Schedule

In recent decades, Durkheimian sociology and social theory have sparked new debates and controversies while informing research on a wide range of contemporary social phenomena and events. Canadian sociologists have contributed to this renewal in important ways. We continue to highlight the research work conducted by students, scholars, and community engaged practitioners contributing to a better understanding of society. This session will feature presentations focusing on how we build partnerships between academia and diverse publics for social impact within Canada and globally. Session Organizers: Ronjon Paul Datta, University of Windsor, Robin Willey, Concordia University, and Tara Milbrandt, University of Alberta Session Chair: Robin Willey, Concordia University

Canadian Network in Durkheimian Studies Research Cluster

Critical criminology is resolutely sociological and has a long history of examining a legion of interpersonal violent acts committed in public and private contexts, crimes of the powerful, and a myriad of other harms typically exempt from the purview of orthodox criminologists. However, until recently, conspicuously absent from the dynamic critical criminological project was exhaustive scholarly work on the “dark side” of sport. Further, we are now starting to see sport sociologists and critical criminologists building bridges because both situate crime and deviance in sport in the broader macro contexts of patriarchy, capitalism, racism, and homophobia. For example, progressive scholars in both disciplines are heavily involved in the study of gender, men, and masculinities. The main objective of this panel is to bring together a cadre of scholars to suggest new critical empirical and theoretical ways of knowing about sport. Session Organizers and Chairs: Walter S. DeKeseredy, West Virginia University and Kim Dubé, Université de Moncton

Criminology and Criminal Justice Research Cluster

This session features papers that draw on empirical, theoretical or methodological issues in the realm of K-12 education. Session Organizer: Maria Brisbane, University of Waterloo Session Chair: Karen Robson, McMaster University

Sociology of Education Research Cluster

Just transition is defined by the IPCC as “ensur[ing] that no people, workers, places, sectors, countries or regions are left behind in the transition from a high-carbon to a low-carbon economy.” The ILO states that “[o]ur future depends on a just transition to a carbon- and resource efficient economy.” This session includes papers on just transitions from environmental sociology, work and labour studies, and Indigenous studies and decolonization. These papers incorporate perspectives of youth, labour unions, and others looking at the past, present, and future in Canada and abroad. The need for social movements to ensure just transitions in a changing world underlies most of the papers. Session Organizers: Lisa Seiler, York University, Kerry Bailey, McMaster University, Jennifer Jarman, Lakehead University, and Vivian Shalla, University of Guelph Session Chair: Lisa Seiler, York University

Economic Sociology Research Cluster
Environmental Sociology Research Cluster
Indigenous-Settler Relations and Decolonization Research Cluster
Rural Sociology Research Cluster
Work, Professions and Occupations Research Cluster

This session brings together papers which explore how feminist theory and activism intersect with community organizing, education, and contemporary cultural debates. The papers highlight the transformative power of feminist praxis. Session Organizers: Sonia D'Angelo, Wilfrid Laurier University, Ronnie Joy Leah, Athabasca University, Rashmee Karnad-Jani, Public Scholar, and Linda Christiansen-Ruffman, Saint Mary's University Session Chair: Lisa Smith, Douglas College

Feminist Sociology Research Cluster

This session aims to cultivate global perspectives in the sociology of gender and sexuality that respond to the colonial and imperial conditions of our present. We seek to understand how gendered and sexual practices, identities, and social movements are constituted in relation to contemporary global capitalism and the entwined genealogies of colonialism, enslavement, and indentureship. The submissions explore gendered and sexual formations in diverse geopolitical contexts, along with presentations that seek to forge transnational solidarities between gendered and sexual communities around the world. How are gender and sexuality differently constructed, articulated, and lived within global processes and across national boundaries and how could feminist, queer, and trans solidarities be fostered beyond the borders of the nation-state? Session Organizers and Chairs: Toby Anne Finlay, York University and Chris Tatham, University of Guelph

Gender and Sexuality Research Cluster

This session focuses on the quantitative evaluation of public policy initiatives, such as healthcare reform, social protection programs, minimum wage adjustments, and drug policy reforms, and their consequential impacts on health outcomes. As policymakers increasingly rely on empirical evidence to shape effective health interventions, it is crucial to understand the relationships between legislative changes and public health. We aim to gather researchers who utilize quantitative methodologies to assess these relationships within the sociology of health cluster. Participants will present studies that quantify the health outcomes following the implementation of significant policy changes. This session will also delve into the nuances of interpreting quantitative data in the context of public policy. Session Organizer and Chair: Yihong Bai, York University

Sociology of Health Research Cluster

Social movements are central to how citizens, groups, and organizations voice their dissatisfaction with existing power structures, trends, and current affairs with the aim of social change. Many social movements take advantage of the new possibilities afforded by digital media and integrate them into their mobilization and communication strategies, such as using hashtag campaigns on X (Twitter) and posting to TikTok and Telegram to mobilize and coordinate activities. Digital technologies are not neutral, they shape how social movements spread and engage. This session invites papers that examine a wide range of topics including the role of platforms and their affordances and regulations, the role of influencers in social movements, and the spread across platforms and regions. Digital technology has been adopted by a range of social movements organizations. Session Organizers: Andrey Kasimov, McMaster University, Anabel Quan-Haase, Western University, and Michael Adorjan, University of Calgary Session Chair: Andrey Kasimov, McMaster University

