The Utrecht CS program is available here: Global Secrets CS19 UU programme
Call for papers
Theme: GLOBAL SECRETS
There is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle, there is not a vice which does not live by secrecy. Joseph Pulitzer Durkheim saw trust as the central element of society. Yet, it seems that secrecy plays a very pertinent role in social relationships and social control. As Simmel conceptualised it in 1906, secrecy can at the same time be attractive and act as an adhesive between humans while facilitating individualization and intensifying differentiation between them. According to him, “…social relationships characterized by a large treasure of personal differentiation permit and promote secrecy in a high degree, while, conversely, secrecy serves and intensifies such differentiation.” (p.466-7). As our individualistic societies face a complex array of global challenges, disbelief and distrust are imposed as a response to the post-truth era and politics. That makes it harder for scholars to keep track of the dynamic, fast changing and fluid time that we live in. The information revolution and the exponential increase in information circulation inevitably brought an increase in information control and, with it, an expansion of secrets that are easier to keep and, due to globalisation, potentially more dangerous and consequential.
It is for this reason that secrets need to be placed high on our critical criminological agendas. We invite PhD and MA students of criminology and staff members to help unravel global (crime) secrets at the Common Session Conference in Utrecht, May 8-10. Papers that explore the following topics are particularly welcome:
– The pledge of secrecy: embeddedness of secrets in the culture of criminal organisations
– No secrets from the government: state surveillance and espionage
– Corporate crime and secrets of the trade: hidden truth of the big bad corporations
– Green criminology and the dark secrets of environmental crimes and harms
– Hiding in plain sight: the unrevealed codes of media representation of crime
– Concealed truths of crime and technological revolution, digitalisation, and social media
– Coming out of the closet – global secrets tackled by queer and feminist criminologists
– Methodological aspects of researching global secrets and secret societies Papers on other subjects approached through a critical criminological lens are welcomed as well.
Please deliver the following information no later than March 15th to e.krsmanovic@uu.nl:
– List of your respective staff and student delegation & – Titles and abstracts of those who wish to present at the conference.
If you have any questions related to Utrecht CS2019, do not hesitate to contact Elena e.krsmanovic@uu.nl or Veronika v.nagy@uu.nl
More information on the event, the city of Utrecht, and accommodation options will follow shortly.
Common Study Programme in Critical Criminology 