The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and the University of Cologne will start a new joint PhD program in economic sociology and political economy this fall. Up to seven doctoral students will be accepted into the program. Candidates must hold a Diplom or a Masters degree with honours in political science, sociology, organization studies or related fields.

Fellowships will start on October 1, 2007. Working languages at the Research School are English and German. Doctoral fellows will participate in a graduate school program including courses and summer school sessions. The deadline for applications is March 15, 2007. Program details, online application form and more: http://imprs.mpifg.de

On November 26, Anthony Giddens has written an essay in Britain's leading daily newspaper Guardian discussing the demise of sociology faced with market fundamentalism and predominantly economic explanations for social phenomena. Mentioning many large scale and widespread social changes that are taking place today, he poses a question: "why isn't sociology again right at the forefront of intellectual life and public debate?". The article is available for access online . 

The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology edited by Bryan S. Turner has recently been published. It gathers some of the most important sociologist today, and in 708 pages providing one of the most authoritative portrayals of sociological knowledge to date. Visit the publisher's website to find out who the contributors are, and to learn more about the book's content. 

New issue of the European Economic Sociology Newsletter is out, edited by its new editor Nina Badelj. Here is a part of her introduction to the issue: 

"While providing a broad range of stimulating contributions, this issue pays special attention to comparative cross-national economic sociology. Comparison, as Durkheim claimed, is integral to sociology. Not surprisingly, an increasing number of economic sociologists employ comparisons to examine the varieties of economic outcomes across countries, regions, organizations, and other social groups. Comparison helps reveal the diversity and/or commonality in macro-economic organization, market outcomes, work patterns, economic practices within households, and other areas of economic life. This issue presents a sampling of this diverse research and extends an invitation to economic sociologists to think in broadly comparative terms.

Setting the comparative stage, Lars Mjøset reflects upon the study of Nordic varieties of capitalism to put forth, as he states, "a plea for contextual generalization through comparative specification." Moving from a cross-national comparison of capitalist organization to a cross-national comparison of organizational outcomes, Marta Kahancová employs an opportune research design by contrasting work practices and industrial relations of four firms in different European countries, all subsidiaries of one multinational corporation. Using data from countries as diverse as Sweden, the U.K., India and Turkey to highlight commonalities rather than differences, Patrik Aspers examines emergence and persistence of order in global garments markets. Erik Larson reports some of his research findings from an interesting study of the creation and operation of stock market exchanges in Fiji, Ghana and Iceland. Interested in households as settings of economic activity, Judith Treas and Sonja Drobnič provide a short overview of their cross-national research on the household division of labour in Germany, Finland and the U.S. "

 Be sure to check out the European Economic Sociology Newsletter, November 2006

Marie Curie SocAnth is an EU funded training programme
now in its second year aiming to promote the
development of Anthropological research and teaching
in central, eastern and South-eastern Europe.


SocAnth will provide 6 doctoral scholarships in
September 2007 to doctoral students from or working in
our target region.

30% of our appointed students may however come from
outside of the EU (and associate states) so long as
their projects fit our overall aims. Anthropology
doctorands from anywhere else in the world who wish to
research in our target region or on targetted themes
may thus also apply for funding. We are particularly
interested in encouraging applications from Africa and
Asia.


As well as this PhD funding we will also be offering
approximately thirteen short term visits to the
network to PhD students carrying out research in
eastern Europe and other former socialist states
(including China) this coming academic year.

Finally we offer one 10 month visit, hosted by Babes
Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania to carry out
supervised fieldwork and research in Romania or
Moldova.

The 'SocAnth' network comprises: University College
London (UCL) and Goldsmith's College, Britain (GSM);
Central European University, Hungary (CEU); Max Planck
Institute for Social Anthropology, Germany (MPISA) and
Babes-Bolyai University, Romania (BBU).

Please go to the SocAnth Web site
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/mariecuriesocanth