Call for Papers: “Societies in Crisis” Conference (Manchester, 7–9 April 2027)

We are pleased to announce a call for papers for the international conference “Societies in Crisis: Interdependencies, Inequalities, and Emerging ‘We-Identities’”, to be held at Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom, from 7 to 9 April 2027.

The conference explores how contemporary societies are being shaped by intersecting global crises, including climate change, pandemics, digital surveillance, migration pressures, and political polarisation. These developments reveal the increasingly complex and fragile nature of social interdependencies, as historical patterns of co-operation, inequality, and belonging are simultaneously intensified and disrupted. In this context, shifting We–I balances and established–outsider relations offer important insights into the transformation of social figurations across local, national, and global settings.

The conference seeks to engage new audiences with the work of Norbert Elias and to extend figurational and processual perspectives into emerging areas of inquiry. Contributions from a wide range of disciplinary, methodological, and theoretical perspectives are welcome. Topics include, but are not limited to:

• The emergence of new ‘We-identities’ and established–outsider relations within organisations, politics, and activism.
• Interdependencies in the age of social media, artificial intelligence, and algorithmic governance.
• Figurational approaches to food, nature, the environment, and non-human animals.
• Revisiting Elias’s work in relation to authoritarianism, disinformation, and social unrest.
• Historical and contemporary analyses of power, exclusion, and adaptation in transnational contexts.
• Contributions engaging with Elias’s work critically, comparatively, or in dialogue with other theoretical traditions.

All papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication, either in a special issue of Human Figurationsor in an edited book collection.

Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted by 30 November 2026 through the online submission form.

Full details are available on the conference website.

For enquiries, please contact the conference organisers, John Lever and Wai Lau, at societiesincrisisconference@outlook.com, or use the “Contact Us” form on the conference website.

The conference is funded by the Norbert Elias Foundation and is a collaboration between Manchester Metropolitan University and The University of Manchester.

We look forward to welcoming you to Manchester in 2027.