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Abstract
Local Mediation of Rural Public Sport Provision In China: Conditions of Recognition across Two First Secretary–Village Configuration
- Runhao ZHAI, Northwest A&F university, China
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
Why can public sport resources enter the same village yet connect unevenly with existing sporting life? This paper examines how rural public sport provision is mediated through relations among state institutions, village governance and informal collective practice. China's First Secretary (FS) system dispatches cadres from state institutions to assist village governance and channel external resources. Because sport lies outside the FSs' core mandate, it offers a revealing case of mediation beyond formally rewarded tasks.
Drawing on six months of qualitative fieldwork in one northwestern Chinese village, including observations, fifteen interviews and village records, the study compares two successive FS–village configurations. Fieldwork overlapped for approximately four months with the later tenure; the earlier was reconstructed retrospectively from interviews and records.
Under the earlier configuration, outdoor fitness equipment was installed through formally legible funding and inspection channels but remained weakly connected to village practices. Under the later, an existing women's square-dance group became connected to a paved cultural square, village coordination, visiting instructors and resources from the FS's sending institution. The contrast lay not in whether resources entered the village, or in individual performance, but in whether organisational position, resource channels and relational access were articulated around activity already in motion.
The paper terms the structural and relational circumstances that make existing sporting life visible, supportable and actionable within public provision the conditions of recognition. When organisational, resource and relational embedding remained fragmented, provision took the form of standardised delivery; when these modes became articulated, it moved towards embedded provision. The comparison shifts explanation from delivered inputs and individual implementers to FS–village configurations, specifying how organisational relations can shape which existing practices come within the scope of public support.
Why can public sport resources enter the same village yet connect unevenly with existing sporting life? This paper examines how rural public sport provision is mediated through relations among state institutions, village governance and informal collective practice. China's First Secretary (FS) system dispatches cadres from state institutions to assist village governance and channel external resources. Because sport lies outside the FSs' core mandate, it offers a revealing case of mediation beyond formally rewarded tasks.
Drawing on six months of qualitative fieldwork in one northwestern Chinese village, including observations, fifteen interviews and village records, the study compares two successive FS–village configurations. Fieldwork overlapped for approximately four months with the later tenure; the earlier was reconstructed retrospectively from interviews and records.
Under the earlier configuration, outdoor fitness equipment was installed through formally legible funding and inspection channels but remained weakly connected to village practices. Under the later, an existing women's square-dance group became connected to a paved cultural square, village coordination, visiting instructors and resources from the FS's sending institution. The contrast lay not in whether resources entered the village, or in individual performance, but in whether organisational position, resource channels and relational access were articulated around activity already in motion.
The paper terms the structural and relational circumstances that make existing sporting life visible, supportable and actionable within public provision the conditions of recognition. When organisational, resource and relational embedding remained fragmented, provision took the form of standardised delivery; when these modes became articulated, it moved towards embedded provision. The comparison shifts explanation from delivered inputs and individual implementers to FS–village configurations, specifying how organisational relations can shape which existing practices come within the scope of public support.
Why can public sport resources enter the same village yet connect unevenly with existing sporting life? This paper examines how rural public sport provision is mediated through relations among state institutions, village governance and informal collective practice. China's First Secretary (FS) system dispatches cadres from state institutions to assist village governance and channel external resources. Because sport lies outside the FSs' core mandate, it offers a revealing case of mediation beyond formally rewarded tasks.
Drawing on six months of qualitative fieldwork in one northwestern Chinese village, including observations, fifteen interviews and village records, the study compares two successive FS–village configurations. Fieldwork overlapped for approximately four months with the later tenure; the earlier was reconstructed retrospectively from interviews and records.
Under the earlier configuration, outdoor fitness equipment was installed through formally legible funding and inspection channels but remained weakly connected to village practices. Under the later, an existing women's square-dance group became connected to a paved cultural square, village coordination, visiting instructors and resources from the FS's sending institution. The contrast lay not in whether resources entered the village, or in individual performance, but in whether organisational position, resource channels and relational access were articulated around activity already in motion.
The paper terms the structural and relational circumstances that make existing sporting life visible, supportable and actionable within public provision the conditions of recognition. When organisational, resource and relational embedding remained fragmented, provision took the form of standardised delivery; when these modes became articulated, it moved towards embedded provision. The comparison shifts explanation from delivered inputs and individual implementers to FS–village configurations, specifying how organisational relations can shape which existing practices come within the scope of public support.
Keywords
First Secretary system
embeddedness
local governance
rural public sport provision
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Abstract
Testing Call for Abstracts
- Cecilia DELGADO-MOLINA, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
I am testing, pero aprovecho para dejarles un abrazo.
