Call for Papers

The Research Committee 28 on Social Stratification and Mobility (RC28) of the International Sociological Association (ISA) invites all scholars working on the topics of social stratification and social mobility to contribute to the 2023 RC28 Summer Conference. The conference will take place on August 14-17, 2023, and is hosted by the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics (CID) at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

The conference theme is “Inequality, Mobility, and Equality.” As in other RC28 meetings, the broad thematic umbrella will accommodate submissions on the topic of inequality and mobility. The addition of “equality,” in turn, contains a thematic expansion. As a research community, we have typically avoided questions of equality – equality in what? equality between whom? etc. – as they are often regarded as the preserve of philosophy. At the same time, most RC28 members will readily agree that less inequality and more upward mobility would be “better.” This RC28 conference seeks to directly confront the often vague and implicit egalitarian commitment underlying much of our work by encouraging a more explicit consideration of what a more equal world would and could look like. We therefore also encourage submissions that situate their empirical findings on mobility and inequality within a broader discussion of equality and alternative visions of a more egalitarian society. The conference will also offer keynote lectures by eminent philosophers who work on these questions as well as other events around these themes, such as an interactive session that asks us to “envision real utopias” (following Erik O. Wright’s call).

Note that conference participants may only present one paper, but can be co-authors on other paper submissions. Please prepare an extended abstract (max of 1000 words, not counting references and tables/figures) including a clear description of the research question, the theoretical framework, the data and methods, as well as preliminary findings if available (including figures or tables). The abstract must be sufficiently detailed to allow the scientific committee to judge the merits of the paper. Please note that full paper submissions can complement but not replace extended abstract submissions. If you wish to include a full paper in your submission, you should submit one PDF with the full paper included after the extended abstract. Please also include up to 5 keywords and choose the preferred format (oral/poster) for your contribution during the submission process. If you select both formats, your submission will first be considered for oral presentation and, if not accepted, then for poster presentation.

Abstracts must be submitted by 11:59pm EST on March 3, 2023. Authors will be informed about the scientific committee’s decision by the end of March 2023. 

You don’t need to be an RC28 member to submit your abstract but you will have to be an RC28 member to attend/present.