Programme and timetable
Sunday July 28 Evening Reception 7 pm
Monday July 29
1:00-4:00 Paper presentations
Tuesday July 30
Wednesday July 31
1:15-2:30 Keynote 4: Michael Bamberg & Luk Van Langenhove, “Dialogue on positioning theory”
Thursday August 1 Data Analysis Workshop
1:15-3:30 Data analysis workshop
Location: University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus, Finland
Address: Yliopistonranta 1E, 70210 Kuopio, Finland
Professor Michael Bamberg, Clark University, U.S.
Professor Luk Van Langenhove, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Dr Sisko Piippo, University of Jyväskylä, Finland & Dr Pasi Hirvonen, University of Eastern Finland.
How to reach the conference venue?
From Helsinki airport
– By plane: Unfortunately, during July & August 2024 Kuopio airport is under runway maintenance and there are no flights to Kuopio during the conference. The easiest way to reach Kuopio is by train.
– By train: Take the local train (P-train) from the airport to Tikkurila station, and change for a train to Kuopio. You can purchase tickets for the local train and the train to Kuopio from the airport ticket vending machines. Please note that the train ride from Tikkurila to Kuopio takes about 4 hours. Further information about trains, please visit https://www.vr.fi/en
– By car: There are many car rental services available at Helsinki Airport. The drive from Helsinki Airport to Kuopio takes about 4 to 5 hours. For further information, please visit https://www.rentalcars.com/en/airport/fi/hel/
From Kuopio city center to the university
The university is about a 25-30 minute walk from the city centre. There are several buses from the city centre to the university and taxis are also readily available.
For more information about the campus, please visit the UEF website.
Accommodation
There are several hotels to choose from in the Kuopio city area.
Hotels in the city center:
Hotel closer to the university:
Hostels near the university
Check out also other accommodation websites for special deals (hotels.com, trivago, booking.com etc)
More about Kuopio here.
Questions??? Positioningtheoryconference@gmail.com
The organizing committee responsible for this year’s conference is composed of conference chair, Dr. Pasi Hirvonen (pasi.hirvonen@uef.fi) and the organizing committee: Dr. Mary McVee (University at Buffalo, SUNY), Dr. Cynthia Brock (University of Wyoming), Dr. Bo Allesøe Christensen (Aalborg University), and Dr. Luk van Langenhove (Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
What is Positioning Theory?
In 2012, Professor Rom Harré defined positioning theory as being “… based on the principle that not everyone involved in a social episode has equal access to rights and duties to perform particular kinds of meaningful actions at that moment and with those people. In many interesting cases, the rights and duties determine who can use a certain discourse mode … A cluster of short-term disputable rights, obligations and duties is called a ‘position’” (2012, p. 193).
Moghaddam and Harré (2010, p. 2) stated that positioning theory is about “how people use words (and discourse of all types) to locate themselves and others”. Further, that is “it is with words that we ascribe rights and claim them for ourselves and place duties on others” (p. 3). Positioning has direct moral implications, such as some person or group being located as ‘trusted’ or ‘distrusted’, ‘with us’ or ‘against us’, ‘to be saved’ or ‘to be wiped out’” (Moghaddam & Harré, 2010, p. 2)
Positioning theory is a social constructionist approach (Slocum & Van Langenhove, 2003) that began to emerge in the 1980s primarily in the area of gender studies, including the work of Brownwyn Davies (Davies & Harré,1990a).
“Davies also drew from post-structuralist theory and feminist scholars to discuss subjectivity, storyline and narrative, all of which figure prominently in Positioning Theory. There is also a very strong connection between Davies’ interests and perspectives and those of Hollway [1984], who is generally credited with introducing “position” and “positioning” in her work on gender relations and sexuality (Van Langenhove & Harré, 1999a, p. 16), influencing the writings of Davies and Harré (1990a,b) and other positioning theorists” (McVee, Silvestri, Barrett, & Haq, 2019, p. 386).
Following the publication of work by Davies and Harré further work in developing and refining Positioning Theory has been carried out predominantly by Rom Harré, Ali Moghaddam, and Luk van Langenhove (Harré & Moghaddam, 2003; Harré & van Langenhove, 1991, 1999; Moghaddam, 1999; Moghaddam, Harré, & Lee, 2008); van Langenove & Harré, 1994; van Langenhove, 2017) and numerous other works.
Since the late 1990s, Positioning Theory has been seen to allow “for a very natural expansion of scale, from the analysis of person-to-person encounters to the unfolding of interactions between nation states” (Harré, Moghaddam, Pilkerton Cairnie, Rothbart & Sabat, 2009, p. 6).
Although originating in the field of social psychology it has had widespread application over the last decade or so (Moghaddam & Harré, 2010). It has especially been taken up in the field of education (McVee, Brock & Glazier, 2011, Redman, 2008) but has also included research in areas as varied as anthropology (e.g. Handelman, 2008), communication studies (Hirvonen, 2016), midwifery (Phillips, Fawns, & Hays, 2002), workplace agency (Redman, 2013), political identity studies (e.g. Slocum-Bradley, 2008), and public relations and strategic communication (e.g. James 2014; Wise & James, 2013) among others.
