Call for Papers
We invite you to join us for the Twentieth Global Studies Conference, the annual meeting of the Global Studies Research Network, taking place 15–17 July at Sorbonne University, Paris, France, and online. The conference is held alongside the Twenty-Second International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, reflecting shared commitments to understanding global interdependence, inequality, and the social transformations shaping contemporary life. The Global Studies Research Network brings together scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and educators concerned with large-scale historical, political, economic, and cultural processes that connect societies across borders.
Special Focus and Themes
The special focus of the Twentieth Global Studies Conference, “The Social Question Revisited: Inequality, Ideology, and Interdependence,” returns to a foundational concern of social thought under contemporary global conditions. Persistent and widening inequalities—within and between nations—intersect with resurgent ideologies, shifting geopolitical alignments, and deeply interdependent economic, ecological, and technological systems. This focus invites participants to reconsider how the “social question” is framed and addressed in an era shaped by global production networks, financialization, climate crisis, migration, and digital transformation.
We welcome contributions that examine how inequality is produced, justified, contested, or mitigated across global scales; how ideological formations shape responses to social and economic crises; and how interdependence complicates traditional distinctions between local, national, and global responsibility. Proposals may address global governance, political economy, development, labor and migration, culture and identity, environmental justice, and transnational movements, as well as comparative and historically grounded analyses. Alongside the special focus, proposals aligned with the Network’s ongoing concerns in global politics, economy, culture, and society are also welcome.
Knowledge Experience and Format
The conference is organised as a hybrid knowledge experience, integrating in-person and online participation within a unified scholarly environment. In-person sessions at Sorbonne University are interwoven with live online and asynchronous contributions within a single integrated program, supporting sustained exchange across locations and time zones.
Publication Pathways
Presenters are invited to develop their work for possible publication in The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, which publishes interdisciplinary research on global processes and interconnections shaping contemporary social, political, economic, and cultural life, or in the Global Studies Book Imprint, which supports monographs and edited collections advancing scholarship in the field. Both outlets offer options for traditional and Open Access publication.
Membership and Community
By purchasing a Presenter Pass, participants become members of the Global Studies Research Network for the year, with access to the Network’s conferences, publications, and online community spaces that connect preparation, presentation, reflection, and publication.
Join Us
We warmly invite you to submit a proposal and to join us—either in Paris or online—for the Twentieth Global Studies Conference, in dialogue with colleagues from the Interdisciplinary Social Sciences community, as we revisit the social question under conditions of global interdependence.
Sincerely,
Prof. Rafal Soborski, Research Network Chair, Richmond American University London, United Kingdom
Prof. Louise Dalingwater, Local Conference Host, Sorbonne Université, France
Dr. Phillip Kalantzis Cope, Chief Social Scientist, Common Ground Research Networks, United States of America