Call for Abstracts: The Organization of Illegal Marketplaces; Institute of Sociology, University of St.Gallen, Switzerland; Due Dec 1, 2024

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PAPER DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP (PDW)

THE ORGANIZATION OF ILLEGAL MARKETPLACES

April 3 & 4, 2025, Institute of Sociology, University of St.Gallen, Switzerland

Abstract Submission:
Please send an abstract of 500 words and a short biographical note to gdumont@emlyon.com and loic.pignolo@unisg.ch by December 1, 2024. Notification of acceptance will be sent by January 1, 2025.

Papers must be submitted by March 6, 2025. There is no registration fee. They will cover lunch on both days and the dinner on the first day. Partial grants for travel and accommodation can be provided to a small number of participants with limited resources. Please indicate if you require financial support. Participation in the workshop is open to all upon registration.

Please click on the link for more details: https://oowsection.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/cfp-pdw-the-organization-of-illegal-marketplaces.pdf

Organizing Committee:
Loïc Pignolo, Universität St. Gallen, Switzerland
Guillaume Dumont, Emlyon Business School, France

Illegal marketplaces are “organized places, whether physical (e.g., a weekly trading event in the town square) or virtual (e.g., an electronic platform, such as Etsy) for ztrade” (Aspers and Darr, 2022; p.824). They operate based on shared norms, roles, meanings, and routines implemented by marketplace organizers or derived from mutual adjustment among actors, thereby shaping trade in important ways (e.g., Aspers and Darr, 2022; Dewey and Buzzetti, 2024; Tzanetakis, 2018; Tzanetakis et al., 2016). They offer the means to facilitate illegal transactions and provide opportunities and sources of power for marketplace organizers through place-based cooperation, gathering of people, infrastructure, digital technologies, and/or pooling of resources. No less importantly, they are a focus of attention for policymaking and law enforcement, with most state institutions striving to eradicate them (e.g., Beckert and Dewey, 2017; Coomber et al., 2019; Gottschalk, 2010; Paoli, 2014).

Whether online or offline, illegal marketplaces are places where the dynamics of markets, illegality, state institutions, vulnerability, and power intersect, raising important questions that have yet to be addressed by the emerging stream of scholarship in this field: What social, spatial, and technological conditions allow for the emergence of illegal marketplaces? How are they organized to face the coordination problems associated with illegality? Who are the organizers, how do they make decisions, and what resources do they use? How do they help to set prices, facilitate product supply, and protect traders? Who are the market participants, and how is power distributed among them? What are the differences between online illegal marketplaces and physical ones?

This third edition of the “Ethnographies of Illegality” Paper Development Workshop (PDW) will focus on selected organizational and managerial aspects of illegal marketplaces. We welcome proposals that investigate illegal marketplaces using ethnographic and, more broadly, qualitative approaches and address one or more of the following four themes.

Regulation: Illegal marketplaces are legally embedded, making the study of regulations and legal frameworks crucial for understanding them. The fourth theme explores the relation between illegal marketplaces and their local regulatory contexts. We encourage authors to uncover the complexity of the relation between state institutions and law enforcement agencies, their role in shaping markets, and marketplaces’ organizational, spatial, and working characteristics.

By exploring these themes across contexts and activities, the workshop aims to produce new knowledge in three areas: the infrastructure(s) and organizations that enable illegal marketplaces to emerge, grow, and transform; the contemporary cultural forms of illegal exchange in different geographical locations; and the differences and similarities between illegal marketplaces and their legal counterparts.

Organization: The operation of illegal marketplaces requires organizational structures, governance, and cultures, as well as conventions, maintenance, and development strategies. This theme focuses on the organizational aspects, particularly the organizational forms, rules, monitoring mechanisms, and sanctions enabling the operation of illegal marketplaces, as well as the socialization of market participants, their coordination problems, and power distribution.

Space: Illegal marketplaces are often located at the intersection of online and offline spaces. This theme focuses on rethinking the notion of space in relation to illegal marketplaces. We encourage authors to consider how market participants appropriate specific spaces and places to develop their activities and how multiple spaces are intimately connected in the design and operation of marketplaces.

Work: Illegal marketplaces involve the work and labor of different actors. This third theme will approach the activities and tasks performed in markets and marketplaces through the conceptual lens of work, allowing for the exploration of essential aspects of their functioning, such as the division of labor, labor relations among actors, consequences of organizational elements for their working conditions and careers, and meaning of their work.

