CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES FACED WITH ENERGY TRANSITIONS
The Second International Days of the Sociology of Energy will take place from July 1st to July 3rd, 2015. They are organized by the UMR CNRS CITERES and the CETU ETICS of the François-Rabelais University (Tours), supported by the CR 16, 23 et 32 of the AISLF (Association Internationale des Sociologues de Langue Française), the RT1 de l’AFS (Association Française de Sociologie), and by the INSIS (Institut National des Sciences de l’Ingénierie et des Systèmes) and the Cellule Énergie du CNRS. This conference aims to bring together researchers in the social sciences whose work contributes to advancing social phenomena related to energy, whether they are sociologists working on this topic from their particular disciplinary perspective, or researchers who use the approaches and/or methodologies of sociology in order to study specifically the energy object, or even professionals who question the social aspect of energy through a reflective process. The conference will also offer an opportunity to young researchers and PhD candidates, who are invited to present their research, either on-going or completed.
The angle proposed in order to regroup these contributions is that of the process of socio-energetic changes at work today, designated for several years in the public debate as “energy transition”. In the context of this conference, we prefer to use the plural to insist on the diversity of conceptions of this change, or even the conflictual nature of a process which brings together numerous categories of actors, of contexts, of markets and multiple issues. It is a question, on the one hand, of illuminating the way in which contemporary societies at every level (daily, organizational and in policies) by forced changes in energy issues, and on the other hand, how the practice and the mobilization of the actors question and create alternatives to projects of energy transition such as they are conceived by the deciders.
Sociological research has set in place high expectations given the impasses coming from an exclusively technico-economic vision of the reasons for change. Beyond the purely scientific objective of the conference, there is also the question of exposing the themes and the research results to those asking social questions about the relative knowledge of the social issues of energy. The intention is to create a meeting place for researchers and actors, in order to promote a fertile discussion about the scientific questions and the dilemmas of action.
This call of papers is structured around the following main themes but is open to other propositions.
METHODOLOGY, FORESIGHT, REFLEXIVITY
These last years have been ones of a strong solicitation of social sciences, notably sociology, to clarify energy issues. The interrogations which are the focus of researchers from these disciplines question the conditions of the production of a “social” knowledge, but as well production conditions and the mobilization of tools and of methods. Read more…
PUBLIC POLICIES AND TERRITORIES
Energy systems needing to be reformed find, at a territorial level, a new perspective to reach objectives of energy efficiency, of de-carbonization, of supply and of the conversion of use towards a more sober approach. In fact we witness in France and in Europe that locally the energy issue is put on the agenda: territories are showing new competencies and are appropriating the necessary instruments to go in this direction (local electricity distribution, energy networks, mixed funding companies, etc.). Read more…
BUILDINGS AND WAYS OF LIVING
Residential and office buildings represent, in France, more than 40% of final energy consumption, which means that this sector is a chosen target of public policies. The regulations are multiplying and weigh on all building professionals (from the conception to the actual construction) and on the occupants. The former are requested to find innovative solutions in construction and in renovation, while the latter are asked to reform their daily habits, towards more conservation, even to adapt their lifestyles to the technical systems which are imposed upon them, ad to adhere to issues of energy transition. Territorial configuration is also questioned at the local level and/or at the level of local collectivities, of cities and up to megacities. Read more…
TRANSPORTATION AND MOBILITY
Except amongst “experts”, the energy question is only rarely associated – spontaneously—with the transportation sector. However, compared to other sectors, whose parts in total energy consumption are stagnating (44.5% in building, that is +2% between 1973 and 2012) or diminishing (21%, in industry, that is -15% between 1973 and 2012), the part of the transportation sector continues to grow rapidly (32%, that is +12% over the same period). If the field of technology remains at the cutting edge, notably through the conception of vehicles with reduced CO2 emissions, considerations linked to the organizational aspects of transportation, to traveling habits or even to policies encouraging alternative transportation are a larger part of the current debate. Read more…
THE SOCIO-ECONOMICS OF ENERGY
Energy problems open multiple debates about how to establish durable transformations of habits and ways of life. Among the possibilities, the economic one is regularly put forward as one of the most persuasive, or at least the one to which social actors are the most sensitive. Read more…
WORK AND PROFESSIONAL GROUP
Work is also a consumer of energy, be it to produce goods and services, or through transportation, but it is also through the work of professionals, from the most prestigious to the most humble, that the sources of energy function and are enhanced. Read more…
ENGAGEMENT, MOBILIZATION, CONCENTRATION/ EMPOWERMENT
Energy issues, and more precisely the actions to take and the measures to put into place concerning energy policies and the preservation of the natural resources of territories, which are at the heart of numerous debates, give rise to controversies, sometimes even conflicts between the protagonists. Citizens are more and more numerous to mobilize and get involved in the discussions, coming together in order to orient certain decisions. Read more…
ENERGY AND VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Methodologically, the conference wishes to reserve a particular place to scientific communications / productions and documentaries relevant to film and photography. As soon as they are registered in one or several of the themes developed above, the contributions can take the form of an exploration of the issues, from a photographic perspective in the context of an ethnographic study or an original video exposing a social phenomenon touching on the energy object.
OPEN THEME
The conference is completely open to all propositions that fall in the domain of the Sociology of Energy, inasmuch as the boundaries are not fixed. Because of this, those social science authors whose work does not correspond to one of the above-mentioned themes should still feel free to propose a paper as long as it has a link with energy. The International Days of the Sociology of Energy, being a scientific conference, insists that all contributions must nevertheless be based on a work of research, whether it be “fundamental” research, research-action, a study or any reflection on action.
HOW TO SUMIT SCIENTIFICS PAPERS
This call for papers is open to researchers, PhD candidates, teachers/ researchers, as well as to those who are operational and institutional actors. Oral presentations can be made in either French or English (simultaneous translation will be provided).
Propositions should not be longer than one page (3000 signs, including spaces).
All propositions must mention in the following order:
Last name and first name of the presenter or presenters, an email address, as well as the institution of origin (University, company, etc.).
The title of the paper
5 key words
The subject or subjects and how they are linked
A summary of the paper
A short biography (if possible with reference to one or two other publications)
We request authors to use Arial 12 point (single spaced) and to furnish the text in two different formats, one being Microsoft Word, the other PDF, both being named using the family name of the 1st author.
A French version and an English version must be furnished
Propositions must be sent before November 15th, 2014 to: jise@univ-tours.fr
Authors will be informed of the decision of the scientific committee in the second half of December 2014.
In order to better prepare the round tables and the workshops, the authors chosen must send the text of their presentation before May 31st 2015.
All presentations will be recorded or filmed and may be broadcast on the website of the JISE 2015.
CALL FOR PAPERS
Publication in the form of a printed work is planned at the end of the JISE 2015. The modality of contribution submissions, in the form or articles, will be detailed shortly. Propositions for publication, in the form of a summary (or the completed article) must arrive before January 10th, 2015 with a response by the scientific committee mid-April 2015, completed articles must arrive before June 15, 2015 in order to be taken into consideration.
