CONGRESS THEME:

Within the overall theme of the XVIth World Congress of Sociology – the great quadrennial event of international sociology where more than 50 Research Committees and several Working Groups and Ad Hoc Groups will organize a total of well over 700 sessions in different fields of sociology – RC 51 will organize up to 17 sessions on Sociocybernetics including one special congress theme session.


SESSION TOPICS:

At this point the following topics for sessions were proposed and accepted by RC51. At an appropriate time a reorganization may be necessary depending on the papers which will actually be proposed.

• Session 1
  Joint Session RC51 and RC16 Sociological Theory
  Sociology and Systems Theory
  Organizers: Jeffrey Alexander, Yale University, USA, jeffrey.alexander@yale.edu and Raf Vander-straeten, University of Bielefeld, Germany, raf.vanderstraeten@uni-bielefeld.de
  
  
• Session 2
  Joint Session RC51 and RC33 Logic and Methodology
  Causality Revised
  Organizers: Cor van Dijkum, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, C.vanDijkum@fss.uu.nl and Hans van der Zouwen, Free University Amsterdam, The Netherlands, J.van.der.Zouwen@fsw.vu.nl
  
  
• Session 3
  French Language Session on
  Rétroactions déstabilisatrices en géopolitique - Destabilizing Feedbacks in Geopolitics
  Organizer: Marie-Noëlle Sarget, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France, sarget@atacama.ehess.fr
  
  
• Session 4
  Spanish Language Session on
  Capital social y redes sociales: El "pegamento" del desarrollo social
  Social Capital and Social Net-works: The "Glue" of Social Development and Welfare
  Organizers: Chaime Marcuello-Servós, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain, chaime@unizar.es, Dario Menanteau-Horta, University of Minnesota, USA, dmenante@umn.edu and Juan D. Gomez Quintero, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain
  
  
• Session 5
  Portuguese Language Session on
  Igualdade e desigualdade: Género, economica e cidadania - Uma aborgadem sociocibernética
  Equality and Inequality: Gender, Economy and Citizenship - A Sociocybernetic Approach
  Organizer: Manuel Lisboa, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, m.lisboa@fcsh.unl.pt
  
  
• Session 6
  Causes and Consequences of Innovation: Systemic Approaches
  Organizers: Matjaz Mulej, University of Maribor, Slovenia, mulej@uni-mb.si, and Eva Buchinger, ARC Systems Research, Austria, eva.buchinger@arcs.ac.at
  
  
• Session 7
  Communication and Ethics or Sociocybernetics and Cyberethics
  Organizers: Arne Collen, Saybrook Graduate School, USA, acollen@saybrook.edu and Vessela Misheva, Uppsala University, Sweden, Vessela.Misheva@soc.uu.se
  
  
• Session 8
  Precursors of Sociocybernetics: Systemic Thinking in the History of the Social Sciences
  Organizer: Pavel O. Luksha, Russia, bowin@mail.ru
  
  
• Session 9
  Emergence in Social Systems and Sociocybernetic Theory
  Organizer: Bernd R. Hornung, Marburg University, Germany, hornung@med.uni-marburg.de
  
  
• Session 10
  The Concept of Self-reference in Theories of Information Society
  Organizer: Czeslaw Mesjasz, Cracow University of Economics, Poland, mesjaszc@ae.krakow.pl
  
  
• Session 11
  Analyzing and Estimating Feedback Relationships in Empirical and Simulation Studies
  Organizers: Han Oud, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands, j.oud@pwo.ru.nl, and Cor van Dijkum, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, C.vanDijkum@fss.uu.nl
  
  
• Session 12 and 13
  Luhmann Applied, Part I and II
  Organizer: Soren Brier, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, sbr.lpf@cbs.dk
  
  
• Session 14
  Sociocybernetics of Emotions
  Organizers: Christian von Scheve, University of Hamburg and ZiF, University of Bielefeld, Germany, xscheve@informatik.uni-hamburg.de, and Bernd R. Hornung, Marburg University, Germany, hornung@med.uni-marburg.de
  
  
• Session 15
  Music in the Context of African Society
  Organizer: Mario Vieira de Carvalho, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, mvc@mail.telepac.pt
  
  
• Session 16
  Participatory Sustainable Development in Rural Areas and the Contribution of Systems Theory
  Organizer: Philippos Nicolopoulos, University of Crete and University of Indianapolis - Athens Campus, Greece, nikolop@groovy.gr
  