More about positioning theory:
Positioning theory virtual series 2024
The Routledge International Handbook of Positioning Theory
Special issue on positioning theory in Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour
Registration:
Registration closes June 10th
Conference fees:
Faculty members 200€
Student members 100€
Data analysis workshop 25€
CALL FOR PROPOSALS (CLOSED)
2024 Positioning Theory Research Conference
(On-site and in-person only)
On-site Conference
Proposal submission close: March 4, 2024
Proposal decisions: March 18, 2024
Registration opens: Late March, 2024
Registration closes: May 15, 2024
DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSAL TYPES
There are three types of papers for the conference: 1) Empirical research papers, 2) Theoretical/Conceptual, or 3) Methodological. There is also a half-day Data Analysis Workshop following the conference which has an additional fee and requirement. (See REQUIREMENTS section of this document for the specific criteria on writing paper proposals and data analysis workshop proposals).
- Empirical research papers must present research that has already been carried out and where analysis is complete. Proposal submissions for empirical papers should make clear connections to Positioning Theory and include:
- Purpose
- Theoretical Rationale
- Research Questions
- Methodology
- Findings
- Implications
- Conceptual or theoretical papers may include, but are not limited to, research reviews or syntheses, considerations expansions, explorations, or amendments of Positioning Theory or models associated with Positioning Theory. The focus or thesis (i.e., argument) related to Positioning Theory literature should be described clearly. Proposals describing conceptual or theoretical papers should include:
- Purpose
- Theoretical Rationale
- Thesis or framing questions
- Methodology or development of arguments (as applicable)
- Conclusions
- Implications
- Methodological papers may include, but are not limited to: advances in Positioning Theory methods and analysis clearly grounded in and building upon prior Positioning Theory studies. Methods should illustrate new insights. Methods using a transdisciplinary approach are especially encouraged. Proposals describing methodological papers should include:
- Purpose
- Theoretical Rationale
- Framing questions
- Description of methodological advances
- Implications for transdisciplinary research using Positioning Theory
- Data Analysis Workshop. The Data Analysis Workshop will be held on the half-day immediately following the Positioning Theory Conference. This day requires an additional fee of 25€ per participant. Participants must attend the Positioning Theory Conference prior to the Data Analysis Workshop. The number of participants will be limited, and a proposal is required. The purpose of the Data Analysis Workshop is for researchers in any discipline to bring a current methodological challenge or issue confronting them in a particular data set. All participants must have data and bring excerpts of data to share and discuss. See Requirements for what to include in Data Analysis Workshop proposals.
Proposals for Papers must not exceed 1500 words and no more than five (5) tables or figures may be included. Proposals for Data Analysis Workshops must not exceed 750 words excluding references, tables/figures, and front matter (i.e., authors, title, etc.). See REQUIREMENTS for more information.
REQUIREMENTS FOR PROPOSALS
PAPERS Requirements for Proposals. Proposals must contain:
- Title
- Author(s)
- Affiliations of all authors
- Email addresses of all authors and one author designated as “Contact Email”
- Abstract: The abstract is a single paragraph of up to 200 words to describe the topic focus of the proposal. The abstract should indicate the proposal type: empirical, theoretical/conceptual, methodological, poster, or data analysis workshop.
- Key words: Up to five (5) key words.
- For the conference days, there are three types of papers: empirical, conceptual/theoretical, or methodological. (These are described in section: Description of Proposal Types). Proposals should contain:
Empirical
|
Conceptual/Theoretical
|
Methodological
|
- References: In APA 7th style https://apastyle.apa.org/ (References are excluded from the word count).
- Submit as PDF or MS Word file
- Proposals for paper presentations must not exceed 1500 words excluding references, tables/figures, and front matter (i.e., authors, title, etc.). No more than five (5) tables or figures may be included.
DATA ANALYSIS WORKSHOP Requirements for Proposals. Proposals must contain:
- Title
- Submitter(s)
- Affiliations of all submitter(s)
- Email addresses of all submitters and one designated as “Contact Email”
- Abstract: The abstract is a single paragraph of up to 200 words to describe the topic focus of the proposal. The abstract for Data Analysis Workshop proposals should indicate the methodological problem or challenge to be addressed.
- Key words: Up to five (5) key words.
- Statement of Participation. The following statement must be included at the beginning of a data analysis workshop proposal: “To participate in the Data Analysis Workshop, I/we understand that the following criteria must be met:
- Data Analysis Workshop proposals will be reviewed competitively. I/we understand that our proposal must be accepted in order to participate in the workshop.
- I/we must attend the Positioning Theory Conference preceding the Data Analysis Workshop.
- I/we must pay an additional fee to cover costs of the Data Analysis Workshop.
- If accepted, the following submitters will attend the workshop: [List your name and collaborators attending].”
- Body of the proposal for Data Analysis Workshop must be no more than 750 words and should contain:
- Purpose of the study
- Research Questions
- Context(s) and Data Source(s) of your study. Specify which data you will focus on during the workshop (i.e.,for large data sets, participants will need to selectively choose data or data excerpts).
- Description of which aspects of Positioning Theory are most relevant to analysis
- Methodological approach or approaches relevant to analysis
- Methodological problem or challenge as related to Positioning Theory.
- References: In APA 7th style https://apastyle.apa.org/ (References are excluded from the word count).
- Submit as PDF or MS Word file
- Proposals for the Data Analysis Workshop must not exceed 750 words excluding references, tables/figures, and front matter (i.e., authors, title, etc.). No more than five (5) tables or figures may be included.
Submit proposals as MS Word or PDF files by February 15, 2024 via email to: positioningtheoryconference@gmail.com