British Sociological Association Presidential Event: Sociology, Suffering and Humanitarianism

The magnitude and force of critical events of human suffering mark out modern times as an unparalleled ‘age of extremes’.  The scale of military conflict, the vast numbers of people trapped in systems of totalitarian oppression, the accumulation of conditions of mass humanitarian disaster and the entrenched poverty of the new ‘mega-slums’ leave many of us shocked and appalled by the harms we inflict on one another.

The brute fact of human suffering is frequently taken as a prompt for us to question the social, political and cultural circumstances in which we are made to live.

This BSA Presidential event is dedicated to the ongoing attempt to devise a sociological account of causes and consequences of human suffering. It also aims to cultivate a broad-ranging debate over the role of humanitarianism within our culture and the vocation of sociology itself.

Visit the BSA event website to register and for further event details. Please direct any enquiries to the BSA office.