C.
I am testing, pero aprovecho para dejarles un abrazo.
C.
I am testing, pero aprovecho para dejarles un abrazo.
C.
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Abstract
From Schism to Self-Governance: Prefigurative Politics Against the Commercialization of Greek Soccer
- Georgios KALOGIROU, University of West Attica , Greece
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
This study examines the emergence and activities of self-managed soccer clubs in Greece during the economic crisis, as a form of political activism in late modernity. The research focuses on the gap regarding the ways in which fans give meaning to their actions and rally around the radical slogan “Against Modern Football.” Through the lens of contentious and pre-figurative politics, this study focuses on the case of the self-organized sports club “Riksi Livadias”, which was founded in 2016 following the split between the organized fans “Barbarians” and the management of Levadiakos FC. The methodological approach was based on a qualitative case study and the conduct of a focus group discussion with eight active members of the club, while Reflective Thematic Analysis was applied to analyze the data. The study’s findings highlight three interrelated axes of fan identity formation: the political (anti-fascist struggle and social activism), the territorial dimension (rootedness in the local fabric and management of spatial displacement), and the institutional dimension (horizontal, direct democracy). “Riksi” transcends narrow sporting boundaries, developing a broad repertoire of action that includes interventions on environmental issues against wind turbines and public health. In conclusion, political activism and the revival of classic forms of action serve as a social catalyst that transforms football from a commodified product into a ‘common good’.” This study proposes new typologies of fan behavior that challenge consumerist identity, transforming fans from passive customers into active political agents
This study examines the emergence and activities of self-managed soccer clubs in Greece during the economic crisis, as a form of political activism in late modernity. The research focuses on the gap regarding the ways in which fans give meaning to their actions and rally around the radical slogan “Against Modern Football.” Through the lens of contentious and pre-figurative politics, this study focuses on the case of the self-organized sports club “Riksi Livadias”, which was founded in 2016 following the split between the organized fans “Barbarians” and the management of Levadiakos FC. The methodological approach was based on a qualitative case study and the conduct of a focus group discussion with eight active members of the club, while Reflective Thematic Analysis was applied to analyze the data. The study’s findings highlight three interrelated axes of fan identity formation: the political (anti-fascist struggle and social activism), the territorial dimension (rootedness in the local fabric and management of spatial displacement), and the institutional dimension (horizontal, direct democracy). “Riksi” transcends narrow sporting boundaries, developing a broad repertoire of action that includes interventions on environmental issues against wind turbines and public health. In conclusion, political activism and the revival of classic forms of action serve as a social catalyst that transforms football from a commodified product into a ‘common good’.” This study proposes new typologies of fan behavior that challenge consumerist identity, transforming fans from passive customers into active political agents
This study examines the emergence and activities of self-managed soccer clubs in Greece during the economic crisis, as a form of political activism in late modernity. The research focuses on the gap regarding the ways in which fans give meaning to their actions and rally around the radical slogan “Against Modern Football.” Through the lens of contentious and pre-figurative politics, this study focuses on the case of the self-organized sports club “Riksi Livadias”, which was founded in 2016 following the split between the organized fans “Barbarians” and the management of Levadiakos FC. The methodological approach was based on a qualitative case study and the conduct of a focus group discussion with eight active members of the club, while Reflective Thematic Analysis was applied to analyze the data. The study’s findings highlight three interrelated axes of fan identity formation: the political (anti-fascist struggle and social activism), the territorial dimension (rootedness in the local fabric and management of spatial displacement), and the institutional dimension (horizontal, direct democracy). “Riksi” transcends narrow sporting boundaries, developing a broad repertoire of action that includes interventions on environmental issues against wind turbines and public health. In conclusion, political activism and the revival of classic forms of action serve as a social catalyst that transforms football from a commodified product into a ‘common good’.” This study proposes new typologies of fan behavior that challenge consumerist identity, transforming fans from passive customers into active political agents
Keywords
Contentious politics
Fan activism
Football commons
Self-management
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Abstract
The City Harvest Church: A Pentecostal Megachurch Public Theology and Witness In the Public Square of Singapore
- Joel TEJEDO, Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, Philippines
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
This study investigates the public theology and public witness of City Harvest Church (CHC), one of the largest Pentecostal megachurches in Singapore and the Global South, through an interdisciplinary framework integrating Pentecostal public theology, sociology of religion, megachurch studies, and human flourishing. Although City Harvest Church has attracted considerable scholarly attention because of its rapid growth, innovative ministries, and widely publicized legal controversy, existing scholarship has largely interpreted the church through sociological, consumerist, or business ethics perspectives. Comparatively little research has integrated historical inquiry, theological reflection, and empirical investigation to examine how the church's beliefs, institutional practices, and congregational life contribute to public witness and the common good. This study addresses this gap by proposing a constructive Pentecostal public theology grounded in the lived experiences of City Harvest Church. Employing an analytic-syntopical and mixed-methods research design, the study integrates historical analysis, documentary research, participant observation, quantitative survey data from 3,295 respondents, qualitative interviews with pastors, ministry leaders, and congregants, and theological interpretation. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods, while qualitative data were examined through thematic analysis and triangulated with documentary and historical sources to provide a comprehensive understanding of City Harvest Church's organizational life, theological identity, leadership, worship, discipleship, public engagement, and responses to contemporary social issues. The findings demonstrate that City Harvest Church is best understood not merely as a rapidly growing Pentecostal megachurch or an entrepreneurial religious institution, but as a Spirit-empowered ecclesial community that seeks to integrate charismatic spirituality, vocational discipleship, ethical leadership, social engagement, and public witness within Singapore's multicultural, highly urbanized, and religiously plural society.