Call for Abstracts: ICOS2025

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Call for Abstracts
International Conference on Organizational Sociology
ICOS 2025

Organizing Plurality

March 27/28, 2025
Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, Germany

Submission Deadline for abstracts (1-2 pages): November 30, 2024

Joint conference by:

1. Section on Organizational Sociology of the German Sociological Association www.organisations-soziologie.de

    2. Research Committee 17 “Sociology of Organizations” of the International Sociological Association www.organizational-sociology.com

    3. Research Cluster OPAL (Organisation, Personal, Arbeit, Leadership) at Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg www.hsu-hh.de/orgasoz/en/ | www.hsu-hh.de/opal/

     4. “Organization & Society” Research Group at the Department of Sociology and Political Science, NTNU Trondheim www.ntnu.edu/web/iss/organization-and-society

    In modern society, organizations typically face a myriad of expectations from numerous groups, individuals, and systems. These expectations come from various societal domains, ranging from the micro to the macro level and from the local to the global. They include moral, political, and environmental concerns, as well as macro-level values and norms attributable to different “value spheres” (Weber 2009), “institutional logics” (Friedland & Alford 1991), “orders of worth” (Boltanski & Thévenot 2006), “function systems” (Luhmann 2012), and “organizational fields” (DiMaggio & Powell 1983), among others.

    Many of these expectations tend to be competing or contradictory, and accordingly, scholars have observed that heterogeneous demands often lead to conflict (e.g., Battilana & Dorado 2010; Berkowitz & Grothe-Hammer 2022; Pache & Santos 2013; Valentinov & Roth 2022; Gluch & Hellsvik 2023). Nevertheless, organizations are usually quite successful in handling these demands on a daily basis (McPherson & Sauder 2013; Besio & Meyer 2014; Matinheiki et. al. 2019). Moreover, organizations not only cope with these societal demands, but also play a crucial role in shaping and implementing them. However, we still know relatively little about the impact of these internal organizational solutions on broader societal contexts and how they contribute to shaping such societal trends (Apelt et al. 2017).

    We invite papers that address questions revolving around the role and relevance of organizations in addressing the challenges of an increasingly plural society. The conference will feature the following four broad themes:

    ·         Organizations and Valuation

    ·         Organizations and Sustainability

    ·         Organizations and Digitalization

    ·         Organizations and Governance

    Organizing Committee:
    Nadine Arnold (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
    Cristina Besio (Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, Germany)
    Michael Grothe-Hammer (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)
    Marco Jöstingmeier (Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, Germany)
    Uli Meyer (Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria)
    Kurt Rachlitz (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)

    Please consider the “Journal of Organizational Sociology“:
    Michael Grothe-Hammer
    Associate Professor in Sociology (Organization & Technology)
    Head of the “Organization & Society” Research Group
    Department of Sociology and Political Science
    Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
    NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
    Web: https://www.ntnu.edu/employees/michael.grothe-hammer

    Conference Call: Organizing Plurality – INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIOLOGY (ICOS), March 2025 in Hamburg, Germany

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    Organizing Plurality

    INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIOLOGY (ICOS)

    March 27 & 28, 2025  Hamburg, Germany

    Call for Abstracts is now open!

    Submission Deadline: November 30, 2024

    The German Section of Organizational Sociology and its European peers are organizing the International Conference on  Organizational Sociology ICOS 2025 at Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg, Germany, in March 2025.

    The main topic is “Organizing Plurality,” which will be discussed in relation to several societal trends:
    1) Organizations and  Valuation
    2) Organizations and Sustainability
    3) Organizations and Digitalization
    4) Organizations and Governance

    Additional details can also be found on the pdf: icos2025_organizing-plurality.pdf

    You can find the full Call for Papers and more information on their homepage, icos2025.com.

    New Publication: A Moral Dilemma of ‘Selling Out’: Race, Class, and Career Considerations among Elite College Students

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    Joyce J. Kim. 2024. “A Moral Dilemma of ‘Selling Out’: Race, Class, and Career Considerations among Elite College Students.” Social Problems. Online First.  https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spae056

    Abstract: Research on occupational choice focuses on individualistic work values and emphasizes economic returns. Drawing from 62 in-depth interviews with Asian, Black, and White first-generation, low-income (FGLI), and middle-class students at an elite university, I argue that students’ career decisions comprise a moral dimension. How students contended with this dimension varied based on the intersection of their racial and class backgrounds. Specifically, patterns broadly align with two categories: contingent objections to certain high-prestige, high-paying careers arising from individual priorities or concern for social good, and linked obligations to broader collectivities, such as ethnoracial groups or families. While students across all racial and class backgrounds raised objections based on different individual priorities, FGLI students primarily mentioned objections based on the value of social good. Across class backgrounds, Asian and Black students more often cited obligations based on ethnoracial uplift compared to their White peers. Asian and Black FGLI students prioritized family contributions more strongly than their White FGLI counterparts. Paradoxically, some students used these evaluative logics to justify “selling out” in pursuit of high-prestige, high-paying jobs, whereas others used these justifications to reject them. This study furthers understanding of the cultural processes behind social inequalities and highlights how the intersection of race and class shapes moral understandings.