Internet, Technology, and Digital Sociology Research Cluster

As a discipline, sociology has a wide range of tools, both theoretical and empirical, for considering the social world. What insights do those tools yield when they are turned inward, on the discipline itself? This session is focused on the application of sociological tools to the production, reception, reproduction, and translation of sociological knowledge. This might include examinations of sociological research (the production of sociological knowledge), the status accorded to sociological insights and sociologists (how sociological knowledge is evaluated), the teaching of sociology (how such knowledge is reproduced), or the role of national and regional cultures in creating sociology (how sociological knowledge is situated), among other possibilities. Session Organizers: Lily Ivanova, University of British Columbia and Anastasia Kulpa, University of Alberta Session Chair: Anastasia Kulpa, University of Alberta

Sociology of Knowledge Research Cluster

What is the relevance of sociology and sociologist for today’s world? How do sociologists engage with the public to address contemporary social problems? Participants in this panel will engage with those questions while providing examples that illustrate how sociology and public sociology can inform public debate, community activism and grassroots movements. Presentations will highlight how collaboration between sociologists and community organizations can incentivize positive social change. They will also discuss about the use of methodological tools to facilitate public engagement and the ethical implications of researching and collaborating with non-academic publics and vulnerable populations. By discussing the work of sociologists engaged with the public, this panel seeks ultimately to stress the fundamental role that the discipline of sociology can play in addressing today’s most pressing social challenges. Session Organizers: Eloy Rivas-Sanchez, Athabasca University, Tom Buchanan, Mount Royal University, and Suzanne McMurphy, University of Windsor Session Chair: Eloy Rivas-Sanchez, Athabasca University

Applied and Community Engaged Sociology Cluster
Public Engagement and Professional Concerns Subcommittee

In his 1993 Reith Lecture, “Representations of the Intellectual”, Palestinian Scholar Edward Said addressed the question of what it means to speak truth to power articulating the need to avoid the kind of cultural chauvinism that leads to pontificating “about abuses in someone else’s society [while excusing] exactly the same practices in [one’s] own.” In his book Orientalism (1978), he addressed a specific need to challenge dominant narratives that reproduce hierarchical power relations where some forms of knowledge are considered more intellectually and culturally sophisticated than others. These insights continue to have resonance for those committing community engaged sociology and social science research in the current sociopolitical climate where propaganda and misinformation not only increasingly guide social policy, but also often govern the actions of communities of practice. Panelists Deema Abushaban, community educator, teacher and MA candidate, and Dr. Caroline Hodes, Associate Professor will be discussing the importance of auto-ethnographic and counter-storying approaches that challenge polarization in the context of genocide and its denial. As Blackfoot scholar Mike Farbis Krebs (2012) reminds us, Canada and Israel share similar methods of restricting the lives of Indigenous Peoples, and as Regan (2010), and Lowman and Barker (2015) remind us, the problem of genocide denial is not an Indigenous one, it is a settler problem that requires collective work to change. Through personal accounts that are inextricably linked to collective ones, the presenters will connect different forms of settler colonial violence that despite taking place at different times in different places, share common histories and thereby provide the foundation for reframing togetherness in ways that challenge mainstream articulations of belonging and dominant stories of self-defence. Session Organizers and Chairs: Caroline Hodes, University of Lethbridge and Deema Abushaban, University of Lethbridge

Race and Ethnicity Research Cluster

The first of the three SOM open sessions broadly features studies on the processes/politics of policy-making of im/migration and immigrant political activities. Two papers explore politics surrounding specific policies (the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement and the 1973 Adjustment of Status Programs). Two other papers draw on theoretical perspectives, such as conditional hospitality, new economics of displacement, and stepwise international migration, in their explanations of states’ im/migration policies and journey of displaced people. Another paper compares different levels of commitment to non-institutional political activities among Asian immigrants in Canada. Session Organizers: Lisa Kaida, McMaster University, Monica Boyd, University of Toronto, and Lori Wilkinson, University of Manitoba Session Chair: Lisa Kaida, McMaster University

Sociology of Migration Research Cluster

This session features papers that focus on the theoretical, methodological, and empirical issues pertaining to urban sociology. Session Organizer: Andrew Crosby, Carleton University Session Chairs: Daniel Kudla, Memorial University and Matthew Patterson, University of Calgary

Urban Sociology Research Cluster

Join us in the Greeting Table Room for light refreshments and to network with other delegates. Canadian Sociological Association Conference delegates only

Social Event

Mass media narratives serve as a powerful lens through which to analyze and interpret the multifaceted reality of criminality at the intersection of gender and crime. From films and television shows, to news articles, online forums and social media content, how women are represented in crime both reflects and shapes societal responses. These narratives tend to sensationalize or dismiss the severity of a crime due to the offender being a woman, thereby reinforcing stereotypes surrounding traditional modes of violence, crime, masculinity and femininity. This session features contributions that highlight the intricate role the mass media plays in perpetuating stereotypes related to the perception of female offenders. Session Organizer and Chair: Anastasia D'Amario, Toronto Metropolitan University

Criminology and Criminal Justice Research Cluster

This session features papers that draw on empirical, theoretical or methodological issues in the realm of K-12 education. Session Organizer and Chair: Maria Brisbane, University of Waterloo

