A Reaction to the Open Letter to the ESA from the Chair of the Local Organisational Committee

• Published in: Sociologický časopis Vol. 52; no. 3; pp. 409 - 415
• Main Author: Kostelecky, Tomãis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Prague AV ČR Czech Academy of Sciences - Institute of Sociology 01-01-2016; AV ČR - Akademie věd České republiky - Sociologický ústav; Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
• Subjects: Associations; Conference Report; Conferences; Congresses and conventions; Corporate sponsorship; Costs; Europe; European Sociological Association; Fees & charges; Social Sciences; Societal Essay; Sociology; SPECIAL FORUM: AN OPEN LETTER TO THE ESA; Students; Czech Republic
• ISSN: 0038-0288; 2336-128X

I have to admit that when I first read the open letter to the European Sociological Association titled “‘Conference Business’ as Usual?”, and written by three conference participants, PhD candidates Tomáš Bek, Petr Kubala, and Terezie Lokšová, from the Department of Sociology at Masaryk University in Brno, the Czech Republic, I felt rather uneasy. The very first idea that came to my mind was something like: ‘Oh dear ... it’s a million times easier to criticise a conference than to organise one.’ But when I’d calmed down somewhat, I realised that the authors of the open letter were asking some questions that are substantive and deserve to be discussed. Then, later, when I was asked by the Editor-in-Chief of the Czech Sociological Review to contribute to this discussion I promised to contribute an opinion as one of the organisational insiders. As the former Chair of the Local Organisational Committee I will comment mostly on the practical issues mentioned by the authors of the open letter and leave most of the theoretical or even philosophical issues raised by them untouched.