More than 5,500 sociologists will convene in Montreal this August to explore scientific research relating to social inequality and many other topics, as part of the American Sociological Association’s 112th Annual Meeting. This year’s theme, “Culture, Inequalities, and Social Inclusion across the Globe,” draws attention to the nexus of culture, inequalities, and group boundaries in order to promote greater social inclusion and resilience, collective well-being, and solidarity in Canada, the United States, and globally.
The conference will feature approximately 600 sessions and more than 3,000 studies covering such subjects as immigration, gender, culture, education, politics, sex, health, children, religion, same-sex marriage, bullying, work, race, relationships, family, criminal justice, consumerism, food, technology, disability, development, substance abuse, environment, and an abundance of others. Given the diverse range of topics that will be covered, ASA’s Annual Meeting will provide a wealth of information for journalists assigned to nearly any beat.
WHAT: The American Sociological Association’s 112th Annual Meeting: “Culture, Inequalities, and Social Inclusion across the Globe”
WHEN: August 12–August 15, 2017
WHERE: Palais des Congrès de Montréal (1001 Place Jean Paul Riopelle, Montreal, QC, H2Z 1H5), Press Office is Room 449.
REGISTRATION: Complimentary media registration is now open. Download the press policy and registration form online.
PROGRAM: A searchable preliminary program is available online. The preliminary program is also available in PDF form.
SESSION HIGHLIGHTS:
- Comparing Criminal Legal Systems: Canada and the United States
Sat, August 12, 10:30am – 12:10pm, Palais des congrès de Montréal, Level 5, 514A
This panel will focus on similarities and differences between the Canadian and US criminal legal systems. Papers will explore common trends in the contemporary development of the criminal law and prison system in the two countries, including growing rates of incarceration, the overincarceration of minority populations, and the increasing use of solitary confinement (or administrative segregation, as it is called in Canada). Papers will also highlight relevant differences in historical and contemporary practices of criminalisation in the two countries, such as the use of the death penalty and rise in the use of so-called death penalty alternatives (life in prison without parole) in the US. In the Canadian context, discussion will focus on the use of risk-based sentencing policy and the role of colonisation in shaping the contemporary relationship between the criminal legal system and indigenous people.
Authors: Jason Thomas Carmichael, Stephanie L. Kent, Howard Sapers, Kelly Hannah-Moffat
- Religion and Complex Futures: Diversity, Pluralism and Equalities
Sun, August 13, 10:30am – 12:10pm, Palais des congrès de Montréal, Level 5, 516B
This session features the work of the 37 scholars involved in the project Religion and diversity funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2010-2017). This group studies religious issues in Canada and abroad from a variety of disciplines and demonstrates how interdisciplinary perspectives have renewed
sociological perspectives on religion in 21st century. The panel is organized around following questions: 1) how can diversity and equalities be tied to each other and efficiently articulated when pluralism is a constraint?; 2) What are the forms of equality that shape the possibility of being an accomplished pious citizen in liberal secular democracies?; 3) How will religion and non-religion co-exist in the complex future? Over the last seven years, our team has explored the contours of religious diversity by looking into many religious groups and spiritual communities, using both quantitative and qualitative data. We will discuss future research agendas, particularly from the perspective of sociology, with special attention to different geographies, especially the United States?
Authors: Mary Jo Neitz, Benjamin Berger, Peter F. Beyer, James T. Richardson
- Latino/a North Americans: The Making of Communities, Identities and Boundaries in the United States, English Canada and Québec
Sun, August 13, 2:30 – 4:10pm, Palais des congrès de Montréal, Level 5, 516B
This panel deals with the formation of networks and communities, the practices of self-identification and categorization, and the work on group boundaries regarding the experience of Latin Americans settled in North America, with a particular focus on comparative issues. Immigrant, minority and ethnic status, as defined by the national majority, strongly determines the distribution of material and non-material resources. Comparative perspectives are crucial for understanding these processes, and the case of Latino/a North Americans is particularly relevant in that the vast heterogeneity of trajectories among them can be observed in the context of different political/linguistic environments (the United States, English Canada, and Québec) as well as in the light of transnational/transcultural linkages.
Authors: Patricia Landolt, Mark Overmyer-Velazquez, Jorge Pantaleon
- Social Categories, Inequality and the State: A View from Canada to the United States and Beyond
Mon, August 14, 10:30am – 12:10pm, Palais des congrès de Montréal, Level 5, 516B
This panels centers on the Canadian experience in comparative perspective to understand the way that social categories, state policies and non-state actors interact to affect inequality and the social inclusion of socially stigmatized people. The panel examines in particular how interactions between the Canadian state and non-state actor have addressed inequalities based on class, disability and race and ethnicity, how commonsense and political understandings of these categories have affected these relationships, and what scholars in the United States and other countries can learn from this experience.
Authors: Salina Abji, Michelle Lee Maroto, David Nicholas Pettinicchio, Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, Wendell Adjetey
- Why is Quebec’s Labor Movement–and Left–Different?
Tue, August 15, 2:30 – 4:10pm, Palais des congrès de Montréal, Level 5, 511A
Quebec underwent a progressive democratic revolution in the 1960s which transformed it into what is arguably the most politically progressive region of North America. Much of this transformation is due to the concurrent transformation of the Quebec labor movement, which played a leading role in building and defending the Quebec welfare state. Quebec currently has the highest union density of any U.S. state or Canadian province, at 40 percent. (Union density in the U.S. as a whole is about 11 percent.) University tuition in Quebec is by far the lowest in the U.S. and Canada, and the province has publicly funded child care and a very good paid family-leave policy. Politically, the left in Quebec has a vibrant history over the past 50 years which is distinct from the English Canadian Left. This session will explore both the reasons for and the consequences of the unique influence of Quebec’s labor movement and left, in comparative perspective.
Authors: Barry Eidlin, Stephanie Ross, Gregor Murray, Ian MacDonald
CONTACT: Johanna Olexy, ASA Senior Communications Associate, [email protected], (202) 247-9873
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About the American Sociological Association
The American Sociological Association (www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society.