Sociology of Education Research Cluster

It is widely understood that the sixth mass extinction is underway and will only escalate in future decades. Yet even in the midst of this crisis, many communities, such as many Indigenous communities, natural-history groups, and conservation practitioners are consistently cultivating close relationships with the natural world and advocating for programs and policies to maintain, protect and/or restore the environment. Papers submitted to this session may address the variety of ways people interact with the animals, plants, fungi, and other aspects of ecological systems that are at once meaningful relations to many and increasingly at risk. This may include but is not limited to the loss of biodiversity, the ways different communities are working to preserve biodiversity and ecosystems, discourses related to biodiversity or wildlife, and policy and governance related to biodiversity. This is a joint session between the Environmental Sociology research cluster and the Environmental Studies Association of Canada. Session Organizers: Christine Beaudoin, Université de l'Ontario français and Tyler Bateman, University of New Mexico Session Chairs: Christine Beaudoin, Université de l'Ontario français and Lisa Seiler, York University

Environmental Sociology Research Cluster

This session brings together papers that explore interventions and resistance to gender-based violence, with a focus on the legal system, feminist anti-violence work, and grassroots and transnational feminist organizing. Session Organizers: Sonia D'Angelo, Wilfrid Laurier University, Ronnie Joy Leah, Athabasca University, Rashmee Karnad-Jani, Public Scholar, and Linda Christiansen-Ruffman, Saint Mary's University Session Chair: Sonia D'Angelo, Wilfrid Laurier University

Feminist Sociology Research Cluster

This session features scholars who utilize quantitative approaches to explore health disparities and well-being within LGBTQ2S+ communities. The recent inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in key datasets—such as the 2021 Canadian Census, the Canadian Community Health Survey, and large-scale linked sources like the U.S. All of Us Survey and the UK Household Longitudinal Survey—presents new opportunities for understanding the health trajectories and social determinants impacting LGBTQ2S+ populations. Presentations assess the impacts of health policies, social interventions, and structural influences on LGBTQ2S+ health. Session Organizer and Chair: Antony Chum, York University

Gender and Sexuality Research Cluster
Sociology of Health Research Cluster

In recent years there has been a growth of research dealing with topics like stress and resilience, mental health, and wellbeing among first responders, healthcare workers, and public safety personnel. Some public safety agencies and services are beginning to hire staff psychologists and grow peer support group networks. Yet much of the existing research on these topics adopts a biomedical approach to these subjects which risks neglecting the sociological dimensions of the problems. This panel discussion will bring together researchers who deal with the broad theme of the sociology of these professions and who provide sociological perspectives to the institutional, structural, and cultural issues within these fields. Some discussions may include sociological analysis of paramedics at work, public health broadly, first responders, and any research dealing more broadly with a subgroup who are becoming known as forgotten first responders (victim services, tow truck drivers, emergency medical dispatchers, etc). Session Organizer and Chair: Chris Martin, Algonquin College

Sociology of Health Research Cluster
Work, Professions and Occupations Research Cluster

Social movements are central to how citizens, groups, and organizations voice their dissatisfaction with existing power structures, trends, and current affairs with the aim of social change. Many social movements take advantage of the new possibilities afforded by digital media and integrate them into their mobilization and communication strategies, such as using hashtag campaigns on X (Twitter) and posting to TikTok and Telegram to mobilize and coordinate activities. Digital technologies are not neutral, they shape how social movements spread and engage. Session Organizers: Andrey Kasimov, McMaster University, Anabel Quan-Haase, Western University, and Michael Adorjan, University of Calgary Session Chair: Andrey Kasimov, McMaster University

Internet, Technology, and Digital Sociology Research Cluster

How do actors mobilize to shape what we know, and what is the role of this knowledge in influencing, creating or challenging social structures? This session features papers that explore how knowledge actors and practices shape social structures and beliefs in societies. This can include research on the role of academics, politicians, governments, researchers, popular figures, and others, in shaping both the content of knowledge, and the organizational structures and practices that reify knowledge. Session Organizers: Lily Ivanova, University of British Columbia and Anastasia Kulpa, University of Alberta Session Chair: Anastasia Kulpa, University of Alberta

Sociology of Knowledge Research Cluster

Recently, three Canadian provinces have passed “parental rights bills” proposing that educators inform parents if their child is going by a different name or gender than that which was given during school registration. This political marginalization of queer and gender non-conforming youths is part of a larger “anti-gender ideology” movement spurred on by right-wing governments across North America and Europe. Alongside these attacks, there has also been political mobilization and resistance in Canada to confront anti-gender ideology and support affirming care and reproductive rights. This comes at a time when queer folks are increasingly targeted by the mainstreaming of transphobic sentiments in right-wing governments in which Canadian “parental rights bills” are just one iteration. In this session we also hope to examine the nature and dynamics of political mobilization of far right anti-gender movements and resistance to these movements by queer activists, including but not limited to movements and organizations that support affirming care and outreach to queer youths who are being targeted by anti-gender policies. Session Organizers: Kayla Preston, University of Toronto and Lexie Milmine, McMaster University Session Chair: Kayla Preston, University of Toronto

