Last year, a coalition of academic institutions from the University Ramon Llull, Spain, along with key social organisations such as Càritas, Arrels Foundation, Pere Tarrés Foundation, Assís, Cristianisme i Justícia and “la Caixa” Foundation, initiated a ground-breaking series of conferences on ‘aporophobia’ (the rejection of the poor) which received a robust welcome from academics and the general public. We had the privilege of having, at the launch of this series, lectures from renowned academics such as professors Adela Cortina, Gustavo Pereira and Jesús Conill, among many others, not to mention the voice of practitioners given by the participant social organisations as well as invited guests such as father Julio Lancelotti and professor Esther Grossi, from Brazil.

As we mentioned in our first call for papers, aporophobia is not only an academic issue. Quite the opposite, it is a real problem that impacts on the dignity of the most vulnerable people in our societies, turning their lives and the work of institutions that try to help them, much more difficult. Aporophobia adds stigma, prejudice and discrimination to the burden of poverty. It diminishes societies’ support to social policies. It weakens the degree of progressivity of governments’ taxes and public spending. Aporophobia magnifies other kinds of discrimination, such as gender and racial discrimination, among others.

For this second conference, our keynote speaker will be Professor Aaron Reeves, from Oxford University, who will deliver a lecture on ‘Common People: how elites and the working class navigate the symbolic market for being ordinary’. We also invite researchers from all over the world to explore in depth several issues related to the phenomena of aporophobia. This year, we are calling papers on thematic areas such as:

• Conceptual foundations of aporophobia
• Experiences of aporophobia
• The meaning and measure of poverty and social exclusion
• Aporophobia and homelessness
• Aporophobia and migration
• Aporophobia and education
• Aporophobia and health
• Aporophobia and mental health
• Empirical evidence on poverty and aporophobia
• Aporophobia and technological society
• Aporophobia and religion
• Aporophobia, social imaginaries and cultural traditions
• Design as a tool against aporophobia
• Aporophobia and infringement of rights
• Aporophobia and legal arrangements

But organizers welcome contributions on all themes related to how societies reject their most vulnerable members. Indeed, this is an interdisciplinary conference. We invite participants from many different fields of knowledge such as philosophy, economy, sociology, political science, management, health, education, history, criminology, among many others.

In order to produce a fully inclusive event, we will not charge conference fees. That is, participation in the conference will impose no costs on its participants. But places are limited, and registration will be equally requested. The participants should take care of their own accommodation and travel costs but lunches and coffee breaks are covered.

To send proposals:

1. Of academic articles: send summary with up to 1000 words with the title of the article, names and affiliations of authors and contact details of corresponding author,
2. Of practical workshops: send summary with up to 1000 words with the title of the workshop, names of people and organisations involved, place and duration of the workshop. (We are also considering pre-conference workshops, such as a tour of Barcelona on aporophobic places/hostile architecture).

All proposals should be sent to aporophobia@iqs.url.edu until 15 July 2024. The announcement of accepted proposals will be sent by email on 01 August 2024 at the latest.