open - book your hotel guestroom today!

Request meeting space for other group activities at 2012 Annual Meeting.

The ASA film screening usually showcases between 18 and 22 documentary-style films during the Annual Meeting. The Academic and Professional Affairs Program is accepting new submissions for the 107th Annual Meeting to be held in Denver. [Learn More...]