Political Sociology and Social Movements Research Cluster

This session critically examines the intersections of race, masculinity, and power, beginning with an exploration of how neoliberalism and gentrification are reshaping the lives of Black young men in Canada, particularly concerning health and socio-economic challenges. It then shifts to the growing influence of inceldom on Black masculinity, exposing the dark side of online culture and its impact on racialized manhood. Building on the theme of challenging toxic culture, the session will highlight the often-overlooked gender discrimination faced by Black men while also considering their role in gender-based advocacy, reframing Black masculinity in Canada. Broadening the discussion, the session explores the experiences of Bangladeshi men in Canada, examining how migration and cultural contexts reshape ideas of masculinity. Finally, it addresses gendered expectations within diasporic Afghan communities, offering insights into how patriarchal structures shape masculinity across generations. Through these powerful, diverse perspectives, this session will challenge attendees to rethink how masculinities are shaped, oppressed, and reconstructed in today’s climate of social and political upheaval. Session Organizer: Jamilah Dei-Sharpe, Concordia University Session Chairs: Jamilah Dei-Sharpe, Concordia University and Secil E. Ertorer, Canisius University

Race and Ethnicity Research Cluster

The second of the three SOM open sessions highlights studies broadly engaging in the trajectories of and challenges to integration experienced by temporary migrants (e.g. international students, temporary foreign workers). Specific topics include: 1) status trajectories of temporary foreign workers in Canada; 2) school-to-work transitions of international students in Canada; 3) challenges faced by migrants with open work permit; and 4) irregular border crossing of Afghan migrants in Turkey. Session Organizers: Lisa Kaida, McMaster University, Monica Boyd, University of Toronto, and Lori Wilkinson, University of Manitoba Session Chair: Shirin Khayambashi, Toronto Metropolitan University

Sociology of Migration Research Cluster

The Social Theory Research Cluster invited paper proposals for its eleventh annual Symposium for Early Career Theorists, a dedicated session that spotlights the work of emerging social theorists at an early stage in their careers (PhD Candidates who are ABD status and those who are no more than five years beyond completion of their doctorate). Session Organizers: Tara Milbrandt, University of Alberta, Mario Marotta, Université du Québec à Montréal, and Sarah Badr, McGill University Session Chair: Mario Marotta, Université du Québec à Montréal Session Discussants: Thomas Kemple, University of British Columbia Erika Katzman, Western University Christopher Powell, Toronto Metropolitan University

Social Theory Cluster

Cities are central sites of organizing, conflict, and action in civil society. Papers on this panel explore and analyze both theoretical and empirical dimensions of the relationship between urban space and civil society. Combining insights from urban sociology and contemporary social theory, contributors address current research on public space, everyday solidarity, and community-building, and consider practices that re-imagine how we understand the relationship between civil society and the contemporary city. Session Organizers: Andrew Crosby, Carleton University, Mervyn Horgan, University of Guelph, and Saara Liinamaa, University of Guelph Session Chair: Andrew Crosby, Carleton University

Urban Sociology Research Cluster

This workshop is open to community organizers and academics working in the field of systemic Islamophobia and critical Muslim studies. This will be a collaborative space to together build a collective of folks who are working in this area to connect, share, and imagine possibilities for partnership and action. We especially encourage graduate students and junior scholars to attend. We recognize that many of us are working across institutional divides and neoliberal silos related to community and academy, language and regional areas, disciplines, and particular areas of focus, but that our work is webbed and dependent on one another. To this end, we will together explore the following question in this workshop: How can we collaborate effectively? Session Organizers: Nadia Hasan, York University and Ayesha Mian Akram, University of Calgary CSA Conference may attend. Light refreshments will be served.

Anti-Islamophobia Subcommittee
Register to attend

Sociology of education covers a wide methodological, theoretical and conceptual terrain. While research in this area is most associated with examinations of schools, inequality, and economic development, this scholarship intersects with a variety of research including studies of early child development, parenting, childhood and adolescence, and health. The Sociology of Education Research Cluster will serve to enhance dialogue and networking among sociologists of education in Canada. Our meeting will more comprehensively envision the goals and priorities of the cluster. Session Organizer: Maria Brisbane, University of Waterloo

Sociology of Education Research Cluster

The CSA Environmental Sociology Research Cluster brings together a diverse network of sociologists whose research helps us better understand the social causes and consequences of environmental issues, and provides insight into transitions towards ecological and social sustainability. This research cluster will have its annual meeting at Congress 2025 to provide an overview of recent activities and next steps, and also provide space for open discussion. New and returning participants are welcome! Session Organizers: Lisa Seiler, York University and Tyler Bateman, University of New Mexico

Environmental Sociology Research Cluster

The CSA Feminist Sociology Research Cluster welcomes both continuing and new members with a feminist sociological approach. This cluster provides a communications hub and meeting places for feminist scholars within sociology to share ideas and research, to discuss common concerns within the discipline, and also to connect and converse with feminists within and across geographic and disciplinary lines. It encourages and organizes feminist sessions within sociology and also with other disciplines. This meeting is open to current members and those interested in learning more about our cluster activities. Session Organizers: Sonia D'Angelo, Wilfrid Laurier University; Ronnie Joy Leah, Athabasca University; Rashmee Karnad-Jani, Public Scholar; and Linda Christiansen-Ruffman, Saint Mary's University

