Handbook of failure

First anthology on failure in social sciences

Routledge International Handbook of Failure *(2023, Adriana Mica, Mikołaj Pawlak, Anna Horolets and Paweł Kubicki, eds., Routledge)

This Handbook examines the study of failure in social sciences, its manifestations in the contemporary world, and the modalities of dealing with it – both in theory and in practice. It draws together a comprehensive approach to failing, and invisible forms of cancelling out and denial of future perspectives.

Critics’ reviews

“Unlike most Handbooks in the social sciences, this one is groundbreaking and meets two difficult goals: one is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the emergent field of failure studies, and the second, which is to use the idea of failure to cast new light on many central problems of the social sciences, such as contingency, accountability, and economization. This Handbook is a milestone which will be widely read by researchers in many fields.”

Arjun AppaduraiProfessor Emeritus of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University, USA

“In a comprehensive way, the Routledge International Handbook of Failure provides new insights from different perspectives on the important topic of failure. This handbook is of critical importance because it can help scholars and practitioners overcome a pervasive anti-failure bias that restricts our thinking and actions. I highly recommend this book.”

Dean ShepherdRay and Milann Siegfried Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of Notre Dame, USA

“This new book on failure is a welcome addition to this fascinating and important topic. I hope it meets with great success.”

Gary WickhamProfessor Emeritus of Sociology, Murdoch University, Australia

“This handbook highlights what can only be described as a failure of imagination in the social sciences concerning the concept of failure itself. The Handbook’s essays reframe our understanding of what the discourse of failure reveals and obscures. Far from being a self- evident concept—neutrally applied—the application of the pejorative, “failure,” can too often prevent us from recognizing and seizing meaningful opportunities for advance or experimentation.”

Ilene GrabelDistinguished University Professor, University of Denver, USA

Intended for scholars who research processes of inequality and invisibility, this Handbook aims to formulate a critical manifesto and activism agenda for contemporary society.

Presenting an integrated view about failure the Handbook will be an essential reading for students in sociology, social theory, anthropology, international relations and development research, organization theory, public policy, management studies, queer theory, disability studies, sports and performance research.

Intended for scholars who research processes of inequality and invisibility, this Handbook aims to formulate a critical manifesto and activism agenda for contemporary society.

Presenting an integrated view about failure the Handbook will be an essential reading for students in sociology, social theory, anthropology, international relations and development research, organization theory, public policy, management studies, queer theory, disability studies, sports and performance research.

.

LISIS Seminar: Failure Studies, 13 November 2024, Paris

The seminar will discuss failure inequalities and gather researchers from two labs: LISIS and Failure Lab UW.

LISIS (Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Sciences Innovations Sociétés) is a French interdisciplinary lab that gathers social scientists and management scholars interested in STS, innovation and transition studies, organizational studies, and failure theory.

Read more HERE

.

CfP: SASE mini-conference / MC05: Failures and Dilemmas: Exploiting Disruptive Interventions in Neoliberalism, 27-29 June 2024, Limerick

Failures and dilemmas constitute major sources of disruption in the emotions, politics and technologies of neoliberalism. They can open spaces of radical change and learning, yet they can also generate new forms of privilege and exploitation born of crisis and recession. We seek to understand the expectations and contestations that emerge in contemporary forms of failure, as well as the dilemmas posed by political, economic and social interventions. 

Deadlines: 19 January 2024 / SASE manuscript submission

Read more HERE

.

CfP: Failure Regimes: Economization, Creolization and Moralization of Failing, 6-7 May 2024, Warsaw

Critical failure studies have made a major breakthrough when it comes to the theoretical framing and methodological imaginary of failure. This entails first and foremost switching from an individual to a more social and institutional perspective. Talking about failure regimes, contexts, and cultures is now meant to underline that failures are not individual blunders and lost opportunities that are self-evident.

Deadlines: Abstract (1800 signs) by January 15, 2024 / a.mica[at]uw.edu.pl

Read more HERE

.