[URBANTH-L]CFP: Globalizing lifestyles between McDonaldization and sustainability (Bremen, Germany)

[Angela Jancius]

From: Lars Meier <lars-meier at web.de>

Please send our call for papers via the Urbanth-L mailing list. The aim of 
the workshop "Globalizing lifestyles between McDonaldization and 
sustainability perspectives.  The case of the "new middle classes" is to 
discuss the globalization of consumerist lifestyles in newly industrialised 
countries under a sustainability perspective. It would be great if you could 
spread the following text.

Many thanks for your help.

On behalf of Prof. Hellmuth Lange
Best regards,

Lars Meier
University of Bremen
ARTEC Institute

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Call for papers

International Workshop:"Globalizing lifestyles between McDonaldization and 
sustainability perspectives": The case of the new middle classes

4.-5. October 2007, University of Bremen, ARTEC Institute

The world-wide spread of extremely resource-intensive lifestyles is one of 
the most important challenges on the way towards a more sustainable future. 
Despite the epochal dimensions of this challenge, there is not only a dearth 
of sustainable policy concepts, but also a lack of socio-scientific 
approaches which come anywhere near an adequate analysis of the issues at 
hand. In particular, it is still an open question whether and, if so, under 
what conditions lifestyles really are becoming globalised and how this can 
be politically influenced in a sustainability perspective.
It is from such a perspective that the symposium aims to contribute to the 
international research debate on consumption and sustainability. The main 
focus lies on the globalisation of lifestyles and on related consumption 
patterns.
To come to a more comprehensive understanding of the issue, pertinent 
inquiries and findings from other fields of research will be reviewed in the 
workshop. These include the socio-economic characteristics exhibited by the 
promoters of specific consumption patterns (“new middle classes”), the 
infrastructures and political frameworks impacting on consumption patterns 
(“systems of provision” and “transition management”) and societal 
“modernisation” as a framework of socio-cultural homogenisation and/or of 
differentiation.

The aim of the workshop is to discuss the globalisation of lifestyles and of 
related consumption patterns from different academic perspectives. Here we 
intend to promote the discussion between strands of thinking that seem to be 
rather unconnected up to now. Such a combination of multidisciplinary 
analytical perspectives is expected to give rise to new empirical and 
theoretical perspectives on consumption patterns and globalisation. Thus, 
the workshop is to provide a contribution to the research on sustainable 
consumption with a view to the level of global challenges and change 
processes, both from a theoretical and empirical perspective.

The objective is:
- to contribute to a conceptual framework in which the relation between 
sustainability and consumption is analysed under the conditions of 
globalisation with a reasonable of social-scientific complexity.
- to enhance the scientific discussion about sustainability and consumption 
by relating current research on societal change in a globalised world with 
research on sustainable consumption.

The workshop is structured in four panels:
- The characteristics and the development of the “new middle classes”
- The importance and the dynamics of lifestyles in these milieus
- The impact of systems of provision and of governance systems
- Convergence and divergence of societal paths of modernisation

Abstracts from a wide variety of disciplines are welcome. These include 
sociology, geography, economy, political science and anthropology. The 
conference language is English. We are planning to publish the outcome as an 
edited volume. Travel expenses will be covered.

We appreciate a 700-word abstracts by June 15, 2007, as a Word or Rich Text 
document to:
Andrea Meier, email: ameier at artec.uni-bremen.de

The abstracts should touch the methodological background, the empirical 
basis and the panel which fits to your presentation. Please add a short CV 
including your current scientific work focus.


Hellmuth Lange
Professor - Sociologist
artec | Research Center for Sustainability Studies
University of Bremen
Enrique Schmidt-Strasse 7
28359 Bremen (Germany)

www.artec.uni-bremen.de