    Announcement: Submit to the ISA Session on “New Digital Technologies, Power and Work: Labor Control and Resistance” by October 15

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    Please consider submitting by October 15 to a  “New Digital Technologies, Power and Work: Labor Control and Resistance” session at the International Sociological Association Forum on Sociology in Rabat, Morocco, 6-11 July 2025. 

    Please see the link below for a detailed description:
    https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/forum2025/webprogrampreliminary/Session19472.html

    If you are interested in submitting an abstract for this session, the Call for Abstracts is at https://www.isa-sociology.org/en/conferences/forum/rabat-2025/5th-isa-forum-call-for-abstracts.

    The call closes on October 15th (note that the ISA observes Central Europe Time).

    “If you have not attended ISA before, it is truly an international sociology conference with distinct inflections in each location where it meets—I have found every ISA conference I have attended to be fascinating, and of course, Rabat itself is a very interesting place in a very interesting region. In addition to this session, I encourage you to scan other possible sessions (Research Council 44 is the ISA’s Labor Movements section; RC 30 is the Sociology of Work).”
    – Dr. Tilly, Professor of Urban Planning and Sociology, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

    Announcement: “Sociological Thinking in Contemporary Organizational Scholarship” The New Volume of Research in the Sociology of Organizations is Out! Available via OPEN ACCESS

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    “Sociological Thinking in Contemporary Organizational Scholarship”
    Edited by Stewart Clegg, Michael Grothe-Hammer, and Kathia Serrano Velarde.

    This New Volume of Research in the Sociology of Organizations is Now Out! Available via OPEN ACCESS.

    The Volume explores the new boundaries of organizational sociology. It sets out to map a community of scholars that transcends disciplinary limitations by following one simple epistemic logic: society happens in, between, across, and around organizations.

    “We are deeply grateful for the fantastic contributions we received, and we are especially honored that our volume includes an inspiring piece by the greatly missed Barbara Czarniawska.
    We hope you’ll enjoy reading our Volume!”
    -Stewart, Michael, and Kathia

    Here is the link to the full open access volume:
    https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1108/S0733-558X202490

    CONTENTS:

    Sociological Thinking in Contemporary Organizational Scholarship
    by Stewart Clegg, Michael Grothe-Hammer, and Kathia Serrano Velarde 

    PART 1. THE PLACE OF SOCIOLOGY IN ORGANIZATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP

    Revitalizing Organizational Theory Through a Problem-oriented Sociology
    by Brayden King 

    Organizational Sociology and Organization Studies: Past, Present, and Future
    by Leopold Ringel 

    Facing Up to the Present? Cultivating Political Judgment  and a Sense of Reality in Contemporary Organizational Life 
    by Thomas Lopdrup-Hjorth and Paul du Gay 

    PART 2. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN AND THROUGH ORGANIZATIONS:
    Organizations within Society: Organizational Perspectives on Status and Distinction

    Status in Socio-environmental Fields: Relationships, Evaluations, and Otherhood 
    by Nadine Arnold and Fabien Foureault 

    Organizations as Carriers of Status and Class Dynamics: A Historical Ethnography of the
    Emergence of Bordeaux’s Cork Aristocracy
    by Grégoire Croidieu and Walter W. Powell 

    Organizations as Drivers of Social and Systemic Integration: Contradiction and Reconciliation
    Through Loose Demographic Coupling and Community Anchoring 
    by Krystal Laryea and Christof Brandtner 

    Why Organization Studies Should Care More about Gender Exclusion and Inclusion in Sport
    Organizations
    by Lucy Piggott, Jorid Hovden and Annelies Knoppers

    PART 3. REDISCOVERING SOCIOLOGICAL CLASSICS FOR ORGANIZATION STUDIES:
    Reflexivity and Control

    Narrating the Disjunctions Produced by the Sociological Concept of Emotional Reflexivity in
    Organization Studies by Bruno Américo, Stewart Clegg and Fagner Carniel 

    The Promise of Total Institutions in the Sociology of Organizations: Implications of Regimental
    and Monastic Obedience for Underlife
    by Mikaela Sundberg 

    PART 3. REDISCOVERING SOCIOLOGICAL CLASSICS FOR ORGANIZATION STUDIES:
    Organizing and Organization

    Why Organization Sociologists Should Refer to Tarde and Simmel More Often 
    by Barbara Czarniawska 

    Organization Systems and Their Social Environments: The Role of Functionally Differentiated
    Society and Face-to-Face Interaction Rituals
    by Werner Schirmer

    New Publication: “Beyond the ‘wow’ factor: the analytic importance of boredom in qualitative research” by Tair Karazi-Presler & Edna Lomsky-Feder

