SAANZ2025

Now open. Go here to register. 

Early-bird fees (closes 15 September)

Full fees

The 2025 Call for Abstracts Closes 1 September 2025 (15 August 2025 for the critical social work stream)

The convenors of the SAANZ Annual Conference 2025: A Sociology of Beauty and Joy, are pleased to call for submissions for conference papers. Paper presentations will be 15 minutes each, with 5 minutes for questions. This call for abstracts closes 1 September 2025 (15 August 2025 for the critical social work stream). All abstracts will be reviewed and included at the discretion of the conference organising committee.

As always, the 2025 SAANZ Conference welcomes all sociologically grounded topics, but we look forward to a focus on the local, the Indigenous, the grassroots, the community-based, drawing on the conference theme. Should you have any questions about this call for papers, please do not hesitate to contact Chamsy el-Ojeili at chamsy.el-ojeili@vuw.ac.nz

The 2025 conference also includes 4 following streams:

1. Critical social work stream:

This stream calls for papers that explore any aspect of the turbulent times and challenges facing social work and the communities we serve. We are also interested in analyses that advance real utopias: hopeful responses and visions for social equity and social justice at the level of the individual, family, community, region, country or planet. We especially welcome papers from Indigenous and/or postgraduate researchers. A full call for abstracts can be found here.

Please send your abstracts (100-word max) to Donna Baines at donna.baines@ubc.ca or Neil Ballantyne at neil.ballantyne@openpolytechnic.ac.nz by August 15, 2025. Confirmations will be sent out in early September 2025.

2. Critical Health Studies stream:

Throughout Aotearoa New Zealand sociologists, anthropologists, social psychologists, health promotors, public health researchers, a range of practicing health professionals, and many more, are engaged in what we could term critical health studies. In early 2024 many turned up for the In Sickness and In Health conference held in Auckland, a rare occasion where so many researchers coming from different disciplinary backgrounds came together in Aotearoa to critically engage with a wide range of health concerns. Inspired by that, and as a possible starting point for more regular events of this nature, we are putting out a call for conference papers for a critical health studies stream to be held as part of the annual conference of the Sociological Association of Aotearoa New Zealand. We welcome papers on any health-related topics where critical thinking, in its wide range of senses, is deployed.

Abstracts for this stream must be submitted to Kevin Dew (kevin.dew@vuw.ac.nz)

3. Critical criminology stream

Critical criminology offers a lens through which to question the status quo and imagine the future. It encompasses a range of perspectives, including feminist, queer, Indigenous, environmental, and abolitionist approaches united by a shared commitment to understanding the social, political, and economic forces that shape how we think about crime and social harm. For SAANZ 2025, we invite critical criminologists, and those working in related fields, to join us in sharing their insights, ideas, and experiences.

Abstracts for this stream must be submitted to Chamsy el-Ojeili at chamsy.el-ojeili@vuw.ac.nz 

4. Gender and sexuality stream

Opposition to “gender ideology,” queer theory, and any critical scholarship on questions of gender and sexuality has gained renewed political traction in recent times. Such political opposition underlines the significance of gender and sexuality scholarship. We welcome abstracts for papers in the field of gender and sexuality that engage with the conference theme of finding beauty and joy in the work we do, along with papers in the general field of gender and sexuality.

Abstracts for this stream must be submitted to Rhonda Shaw (rhonda.shaw@vuw.ac.nz)

This conference will be entirely in-person, and all participants whose papers are accepted must register for the conference by 1 October 2025 at the latest. Presenters who register after this date will be included in the conference programme at the discretion of the conference organisers.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS

Abstracts must be sent as a Word Document (not a PDF). Please include the name(s), institutional affiliation, and email contacts of the presenter(s), a presentation title, and a 200-word-abstract (100-word for the critical social work stream), as well as 3 key words. 

• Abstracts for critical health stream must be submitted to Kevin Dew at kevin.dew@vuw.ac.nz)
• Abstracts for critical social work is 100-word max and must be submitted to Donna Baines at donna.baines@ubc.ca or Neil Ballantyne at neil.ballantyne@openpolytechnic.ac.nz by August 15, 2025
• Abstracts for gender and sexuality stream must be submitted to Rhonda Shaw at Rhonda.shaw@vuw.ac.nz  
• All other abstracts (general and criminology stream) must be submitted to Chamsy el-Ojeili at chamsy.el-ojeili@vuw.ac.nz 

Casual conference buffet dinner

The conference dinner will be held on campus at Milk & Honey.

This year we are opting for a more casual approach, with grazing tables being provided across a couple of hours—think pizzas, tacos, rather than a three-course meal. The intention here is that this will allow for more mingling, and means that people can turn up early or stay on later to have a drink with colleagues if they want. This has also meant a lotwer cost for the dinner, which we hope will enable more students to attend.

Cost: $50 per person (does not include drinks). You can add a dinner ticket when you register here.

Conference organisers have secured a discount at the Accor Hotel Group, which includes various hotels in Wellington such as Ibis, Novotel, Sofitel and Movenpick—all of which are in close proximity to the University. The price depends on the hotel you pick. The starting price is at $160 per night inclusive of GST (Ibis hotel).

Please use this link to book: https://accorevents.com/offers/-saanz-conference-2025

*Discount applies to stays between 02/12/2025 – 06/12/2025 (inclusive) only. If you wish to stay outside of these dates, kindly contact our reservations team on H3049-RE3@accor.com to request a quote.

Details coming soon. 

The SAANZ2025 Student Sessions will be held on the first morning of the conference.

Further details will be provided in the draft programme – to be released late October.

The conference programme will be available through Sched closer to the conference.

General contact/enquiries

Janepicha Cheva-Isarakul
Janepicha.cheva-isarakul@vuw.ac.nz