Join us for our 97th Annual Meeting:

Understanding Difference in a Divided Age

March 4-7, 2027

At its core, much of sociology is concerned with how societies perceive, construct, and react to differences within our populations. Across axes such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, nativity, legal status, family status, and more, social life is organized through systems of classification that shape our lives. How people understand the nature of differences along these lines, how we imbue these differences with cultural meaning, and how we treat people who differ are central questions driving our field.

 

These questions take on heightened urgency in a period marked by profound political polarization, where lines of difference are increasingly mobilized as tools of division and control. We have seen intensified efforts to define and fix the meanings of difference – through rhetoric that advances racial essentialism, initiatives to impose binary definitions of gender, and challenges to long-standing legal and social definitions such as birthright citizenship. At the same time, initiatives aimed at fostering diversity and inclusion have come under sustained critique. Taken together, these developments underscore the broader struggle over who gets to define difference and to what ends. This conference invites participants to examine how people understand the nature of difference, how narratives of difference are produced and leveraged for political or economic purposes, and what initiatives or policy solutions can address them and foster more inclusive and equitable societies.

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We will open our submission portal by September 15.

We will also send out an email when it is open.

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Here are some guidelines for a very popular submission: Author Meets Critics:

Due: by October 15

Requirements for AMC submissions:

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AMC sessions can be proposed by authors or anyone else. All AMC session proposals must contain the following:

1. A title for the session starting with “AMC:” and followed by the title of the book to be discussed, and then the name of the author(s);

2. An abstract outlining the importance/interest of the book to sociologists (max 500 words). The abstract must state the date and publisher of the book. Books must be published between Jan. 2025 and March 2027 to be eligible;

3. A list of 3 or 4 critics with their titles and email addresses. Critics must have agreed to participate before being listed. Panels should aim to reflect the diversity of the discipline.

4. Optional: ESS strongly recommends that AMC sessions have a Moderator to introduce the speakers and keep time.

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​W Philadelphia and Element Philadelphia Downtown Hotels, Philadelphia, PA​​​

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UPDATES AND NEWS:​

CHECK OUT THE INAUGURAL NEWSLETTER FROM THE ESS

COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF ETHNICITY, RACE, AND RACISM