Opening Plenary Session. Equality
Philippe van ParijsLouvain-le-Neuve
Judith LorberCity University of New York Graduate Center & Brooklyn College
Kimberlé CrenshawUniversity of California - Los Angeles
At the core of the idea of real utopias is the problem of realizing ideals of social justice, and in one way or another, these ideals are always bound up with questions about equality. Equality is also part of the normative context for one of the central preoccupations of sociology – understanding the causes and consequences of diverse forms of inequality, especially class, gender and race. This first plenary, then, will examine various issues connecting equality and real utopias.
Plenary Session. Democracy
Robert W. McChesneyUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Hilary WainwrightTransnational Institute
Bruce AckermanYale University
Boaventura SantosUniversity of Colimbra - Portugal
Many real utopian institutional designs and experiments are built around the problem of deepening democracy: how to organize decision-making in organizations, in the state, and in society in such a way that ordinary people are in a position to genuinely exercise real power. This plenary will concern different aspects of the problem of deepening and radicalizing democracy.
Awards Ceremony & Presidential Address
Erik Olin WrightUniversity of Wisconsin - Madison
Presidential Address
Erik Olin Wright, University of Wisconsin-Madison
The Presidential Plenary featuring the formal address of ASA President Erik Olin Wright will be held on Saturday, August 18, at 4:30pm. The ASA Awards Ceremony, conferring the 2012 major ASA awards, will open the session. All registrants are invited to attend this plenary session and the Honorary Reception afterwards to honor President Erik Olin Wright and the award recipients.
Plenary Session. Sustainability
Paul EhrlichStanford University
Tim JacksonUniversity of Surrey
Harriet FriedmannUniversity of Toronto
Few problems pose a bigger challenge to contemporary capitalist societies than environmental sustainability. Global warming looms as potentially catastrophic, and there are good arguments that capitalism as a political-economic system is not only incapable of effectively dealing with this impending crisis, but is itself one of the core casual processes generating the problem. Yet, there is relatively little public discussion of rigorously argued real-utopian institutional designs for dealing effectively with climate change and other aspects of environmental sustainability. This will be the theme of the third plenary.
Featured Video
Where is the "Public" in the Public University? How Disinvestment in Higher Education Threatens Democratic Citizenship

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Speaking: Alessandro Bonanno, Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Victoria L. Johnson, Christopher Newfield, Anthony M. Orum, Robert Perrucci, Sheila Slaughter, Gaye Tuchman, Clarence Y.H. LoDuration: 01:58:00
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