This study investigates the public theology and public witness of City Harvest Church (CHC), one of the largest Pentecostal megachurches in Singapore and the Global South, through an interdisciplinary framework integrating Pentecostal public theology, sociology of religion, megachurch studies, and human flourishing. Although City Harvest Church has attracted considerable scholarly attention because of its rapid growth, innovative ministries, and widely publicized legal controversy, existing scholarship has largely interpreted the church through sociological, consumerist, or business ethics perspectives. Comparatively little research has integrated historical inquiry, theological reflection, and empirical investigation to examine how the church's beliefs, institutional practices, and congregational life contribute to public witness and the common good. This study addresses this gap by proposing a constructive Pentecostal public theology grounded in the lived experiences of City Harvest Church. Employing an analytic-syntopical and mixed-methods research design, the study integrates historical analysis, documentary research, participant observation, quantitative survey data from 3,295 respondents, qualitative interviews with pastors, ministry leaders, and congregants, and theological interpretation. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods, while qualitative data were examined through thematic analysis and triangulated with documentary and historical sources to provide a comprehensive understanding of City Harvest Church's organizational life, theological identity, leadership, worship, discipleship, public engagement, and responses to contemporary social issues. The findings demonstrate that City Harvest Church is best understood not merely as a rapidly growing Pentecostal megachurch or an entrepreneurial religious institution, but as a Spirit-empowered ecclesial community that seeks to integrate charismatic spirituality, vocational discipleship, ethical leadership, social engagement, and public witness within Singapore's multicultural, highly urbanized, and religiously plural society.
This study investigates the public theology and public witness of City Harvest Church (CHC), one of the largest Pentecostal megachurches in Singapore and the Global South, through an interdisciplinary framework integrating Pentecostal public theology, sociology of religion, megachurch studies, and human flourishing. Although City Harvest Church has attracted considerable scholarly attention because of its rapid growth, innovative ministries, and widely publicized legal controversy, existing scholarship has largely interpreted the church through sociological, consumerist, or business ethics perspectives. Comparatively little research has integrated historical inquiry, theological reflection, and empirical investigation to examine how the church's beliefs, institutional practices, and congregational life contribute to public witness and the common good. This study addresses this gap by proposing a constructive Pentecostal public theology grounded in the lived experiences of City Harvest Church. Employing an analytic-syntopical and mixed-methods research design, the study integrates historical analysis, documentary research, participant observation, quantitative survey data from 3,295 respondents, qualitative interviews with pastors, ministry leaders, and congregants, and theological interpretation. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods, while qualitative data were examined through thematic analysis and triangulated with documentary and historical sources to provide a comprehensive understanding of City Harvest Church's organizational life, theological identity, leadership, worship, discipleship, public engagement, and responses to contemporary social issues. The findings demonstrate that City Harvest Church is best understood not merely as a rapidly growing Pentecostal megachurch or an entrepreneurial religious institution, but as a Spirit-empowered ecclesial community that seeks to integrate charismatic spirituality, vocational discipleship, ethical leadership, social engagement, and public witness within Singapore's multicultural, highly urbanized, and religiously plural society.
