At the beginning of the 20th century, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (Durkheim, 1912) paved the way for sociology to explore, conceptualize and understand the power of rituals in our lives. Since then, rituals ceased to be envisaged in the restricted area of religion and the sacred; its study gradually extended to several dimensions of the everyday interaction and social imaginaries. Family rituals constitute no exception. Rituals have never been as studied and celebrated as they are now all around the world.

Session organized in the framework of the Third ISA Forum "The futures we want: Global Sociology and the Struggles for a Better World", Vienna, Austria, 10-14 July 2016, http://www.isa-sociology.org/forum-2016/#

Session Description

At the beginning of the 20th century, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (Durkheim, 1912) paved the way for sociology to explore, conceptualize and understand the power of rituals in our lives. Since then, rituals ceased to be envisaged in the restricted area of religion and the sacred; its study gradually extended to several dimensions of the everyday interaction and social imaginaries. Family rituals constitute no exception. Rituals have never been as studied and celebrated as they are now all around the world. This session aims to discuss, across borders, the place of family rituals in constructing the past, present and future of the families we both want and do not want. Bringing together theoretical contributions and empirical studies on the “special” meaning of some events, days or occasions, it aims to portray and understand contemporary family rituals in all their multiplex dynamics: actors, spaces, times, feelings, symbols, actions and meanings. Ultimately, exploring the experiences, strengths, weaknesses and tensions of family rituals might allow us to (de)construct and contradict recent sociological theorization on family as a fleeting, fluid and elusive reality, and to understand its global place in the individuals’ struggle for better lives and worlds.

Submission guidelines

• Format: Oral
• Language: English
• Research Committee: RC06 Family Research (host committee)

Deadline for new submissions: Wednesday, 30 September 2015, 24:00 GMT

at url: https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/forum2016/cfp.cgi

Session Organizer

• Rosalina PISCO COSTA, Universidade de Évora, Portugal, Email: rosalina@uevora.pt

Forum President

• Markus S. SCHULZ, ISA Vice-President Research, University of Illinois, USA

Forum Vice-Presidents

• Margaret ABRAHAM, ISA President, Hofstra University, USA
• Rudolf RICHTER, Chair, Local Organizing Committee, University of Vienna, Austria

Members of Research Coordinating Committee

• Rosemary BARBERET, City University of New York, USA
• Dilek CINDOGLU, Mardin Artuklu University, Turkey
• Guillermina JASSO, New York University, USA
• Kalpana KANNABIRAN, Council for Social Development, Hyderabad, India
• Marina KURKCHIYAN, University of Oxford, UK
• Abdul-Mumin SA’AD, Federal College of Education, Nigeria
• Celi SCALON, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Sawako SHIRAHASE, University of Tokyo, Japan
• Evangelia TASTSOGLOU, Saint Mary's University, Canada
• Chin-Chun YI, Academia Sinica, Taiwan

Program Coordinators Family Research, RC06

• Margaret O’BRIEN, University College London, United Kingdom, m.obrien@ioe.ac.uk
• Barbara BARBOSA NEVES, University of Toronto, Canada, barbara@bbneves.com