Feminist Sociology Research Cluster

The Sociology of Knowledge Research Cluster would like to welcome everyone to our annual meeting, which is open to any scholars or students—current members or otherwise—who are interested in the study of knowledge in all its forms. The cluster’s mission is to connect and empower social scientists who see knowledge as a vital topic of research and education, particularly scholars who are interested in developing growth, diversity, reciprocity, and meaning in their collegial relationships. Anyone with knowledge, skills, or ideas that might be of benefit to the field in general, or to the cluster in particular, is encouraged to attend. Session Organizers: Lily Ivanova, University of British Columbia and Anastasia Kulpa, University of Alberta

Sociology of Knowledge Research Cluster

This workshop introduces several drama-based approaches as participatory research methods in child- and youth-centered research projects. Drawing from past research in the field, feedback from over 100 child and youth participants, and consultation with institutional and community-based researchers, this workshop highlights a variety of simplified, accessible methods that can be adapted to support a range of child-centered projects and participant needs. Whether you are an active researcher, an emerging scholar, a graduate student, or a research methods professor, this workshop will provide a range of ideas and practical examples for using drama-based approaches to explore young people's lived experiences and perspectives in matters that affect them. Please note that some interactive activities may involve moving around the space. Light food and refreshments will be provided. This workshop is part of a project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Open to all CSA Conference delegates Session Organizers: Abigail Shabtay, York University, Rebecca Raby, Brock University, and Rachel Berman, Toronto Metropolitan University

Sociology of Childhood and Youth Research Cluster

This session examines the complex processes of navigating the criminal justice system, from arrest to reintegration. Centering on how individuals move through and engage with justice institutions, support networks, and social systems, it explores the ways these transitions are structured, experienced, and negotiated. By offering in-depth insights into how different social actors adapt to, resist, or are shaped by the system, this session contributes to critical conversations on power, control, agency, and the challenges of entering and moving through justice systems. Session Organizer and Chair: Alysha McDonald, McMaster University

Criminology and Criminal Justice Research Cluster

This plenary will feature presentations by the 2023 and 2024 Canadian Sociology Book Award recipients and the 2024 Global Sociology Book Award recipient. These awards honour outstanding publications which advance sociological knowledge within and beyond the Canadian context. Our plenary speakers: 2024 Global Sociology Book Award: Dr. Pallavi Banerjee 2024 Canadian Sociology Book Award: Dr. Andrew Crosby 2023 Canadian Sociology Book Award: Dr. Saara Liinamaa Moderator: Dr. Liam Swiss, Acadia University and President of the Canadian Sociological Association

Plenary

This session features papers that draw on empirical, theoretical or methodological issues in the realm of K-12 education. Session Organizer and Chair: Maria Brisbane, University of Waterloo

Sociology of Education Research Cluster

Papers in this open call for environmental sociology investigate issues of discourse and power; justice and the environment, social policy and guiding theoretical frameworks, managing environmental change, and addressing inequalities connected with the environment. Grassroots groups, corporate actions, governance decisions, and aspects of race, class, and gender are addressed by papers in these open sessions. Session Organizer: Tyler Bateman, University of New Mexico Session Chair: Kailey Walker, Queen's University

Environmental Sociology Research Cluster

This session brings together papers that explore the social and cultural contexts shaping gender, sexuality, and kinship, highlighting acts of resistance, agency, and alternatives to normative social relations. Session Organizers: Sonia D'Angelo, Wilfrid Laurier University, Ronnie Joy Leah, Athabasca University, Rashmee Karnad-Jani, Public Scholar, and Linda Christiansen-Ruffman, Saint Mary's University Session Chair: Lisa Smith, Douglas College

Feminist Sociology Research Cluster

This session features theoretical and empirical papers in the broad area of death, dying, and grief (DDG). Session Organizer, Chair, and Discussant: Zohreh BayatRizi, University of Alberta

Social Theory Cluster
Sociology of Health Research Cluster

This session features inquiries into the intertwined narratives of work, leisure, media, time, and technology, notably against the backdrop of a post-pandemic context. It aims to explore the shifting digital landscape where the boundaries between work, leisure, and social connections have been redrawn. This session aims to spark discussions on the contemporary challenges and transformations in the post-pandemic world, setting a platform for future explorations. We anticipate engaging contributions that dissect the complex interplay of media, technology, work, and leisure, shedding light on the evolving social dynamics in these uncertain times. Session Organizers and Chairs: Spencer Huesken, Queen's University and Christian de Vrij, Queen's University

Internet, Technology, and Digital Sociology Research Cluster

This session seeks to map and explore struggles of academics who stand with Palestine and Palestinians in the context of rising anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia on Canadian campuses since October 7, 2023. A recent report by faculty members of York University, Toronto provides a comprehensive overview of the routine practices of silencing, intimidation and surveillance that stand in opposition to both standards of equity and academic freedom. This session aims to provide a wider platform for exploring these issues across Canadian campuses. We are particularly interested in bearing witness to and documenting experiences of silencing, chilling, doxing, reprisal, and other punitive measures mobilized against pro-Palestinian academics and student organizers, including but not limited to the use of administrative, risk management, complaint, and other procedures to cancel events, thwart evidence-based discussion, and mute pro-Palestine dissent in academic spaces. We also experiences of episodic despair and hope in the face of paramount racism and repression. Session Organizers: Azar Masoumi, Carleton University, Sonia D'Angelo, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Malak El-Outa, Carleton University Session Chair: Azar Masoumi, Carleton University

