"Crisis, critique and change." sociology of europe at the beginning of the 21st century

Starting in the second half of the 2000s, we experience not one (financial, economic) crisis, but the crises in plural, the multifaceted crisis situation in Europe. The previous, Geneva 2011, ESA Conference took up a very timely and significant, at that time, scholarly and societal, topic of "turbulent times," in which we had lived for several years. The Turin 2013 Conference was organized is a slightly different situation. Global, including European, crises entered a new stage, but at the same time it seemed that there was a light in the tunnel. Old themes, like neo-liberal politics, economy and ideology, as well as the lost welfare state were very important for the scholars. Critical approach became a standard way of analysis of politics, economy and society, but also of political sciences, economics and sociology. Criticism was not only "negative." For many speakers and discussants, the recent crises have been a chance to re-evaluate the former institutional arrangements and outline new, more flexible solutions.