  
• Special Session on the Congress Theme
  The System of Mass Media and Social Transformation
  Organizers: Juan Miguel Aguado, Universidad de Murcia, Spain, jmaguado@um.es, and Vessela Misheva, Uppsala University, Sweden, Vessela.Misheva@soc.uu.se
  

FURTHER SUGGESTIONS - WAITING LIST

Risk Governance and Innovative Democracy
Organizer: Danièle Bourcier, CNRS/Université Paris 2, France, bourcier@msh-paris.fr

Sociocybernetic Models of Social Macro-Dynamics
Organizer: Pavel O. Luksha (Russia), bowin@mail.ru
_____________________________________________

For more details please consult the web at:
http://www.ucm.es/info/isa/congress2006/rc/rc51_durban.htm.
A short description of the contents and objectives of each session is available on the website.

Moreover, several pre-congress tutorials will possibly be organized. Please regularly consult our website


CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION:

For presenting a paper, membership both of RC 51 and of the ISA is mandatory. Both memberships can be obtained through the website of the ISA. The membership form for RC 51 is also available at our website: http://www.unizar.es/sociocybernetics/group/newmember.html.


ABSTRACTS AND THE REVIEW PROCESS:

Abstracts for papers have to be 500 to 1000 word detailed abstracts for the review process and the definite assignment to a particular session. At a later point in time 250 word regular abstracts are needed for publication on the Internet by the ISA. All abstracts should be sent to the RC 51 World Congress Programme Coordinator. On the basis of the abstracts the papers will be assigned either to the session requested by the author or to an appropriate session selected by the Programme Coordinator in consultation with the respective session organizer. In either case the session organizer will make a preliminary decision on acceptance of the paper for the particular session. Abstracts should preferably deal with one of the session subjects mentioned above, although papers dealing with other issues of sociocybernetics can also be accepted.


DEADLINES:

• October 31, 2005: 500-1000 word detailed abstracts, indicating preferred session if possible.
  
  
• December 15, 2005: Notification of acceptance.
  
  
• January 15, 2006: 250 word regular abstracts.
  
  
• January 31, 2006 (ISA): Programme of sessions available, submission to the ISA.
  
  
• March 31, 2006 (ISA): Pre-registration. The names of participants not registered by this date will not appear in the Programme Book and their abstracts will not be published.
  
  
• March 31, 2006 (ISA): Electronic submission of accepted abstracts to Sociological Abstracts at: http://www.csa.com/socioabs/submit.html
  Only abstracts from pre-registered authors will be accepted by the system.
  
  
• June 15, 2006 (RC): Definite confirmation of participation and dates of arrival and departure to the RC 51 World Congress Programme Coordinator.
  
  
• June 30, 2006 (ISA): Submission of full papers by e-mail to the Congress Secretariat in Durban and to the RC 51 World Congress Programme Coordinator.
  Final programme available and submitted to the ISA.
  
  

CONTACTS AND INFORMATION:

For any further questions and information you may consult the RC 51 website at:
http://www.ucm.es/info/isa/congress2006/rc/rc51_durban.htm or the ISA Durban website at:
http://www.ucm.es/info/isa/congress2006/index.htm.
These may already answer many of your questions. You may also directly contact the RC 51 World Congress Programme Coordinator or any of the members of the RC51 International Scientific Committee.


RC51 INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE:

• Felix Geyer, RC51 Honorary President (Chair), geyer@xs4all.nl
  Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  
• Bernd R. Hornung, RC51 President, hornung@med.uni-marburg.de
  Marburg University, Germany
  
• Vessela Misheva, RC51 Vice-President, Vessela.Misheva@soc.uu.se
  University of Uppsala, Sweden
  
• Richard E. Lee, RC51 Secretary,
  SUNY-Binghamton, USA rlee@binghamton.edu
  
• Karl-Heinz Simon, RC51 Programme Coordinator, simon@usf.uni-kassel.de
  University of Kassel, Germany
  
• Soeren Brier, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark sbr.lpf@cbs.dk
  
• Arne Collen, Saybrook Graduate School, USA acollen@saybrook.edu
  
• Chaime Marcuello, University of Zaragoza, Spain chaime@posta.unizar.es
  
• Bernard Scott, Cranfield University, UK B.C.E.scott@cranfield.ac.uk
  
• Cor Van Dijkum, Utrecht University, The Netherlands c.vandijkum@fss.uu.nl