Justice for Palestine Subcommittee

We advocate an expansive view of knowledge encompassing all representations of reality and social life, including organizational knowledge, practical knowledge, historical knowledge, Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledges, embodied and tacit knowledge, beliefs, myths, facts, customs, routines, identities, and more. Presentations focus on classic theories of knowledge, such as phenomenology, social constructionism, and ethnomethodology, as well as contemporary approaches to the sociology of knowledge. Session Organizers: Lily Ivanova, University of British Columbia and Anastasia Kulpa, University of Alberta Session Chair: Anastasia Kulpa, University of Alberta

Sociology of Knowledge Research Cluster

Where and how do far-right political organizations overlap and interact with established electoral politics? How do we identify the boundaries across conservative politics and far-right activism during the rise of global right-wing populism? In this panel, Boundaries of the Right I, scholars explore how far-right mobilizations as social contentions establish legitimacy and sympathy in a liberal democratic regime. From a comparative perspective of Canada and the U.S., this panel demonstrates the mechanisms of convergence, in both political and social forms, across populism, ethno-nationalism, and conservativism via grounded empirical cases. A well-selected paper for the session offers new and innovative approaches to examine the far-right's impact across socialization, political activism, and state policies. Session Organizers: Zitian Sun, McGill University, Alessandro Drago, McGill University, Taisto Witt, McGill University, and Thomas MacMillan, Concordia Session Chair: Zitian Sun, McGill University

Political Sociology and Social Movements Research Cluster

The last of the three SOM open sessions showcases three studies pertaining to refugee migration /sponsorship processes and refugee integration in host countries. It entails wide-ranging topics: 1) decision-making of sponsors of refugees; 2) challenges of private sponsorship perceived by sponsors; and 3) vulnerability of Afghan refugees crossing the Iran-Afghanistan border. Session Organizers: Lisa Kaida, McMaster University, Monica Boyd, University of Toronto, and Lori Wilkinson, University of Manitoba Session Chair: Fernando Mata, University of Ottawa

Sociology of Migration Research Cluster

The proposal of a two-state solution, grounded in the desire for sovereignty, is typically almost exclusively associated in the popular consciousness with the Israel-Palestine conflict whereby Palestinians, for some time now, have been agitating for an independent state free of Israeli occupation. Yet, the desire for sovereignty, enacted via separatism, has long preoccupied various populations the world over and has animated numerous, and seemingly intractable, struggle and strife, many of which have engendered acts of violence, whether originating with the population that believes itself to be the victim of illegitimate rulership or with the internationally recognized state that views itself as acting within its rights to suppress a rogue constituency. This session of the CSA, oriented to committing sociology for social impact, is directed to developing a discourse on separatism and its grounds that applies not only to Israel-Palestine, but to Russia-Eastern Ukraine, Canada-Quebec, Spain-Basques and Catalans, UK-Scotland, and more. The session examines and formulates how separating different people is grounded in the relation of: originals to derivatives (who is first and who is second); owners to borrowers (who owns the property and who is parasite); producers to consumers (who produces the value of the property and who benefits and lives off this); insiders to outsiders (what makes insiders images of the whole and outsiders images of parts of the whole); and what authorizes any policy document of sovereignty as if a sacred. Session Organizer: Saeed Hydaralli, Roger Williams University

Social Theory Cluster

In recent years, the global pandemic has underscored the essential role of healthcare workers in sustaining healthcare systems worldwide. In Canada, a large proportion of these workers are employed on the frontlines, many of whom are recent immigrants. Notably, several have navigated multiple migrations, bringing valuable experience from other healthcare systems prior to arriving in Canada. Particularly on the frontlines of healthcare work, the pandemic has exposed the disproportionate risks and structural inequalities affecting frontline workers, especially along the lines and intersections of race and ethnicity, occupation, citizenship, and socioeconomic status. These roles, deemed essential and among the most stressful and demanding, are predominantly held by racialized women. This session will explore the complex intersections between healthcare institutions, work and labour, and immigration, examining the unique challenges and opportunities that arise at the convergence of these domains. We will pay particular attention to issues of im/mobility and stratification experienced by healthcare workers within institutional and organizational structures. Addressing these challenges is crucial for developing equitable organizational and management strategies, optimizing service delivery, and improving worker retention within healthcare institutions. The labour of healthcare workers is essential for the effective functioning of healthcare systems, quality patient care, and the mentorship of new professionals. Session Organizers: Valerie Damasco, Trent University and Eugena Kwon, Trent University Session Chair: Valerie Damasco, Trent University

Work, Professions and Occupations Research Cluster

Join us in the Greeting Table Room for light refreshments and to network with other delegates. Canadian Sociological Association Conference delegates only

Social Event

This session engages with discussions about the development of a Black sociology of liberation. The location of African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) graduate students with a liberatory praxis within the academy - as activists within and outside of the institution - is part of a longstanding tradition of resistance. Through this session, we reflect on the co-optation of Black sociological discourses of liberation in relation to the “negro problem” within the academy, whereby “black faculty and students are unwanted outsiders in disciplines, like sociology, founded on their exclusion as intellectual equals” (see Coburn and Crichlow 2020: 475). From this position, ACB students who are engaged with a liberatory praxis or community activist work are viewed as risks to be managed and often face institutional violence. A continuous choice is made to be disruptive - to highlight and act against the patriarchal white supremacist forms of oppression and exploitation that allow for the reproduction of anti-Black racism within academic disciplines such as sociology. While this is a spectacularly exhausting position to take up, it is one rooted in commitment to Black liberation in the afterlives of enslavement and colonialism in a global context (see Hartman 2007). Session Organizers: Sarah George, Carleton University, Joanis Sherry, Carleton University, and Jamilah Dei-Sharpe, Concordia University Session Chairs: Sarah George, Carleton University and Joanis Sherry, Carleton University