Keywords
City Harvest Church
Human Flourishing
Public Theology
Singapore
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Abstract
When International Students Stay: Post-Graduation Trajectories In Turkiye
- Ayla DENIZ, Ankara University, Turkey
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
When International Students Stay: Post-Graduation Trajectories in Turkiye
International student mobility has changed not only in scale but also in direction, with new regional higher education hubs emerging alongside traditional destinations. Through its international student scholarship schemes and higher education internationalization policies, Turkiye has become one of these emerging destinations. These policies are largely built upon the assumption that international students will return to their countries of origin after graduation. However, a growing number of international graduates choose to remain in Turkiye and enter the labor market. At the same time, increasing demand for foreign language education and the expansion of the private school sector have created important employment opportunities, particularly for international graduates with advanced proficiency in Western languages.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with international graduates who came to Turkiye as international students, decided to remain after graduation, and currently work as teachers in K–12 schools, this study examines their transitions from education to employment, the opportunities and constraints they encounter, and their experiences within school organizations. The findings demonstrate that educational migration extends well beyond the student experience. Graduates' transitions into employment are shaped by linguistic capital, organizational expectations, processes of professional recognition, and opportunities for institutional participation. At the same time, participants' migration and career trajectories are far from homogeneous. While some pursue postgraduate education in Turkiye to strengthen their academic and professional profiles, others actively apply for positions in Canada, the United States, and Western European countries, viewing Turkiye as a stepping stone in a broader international career trajectory. Others, however, choose to establish long-term lives in Türkiye through marriage to Turkish citizens and the social ties they have developed over time. These findings challenge the linear assumption that educational migration follows a simple "study–return" trajectory.
When International Students Stay: Post-Graduation Trajectories in Turkiye
International student mobility has changed not only in scale but also in direction, with new regional higher education hubs emerging alongside traditional destinations. Through its international student scholarship schemes and higher education internationalization policies, Turkiye has become one of these emerging destinations. These policies are largely built upon the assumption that international students will return to their countries of origin after graduation. However, a growing number of international graduates choose to remain in Turkiye and enter the labor market. At the same time, increasing demand for foreign language education and the expansion of the private school sector have created important employment opportunities, particularly for international graduates with advanced proficiency in Western languages.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with international graduates who came to Turkiye as international students, decided to remain after graduation, and currently work as teachers in K–12 schools, this study examines their transitions from education to employment, the opportunities and constraints they encounter, and their experiences within school organizations. The findings demonstrate that educational migration extends well beyond the student experience. Graduates' transitions into employment are shaped by linguistic capital, organizational expectations, processes of professional recognition, and opportunities for institutional participation. At the same time, participants' migration and career trajectories are far from homogeneous. While some pursue postgraduate education in Turkiye to strengthen their academic and professional profiles, others actively apply for positions in Canada, the United States, and Western European countries, viewing Turkiye as a stepping stone in a broader international career trajectory. Others, however, choose to establish long-term lives in Türkiye through marriage to Turkish citizens and the social ties they have developed over time. These findings challenge the linear assumption that educational migration follows a simple "study–return" trajectory.
When International Students Stay: Post-Graduation Trajectories in Turkiye
International student mobility has changed not only in scale but also in direction, with new regional higher education hubs emerging alongside traditional destinations. Through its international student scholarship schemes and higher education internationalization policies, Turkiye has become one of these emerging destinations. These policies are largely built upon the assumption that international students will return to their countries of origin after graduation. However, a growing number of international graduates choose to remain in Turkiye and enter the labor market. At the same time, increasing demand for foreign language education and the expansion of the private school sector have created important employment opportunities, particularly for international graduates with advanced proficiency in Western languages.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with international graduates who came to Turkiye as international students, decided to remain after graduation, and currently work as teachers in K–12 schools, this study examines their transitions from education to employment, the opportunities and constraints they encounter, and their experiences within school organizations. The findings demonstrate that educational migration extends well beyond the student experience. Graduates' transitions into employment are shaped by linguistic capital, organizational expectations, processes of professional recognition, and opportunities for institutional participation. At the same time, participants' migration and career trajectories are far from homogeneous. While some pursue postgraduate education in Turkiye to strengthen their academic and professional profiles, others actively apply for positions in Canada, the United States, and Western European countries, viewing Turkiye as a stepping stone in a broader international career trajectory. Others, however, choose to establish long-term lives in Türkiye through marriage to Turkish citizens and the social ties they have developed over time. These findings challenge the linear assumption that educational migration follows a simple "study–return" trajectory.
Keywords
International student mobility
Turkiye
education
employment
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Abstract
Cultural Jurisprudence
- Steven KOH, Yale University, USA
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
Legal pluralism is often presented as a complication for general theories of law. Definitions centered on the state, organized coercion, institutional pedigree, or official recognition appear increasingly inadequate when religious communities, indigenous institutions, professional associations, transnational bodies, and informal social authorities all generate rules that actors experience as binding. This paper reverses the usual approach: rather than asking how an existing definition of law can accommodate pluralism, it asks what legal pluralism teaches us about the nature of law itself.
