Call for Papers
The Social Production of Art Today: Revisiting Janet Wolff
BSA Sociology of the Arts Study Group & Cultural Sociology
Thursday June 6th 2024, 10am – 4:30pm, University of Leeds
This symposium will showcase contemporary work in the sociology of the arts framed around a return to Janet Wolff’s seminal book, The Social Production of Art (1981). More broadly, the intention is to foreground work in the sociology of art which is informed by theories and intellectual histories other than the dominant traditions that orient the subfield (Bourdieu, Becker), or which complicate their dominance. We are soliciting 15-minute papers which either:
1) Explicitly engage with Wolff as a primary theorist in contemporary sociologies of art;
2) Use similar theoretical tools or approaches to Wolff, e.g. a focus on ideology;
3) Evaluate The Social Production of Art’s relevance today;
4) Consider the historiography of the sociology of the arts itself. This might involve discussions of the forces that uphold certain voices at the expense of others (Bourdieu, Becker, and now Latour), or a discussion of the role of national traditions within the sociology of art.
There will be two paper sessions, broadly themed around: Contemporary Approaches to the Social Production of Art and Rethinking the Cannons in the Sociology of Art. Please indicate if you would like to be considered for a specific panel.
Prof. Janet Wolff will join us for the day, offering a talk about the book, its writing, and how it has travelled with her through her career.
Please submit a title and an abstract of 200 words to l.harris@soton.ac.uk by 5pm Monday April 15th.
We are reserving at least 25% of the paper slots for ECRs. Please inform us if you are an ECR.
*The event will lead to a special issue of Cultural Sociology; selected abstracts will be considered (through peer review) for the special issue!
https://www.britsoc.co.uk/events/key-bsa-events/the-social-production-of-art-today-revisiting-janet-wolff/