Race and Ethnicity Research Cluster
Black Caucus

This session explores the lived experiences of individuals transitioning through the criminal justice system, with an emphasis on their post-release journey. Centering on how incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people navigate justice institutions, social services, and support networks, it examines how these transitions are structured, experienced, and negotiated. By offering in-depth insights into how individuals adapt to, resist, or are shaped by the system, this session contributes to critical discussions on power, control, agency, and the challenges of exiting justice systems and rebuilding one’s life after incarceration. Session Organizer and Chair: Alysha McDonald, McMaster University

Criminology and Criminal Justice Research Cluster

In this session, we will examine the transformative impact of educational interventions on student outcomes, focusing on how targeted programs and initiatives can shape academic success and promote long-term achievement. By fostering collaborations between researchers, educators, and community partners, these interventions can address systemic barriers and provide critical support to diverse student populations that are essential for student well-being and achievement. We feature papers that explore innovative approaches to educational interventions - from after-school programs to culturally relevant practices - and examine their role in fostering inclusive and equitable learning environments. By examining various contexts, we aim to highlight strategies that can drive positive change and improve educational access and equity for all students. Session Organizer: Alexandra Pulchny, McMaster University Session Chairs: Aleah Klein-Gebbinck, Athabasca University and Alexandra Pulchny, McMaster University

Sociology of Education Research Cluster

Papers in this open call for environmental sociology investigate issues of discourse and power; justice and the environment, social policy and guiding theoretical frameworks, managing environmental change, and addressing inequalities connected with the environment. Grassroots groups, corporate actions, governance decisions, and aspects of race, class, and gender are addressed by papers in these open sessions. Session Organizer: Tyler Bateman, University of New Mexico Session Chair: Kailey Walker, Queen's University

Environmental Sociology Research Cluster

The presentations in this session focus on the health and wellbeing within the context of gender and sexuality. Session Organizers and Chairs: Toby Anne Finlay, York University and Chris Tatham, University of Guelph

Gender and Sexuality Research Cluster

Despite decades of research on social determinants of health, inequalities persist and are widening. Political sociology—the study of power and its social organization—offers valuable tools to understand health disparities, especially those not fully explained by the social determinants approach. A political sociology of health perspective examines how the distribution of social determinants (often political), rather than just their effects, shapes health outcomes. This session features research that applies this perspective, exploring how interactions between individuals, societies, and political institutions influence health disparities. Session Organizers: Joanne Ong, York University and Cary Wu, York University Session Chair: Joanne Ong, York University

Sociology of Health Research Cluster

The relationship between crime and the media is a complex one, often focusing on the more traditional investigation of the (mis)representation of crime, criminality, and deviance. However, we should always consider the exploration of that relationship to include an investigation of how people might use media to engage in and represent their own such activities, as well as how they might navigate newly acquired deviance or criminal identities as a result being represented in media. Session Organizer and Chair: Duncan Philpot, St. Thomas University

Internet, Technology, and Digital Sociology Research Cluster

This meeting of the Justice for Palestine Subcommittee is open to all CSA members interested in opposing anti-Palestinian racism. Anti-Palestinian racism (APR) is a form of anti-Arab racism that silences, excludes, erases, stereotypes, defames or dehumanizes Palestinians or their narratives. APR is a particular concern for us as sociologists given the ongoing educide and epistemicide against Palestinians, and the ongoing harassment and discrimination against scholars who speak in support of Palestinian self-determination or criticize anti-Palestinian violence. At this meeting we will discuss our experiences in different academic environments and discuss what we can do to resist silencing and make space for Palestinian scholars and Palestine-related discussions. Organizers: Katie MacDonald, Athabasca University and Christopher Powell, Toronto Metropolitan University

Justice for Palestine Subcommittee

What are the processes through which knowledge is created and experienced in the social world? This session features papers that focus on the interactions, mediums, and community structures which shape knowledge and its legitimacy. We were especially interested in bringing together papers that focus on the processes through which knowledge, knowing and not-knowing work - including day-to-day practices, beliefs, norms, emotions, and meanings. They session will build an understanding of how sociologists conceptualize, empirically investigate, and draw conclusions about the social processes through which knowledge is achieved and challenged. Session Organizers: Lily Ivanova, University of British Columbia and Anastasia Kulpa, University of Alberta Session Chair: Anastasia Kulpa, University of Alberta

Sociology of Knowledge Research Cluster

In contrast to Boundaries of the Right I, the far-right organizations, emboldened the 2022 Freedom Convoy, the rise of Maxime Bernier, and Trump’s electoral victory in 2024, encompasses more implications than impacts on everyday politics. Far-right organizations and political parties incorporate not only radical alternatives toward contemporary democracy, but also a set of extreme ideological commitments, gender constructs, and world view. In this panel, Boundaries of the Right II, scholars explore how these organizations construct, manipulate, and mobilize based on those understanding in relation to contemporary politics. Selected paper for the session offers a critical view, from both theoretical and methodological perspectives, to demonstrate how far-right influences across the globe. Session Organizers: Zitian Sun, McGill University, Alessandro Drago, McGill University, Taisto Witt, McGill University, and Thomas MacMillan, Concordia Session Chair: Zitian Sun, McGill University