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    Karazi-Presler, Tair and Edna Lomsky-Feder. 2024. “Beyond the ‘Wow’ Factor: The Analytic Importance of Boredom in Qualitative Research.” International Journal of Social Research Methodology 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2024.2400154

    Abstract: In this paper, we perceive boredom as a potential resource for creativity in qualitative research. We present three main arguments. First, boredom is often an inevitable stage on the way to research excitement and can even serve as an important clue leading to analytic surprises. Second, there is a methodological need to reflect on boredom in order to understand the researcher’s perception of meaningfulness and meaninglessness. Particularly, we show how the ‘interview society’, characterized by the dominance of the therapeutic discourse, shapes researchers’ expectations regarding what is considered ‘interesting’ or ‘boring.’ Finally, the researcher’s experience of boredom may provide insights into the very phenomenon under investigation. We flesh out these arguments by showing how the researcher’s boredom during interviews reflects the interviewees’ emotional style, expected of (women) managers in the neoliberal culture: emotional restraint and a façade of rationality and objectivity.

    New Publication: “Moral reconciling at career launch: Politics, race, and occupational choice” by Matthew Clair & Sophia Hunt

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    Clair, Matthew and Sophia Hunt. Forthcoming. “Moral reconciling at career launch: Politics, race, and occupational choice” Socio-Economic Review. https://academic.oup.com/ser/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ser/mwae061/7796896

    Abstract: Recent research suggests that college-educated young adults, especially those who are politically liberal and/or racially marginalized, exhibit moral reservations about their intended occupations. How do they justify entering occupations that conflict with their morals, and with what consequences? This article examines the case of 74 mostly liberal prospective law school students from a range of racial backgrounds followed over 2 years. In interviews at career launch, respondents criticized the legal profession for its perceived perpetuation of inequality and violence. Despite their moral reservations, they articulated three occupational justification narratives for attending law school: lifting up (exceptional lawyering); leveraging out (legal education for nonlawyer aspirations); and leaning in (conscientious class mobility/maintenance). These narratives differentiate between morally ‘good’ and ‘bad’ occupational domains—a cultural-cognitive process we term moral reconciling. We theorize how moral reconciling at career launch charts young adults down different early career trajectories, with implications for occupational sorting and change.

    New Publication: “Know Your Place: Fractured Epistemic Privilege among Women in State Organizations” by Tair Karazi-Presler

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    Karazi‐Presler, Tair. 2024. “Know Your Place: Fractured Epistemic Privilege among Women in State Organizations.” Sociological Forum. https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.13021

    Abstract: Based on 67 in-depth interviews, this article explores how women in positions of power in two major organizational fields in Israel—the military and government ministries—develop different types of gender knowledge. In the military, an extremely and publicly gendered organization, the interviewees demonstrate gender reflexivity and pragmatic literacy of power relations. In the government ministries, which tend to conceal and even repress gendered power, the interviewees demonstrate (neoliberal) feminist consciousness and a limited ability to conceptualize power relations. The contribution of this article is threefold. First, it challenges the common view that gender reflexivity and feminist consciousness are causally related by emphasizing fractured epistemic privilege among women in different organizational contexts. Second, it demonstrates that women’s survival practices produce gender knowledge, which in turn produces gender practices in organizational contexts. Third, it argues that different types of gender knowledge develop as a byproduct of the gendered power-relation characteristics of each specific organizational context. Accordingly, this article offers a framework for analyzing emerging forms of gender sociopolitical knowledge in organizations as an additional dimension of gender inequality and a possible basis for transforming it.

    New Publication: “Profiles Among Women Without a Paid Job and Social Benefits: An Intersectional Perspective Using Dutch Population Register Data” by Lea Kröner, Deni Mazrekaj, Tanja van der Lippe, and Anne-Rigt Poortman

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    Kröner, L., Mazrekaj, D., van der Lippe, T., & Poortman, A. R. (2024). Profiles Among Women Without a Paid Job and Social Benefits: An Intersectional Perspective Using Dutch Population Register Data. Social Policy & Administration. https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13080

    Abstract: Despite their potential vulnerability and untapped work potential, research on the group of women without a paid job and social benefits is limited. This study is the first to identify profiles among women in this group based on their intersecting economic, sociodemographic and contextual characteristics. A cluster analysis conducted on Dutch population register data from 2019 challenges previous research that lumped women without a paid job and social benefits into a single group. Rather, we reveal three distinct profiles: ‘Dutch empty nesters (i.e., mothers with adult children) in affluent households’, ‘Migrant women in urban living areas’ and ‘Dutch, educated mothers with affluent partners’. The identification of these three profiles can mark a significant step in developing tailored active labour market policies for women without a paid job and social benefits.