Skip to main content
Add Me To Your Mailing List
HomeTASA 2022
To modify this page, paste in the URL of the banner image. Get the banner image URL from clicking the clipboard icon in web graphics manager. Search for images in the "banner" category.

To modify the links on the right hand side, right click on the link and select "change link" from the popup context menu. The link will automatically format to have the arrow.

You may also use a submenu widget here instead of manual links. The awards pages names were too long for the submenu widget - page names have a maximum character length of 26 characters.

To change the image in the gray row (beneath the text) right click on the image, and choose "change image" from the context menu.

All other text should be selected and retyped.
Background Image URL //s3.amazonaws.com/ClubExpressClubFiles/671860/graphics/Tasa_2022_1400px_x_400px-01_918608113.jpg

TASA 2022 - Social Challenges, Social Changes

 

In the spirit of reconciliation, the Australian Sociological Association (TASA) acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to sea, land, waterways, and community. We stand for a future that profoundly respects and acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, identities, cultures, languages and histories. TASA pays respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that continue to care for Country, and to their Elders past, present, and future. This respect is further extended to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people today.   

28 November to 2 December 2022
Conference Convener: Peta Cook (TASA Vice-President)

Inquiries: tasa2022@arinex.com.au 

TASA 2022 Program

Accordion Widget
TASA 2022 is part of the inaugural HASS Congress
TASA 2022 is part of the inaugural HASS Congress

CHASS is very excited to be bringing together many of the major discipline association events for this year in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) sector under one banner. This will be the major initiative for CHASS and hopefully the major showcase for the HASS sector in 2022. 

Participating groups:

  1. Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
  2. Australia Academy of the Humanities
  3. Deans of Arts Social Sciences and Humanities
  4. The Australian Sociological Association
  5. Cultural Studies Association of Australasia
  6. Australasian Association of Philosophy
  7. Australian Historical Association
  8. Australian Anthropological Society
  9. Australian Linguistic Society
  10. Australian Society for Continental Philosophy
  11. Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Association
  12. Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities
  13. Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies
  14. Australian Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotion
  15. Australian Association for the Study of Religion
  16. Australian and New Zealand Association of Theological Schools

The last three years have presented significant challenges and changes to Australia and the world. Locally, the Australian 2019-2020 bushfire season burned 18.6 million hectares. This adversely impacted on air quality, destroyed natural habitat, displaced and killed humans and animals, resulted in property and economic losses, and raised questions on political leadership. Concurrently, public concerns on climate change continued to increase.

As the bushfires raged, the first Australian COVID-19 case was confirmed on 25 January 2020. Since this time, millions of people across the world have been infected and died from this illness. Politically, international responses to COVID-19 have been noticeably diverse with a range of consequences. Spanning from ideas of herd immunity to mass protection and prevention, these political responses have impacted on the social, health, and economic fabric of the global world. Such impacts have not been even, revealing—and deepening—pre-existing social inequalities at local, national, and international levels. These inequalities include race and ethnicity, class, socio-economic status, nationality, citizenship, gender, sexuality, age, and disability; with socio-economic, lifestyle and health gaps between the less developed and developed world intensifying.

During this time, higher education in Australia has continued to experience significant challenges and changes. The imposition of utilitarian visions of education and knowledge has failed to appreciate the role of universities in and for surrounding communities, and the value of critical enquiry. This includes overlooking the impacts and outcomes that the social sciences can and do have in addressing pressing social issues. Such attitudes towards higher education and social sciences have been exasperated by the budgetary impacts of reduced international student enrolments, which have been translated into job and career losses across Australian universities.

In the meantime, social movements have been bringing attention to social injustices. Black Lives Matter has continued to advocate for racial equality, highlighting racism and discrimination experienced by black people. Within Australia, this movement has drawn attention to continuing racism and racial injustice, and the over-representation in incarceration of First Nations people. Simultaneously, the global #MeToo movement has emphasised the social magnitude of sexual abuse, violence, assault, and harassment.

In Australia, other concerns that challenge the neoliberal state include housing accessibility and affordability; job opportunities, security, and flexibility; population health and wellbeing; costs of living; equity and inclusivity; welfare divides and stagnation; and the climate and environment. This occurs against a global backdrop of civil unrest and persecution, accompanied with forced migration. Yet despite the need for people to live in safety, political responses to human displacement have made it increasingly difficult for people to seek protection in Australia and, for those that do, they may face indefinite detention.

This myriad of social issues are fundamentally what sociologists seek to understand, examine, and address. Sociologists can and are part of speaking to these issues, as well as providing guidance and suggestions for change. Sociology can answer and is answering the challenges faced in Australia and across the world.




MCB logo
TASA 2022 is being supported by the Melbourne Convention Bureau.


TASA 2022