Political Sociology and Social Movements Research Cluster

This session will examine how everyday South Asian realities negotiate historical, geographical, and liminal places and spaces. It aims to center the voices of South Asian individuals and groups in a transnational and global framework. Some of the questions that this session will explore include the intersection of race and gender in the lived experiences of South Asian women, how movements help understand feminist resistance in urban settings, and how research on marginalized South Asian women is excluded from the mainstream academic discourse. This session will also consider how transnational digital activism has important consequences for homeland politics in South Asian countries. This session aims to shed light on the complex intersections of power and identity and how they impact the lived realities of South Asian individuals and groups as they navigate positions of precarity across local and transnational landscapes. Session Organizers and Chairs: Shreyashi Ganguly, York University and Navneet Kaur, York University

South Asia Research Cluster

This session features empirical works pertaining to gender and migration. The first two studies explore how Bangladeshi men in Canada navigate shifting masculinities and how Japanese immigrant women negotiate cultural identities amidst power dynamics. The session also highlights the challenges in employment and social integration faced by Ukrainian women refugees in Canada. The final study investigates how queer Haitian migrants use online dating to form transnational connections. Session Organizers: Lisa Kaida, McMaster University, Monica Boyd, University of Toronto, and Lori Wilkinson, University of Manitoba Session Chair: Max Stick, Mount Saint Vincent University

Sociology of Migration Research Cluster

This keynote lecture features Dr. Alan Blum from York University. Dr. Blum will relate the CSA conference theme to the impact of academia as an attempt to remove itself from its ivory tower makes central its relation to a public outside academia while glossing as unspoken and untheorized the struggle within the academic community for many reflective parties to make an impact. As a contrast, the relations of academics to their colleagues ‘inside’ to those reputed to be alike and similar, is a definitive precondition for reflecting upon their relation to the ‘outside. The exploration of the discourse on the impact of a field on the public must be fundamentally ambiguous and open to inquiry. Session Organizer and Moderator: Saeed Hydaralli, Roger Williams University

Social Theory Cluster

While universities and colleges are promoted as trailblazers in terms of the exchange of ideas on innovation, social progress and equity, they have also become sites where some workers are employed under dismal conditions. These include contract instructors as well as service workers, such as those doing caretaking, security and food-related jobs on campus. We invite papers which focus on strategies, campaigns and advocacy efforts globally which have attempted to facilitate the establishment of norms, practices and procedures through which universities can become decent work employers for all workers. The session will explore decent work campaigns within the higher education sector in Canada, US, UK and globally in order to identify strategies which have been attempted to bring about the shift institutions of higher education towards greater coherence between their rhetoric of equity and their treatment of service workers on campus. Session Organizers and Chairs: Kiran Mirchandani, University of Toronto and Michelle Buckley, University of Toronto

Work, Professions and Occupations Research Cluster

The Canadian Sociological Association invites you to attend this meeting to discuss the formation of a working group. The object of this initiative is to gather a collection of open access textbook material and resources for introductory sociology students. Session Organizers: Zohreh BayatRizi, University of Alberta and Lisa Smith, Douglas College

Professional Development

Please join us to review the past year and to plan ahead for the Sociology of Childhood and Youth Research Cluster. This meeting is open to current members and those interested in learning more about our cluster activities. This is a great opportunity to learn about the cluster, shape the cluster, and build connections. Looking forward to seeing you! Session Organizer: Hunter Knight, King's University College at Western University

Sociology of Childhood and Youth Research Cluster

Members of the CSA are invited to attend this brief but important Sociology of Migration Research Cluster meeting. The winner of the best student paper award for the SOM cluster will be announced. Come prepared to share new ideas and to propose possible themes for sessions and panels for the 2026 annual CSA meeting of the Sociology of Migration Cluster. The mission of the Sociology of Migration Cluster, and the CSA-related sessions, is to cultivate diverse and enriching conversations that bring together students, faculty, independent researchers, and research institutes/centers from across Canada together to share research results and policy-relevant developments. Session Organizers: Lisa Kaida, McMaster University, Monica Boyd, University of Toronto, and Lori Wilkinson, University of Manitoba

Sociology of Migration Research Cluster

This Urban Sociology Research Cluster engages sociologists whose work seeks to understand human interactions and institutions in urban areas both in Canada and globally. This includes research on topics that explore the various and interrelated dimensions of cultural, economic and social life in cities such as housing inequality, gentrification, race, gender and sexuality in the city, the changing nature of work in the sharing economy, and relationship between urban design and sociability. This meeting is open to current members and those interested in learning more about our cluster activities. Session Organizer: Andrew Crosby, Carleton University

Urban Sociology Research Cluster

Join us during Congress for the launch of Kieran Bonner's new book, Euphoria and Symposia (McGill-Queen's University Press) P.J. O'Brien Irish Pub & Restaurant, 39 Colborne Street 20-minute walk from the GB Waterfront Campus Appetizers provided free to attend. Download Event Poster

Canadian Association of Food Studies welcomes CSA members to attend this event to encourage interaction among disciplines. Tickets and event information