The global body politics of attending the ASA; or the political consequences of mundane occurrences

Staying at the Best Hotel in the Tenderloin area of San Francisco is a sociologically informative experience. The Best Hotel is splendidly located only two blocks away from the two ASA conference hotels and it is relatively cheap ($120 per night as opposed to $300), booked only ten days in advance; yet, I am guessing, it is not among the most desirable housing options for conference participants. The hotel reviews depict the place as located in an area where homeless people, drunks, and drug addicts loiter. Some reviewers even report bed bugs, which horrifies a San Francisco friend of mine most of all. While waiting for my room to be ready−I was being treated to a brand new bed [a sigh of relief!]−the manager, who is also a concierge, repairs guy, and anything else that he needs to be, regretfully informs me that “My only problem is the homeless and the drug dealers in front”. Indeed, the place isn’t that bad. The room is large and clean (I am not a fan of the smell of the cleaning products used but I can live with that for a few days, I try to convince myself). It has a bathroom en suite, free Internet, and coffee 24 hours: the traveler’s essentials.

Be 1 of the Final 34 People to Help CITASA Cross the 400 Member Mark!

As Chair of the Communication and Information Technologies section of the ASA (CITASA), I am happy to announce that we are within 34 new members of earning an additional ASA session in 2014. I am blogging in hopes that some Mobilizing Ideas folks, who realize the technology is increasingly important to activism, will take this as opportunity to get involved in the section.

If you are already an ASA member, which you are if you went to the this year’s ASAs in NYC, the cost of joining the section is nominal and you can do it easily by visiting your member profile at: https://asa.enoah.com/default.aspx). But, we need you to act today—we only have until September 29^th to generate new memberships to earn this additional session. September 30 is the final census date for the section and our tally day will determine if we stay at 3 sessions for the 2014 ASAs or move up to 4! (BTW, as Chair of the section, I have committed that if we earn that additional session by enlarging our membership, I will dedicate it to Media Sociology, so if you are interested in media sociology, this is an easy way to increase meeting time devoted to the topic next year).

Submit to present at ASA!

This is your friendly reminder: Don’t forget to submit your reserach and theoretical papers for the American Sociological Association’s  2012 Annual Meeting. Submissions are due January 11 at 3PM EST.  This year’s theme is “real utopias”, and research on social movements will be relevant for a number of sessions. SUBMIT HERE