Conferences

Conference on The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization

Date: Thursday 28th – Friday 29th October 2010
The Venue: The Utzon Center, Aalborg Denmark
 
This conference addresses various interconnections between psychiatry and society. It does so by focusing on how contemporary epidemics, diseases, illnesses and medical syndromes that are related to cultural pathologies of the collective social body and the body politic is also related to the transformation and social embedding of psychiatric thinking.
 
The central research hypothesis guiding the conference is thus that the contemporary epidemics are to be analysed in the light of radical change of our civilization and of the social hegemonization of the biomedical and psychiatric perspective. A particular focus of the conference is the role of humanities and social sciences, particularly sociology, philosophy and anthropology, in helping to understand the connection between social transformations and psychiatric perceptions of health & well-being.
 

Keynote Speakers

The conference aims to bring together a panel of international experts to address these themes. Amongst our keynote speakers are:
  • Alain Ehrenberg, Professor of Sociology, Université Paris Decartes, France
  • Harvie Ferguson, Professor of Sociology, University of Glasgow, Scotland
  • Lennart Nørreklit, Professor of Philosophy, Aalborg University, Denmark
  • Richard Wilkinson, Professor of Sociology, University of Nottingham, England
  • Gerda Reith, Professor of Social Science, University of Glasgow, Scotland
  • Charles Medawar, Director of Social Audet ltd., London, England

Organizers

Danish Centre for Philosophy and Science Studies, the working group on Psychiatry & Society, Department of Sociology, Social Work and Organization, Aalborg University, Denmark, and the School of Sociology & Philosophy, UCC, Ireland.
 
Link to the Conference on The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization's website