The paper defines law as transcendent rules within a symbolic order. Law consists of rules that are represented and experienced as exceeding the preferences of particular persons because they are situated within a broader structure of collective meaning. Their authority rests not simply upon sanctions or institutional recognition, but upon their connection to symbols of moral order, collective identity, historical continuity, and legitimate social organization.
This definition draws together late Durkheim, Clifford Geertz, and contemporary cultural sociology. Durkheim explains how society projects normative authority beyond its individual members and attaches it to sacred collective representations. Geertz reveals law as a system of meaning that connects concrete events to culturally specific visions of reality. Cultural sociology explains how social actors narrate, perform, and contest the legitimacy of those connections.
Legal pluralism becomes intelligible, on this account, because transcendence can be generated from several symbolic centers. State institutions, religious traditions, local communities, and transnational regimes may each present their rules as expressions of a higher and more encompassing order. Their competition is therefore not merely a conflict among behavioral directives. It is a struggle among rival constructions of transcendence.
Legal pluralism is often presented as a complication for general theories of law. Definitions centered on the state, organized coercion, institutional pedigree, or official recognition appear increasingly inadequate when religious communities, indigenous institutions, professional associations, transnational bodies, and informal social authorities all generate rules that actors experience as binding. This paper reverses the usual approach: rather than asking how an existing definition of law can accommodate pluralism, it asks what legal pluralism teaches us about the nature of law itself.
The paper defines law as transcendent rules within a symbolic order. Law consists of rules that are represented and experienced as exceeding the preferences of particular persons because they are situated within a broader structure of collective meaning. Their authority rests not simply upon sanctions or institutional recognition, but upon their connection to symbols of moral order, collective identity, historical continuity, and legitimate social organization.
This definition draws together late Durkheim, Clifford Geertz, and contemporary cultural sociology. Durkheim explains how society projects normative authority beyond its individual members and attaches it to sacred collective representations. Geertz reveals law as a system of meaning that connects concrete events to culturally specific visions of reality. Cultural sociology explains how social actors narrate, perform, and contest the legitimacy of those connections.
Legal pluralism becomes intelligible, on this account, because transcendence can be generated from several symbolic centers. State institutions, religious traditions, local communities, and transnational regimes may each present their rules as expressions of a higher and more encompassing order. Their competition is therefore not merely a conflict among behavioral directives. It is a struggle among rival constructions of transcendence.
Legal pluralism is often presented as a complication for general theories of law. Definitions centered on the state, organized coercion, institutional pedigree, or official recognition appear increasingly inadequate when religious communities, indigenous institutions, professional associations, transnational bodies, and informal social authorities all generate rules that actors experience as binding. This paper reverses the usual approach: rather than asking how an existing definition of law can accommodate pluralism, it asks what legal pluralism teaches us about the nature of law itself.
The paper defines law as transcendent rules within a symbolic order. Law consists of rules that are represented and experienced as exceeding the preferences of particular persons because they are situated within a broader structure of collective meaning. Their authority rests not simply upon sanctions or institutional recognition, but upon their connection to symbols of moral order, collective identity, historical continuity, and legitimate social organization.
This definition draws together late Durkheim, Clifford Geertz, and contemporary cultural sociology. Durkheim explains how society projects normative authority beyond its individual members and attaches it to sacred collective representations. Geertz reveals law as a system of meaning that connects concrete events to culturally specific visions of reality. Cultural sociology explains how social actors narrate, perform, and contest the legitimacy of those connections.
Legal pluralism becomes intelligible, on this account, because transcendence can be generated from several symbolic centers. State institutions, religious traditions, local communities, and transnational regimes may each present their rules as expressions of a higher and more encompassing order. Their competition is therefore not merely a conflict among behavioral directives. It is a struggle among rival constructions of transcendence.
Keywords
Culture
Durkheim
Geert
Theory
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Abstract
Producing Developmental Immigrants: South Korea's New Immigration Policies for a Reproductive Future
- Yangsook KIM, Florida Atlantic University, USA
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
South Korea's recent immigration reforms redefine migrant workers not simply as labor needed to address labor shortages but as agents responsible for securing the nation's developmental future. As the country confronts rapid population aging, declining fertility, and regional depopulation, migrants are increasingly expected not only to fill labor shortages but also to revitalize shrinking communities and sustain care systems. While scholarship on the developmental migration state has shown how East Asian states strategically govern migration to advance national development, we know much less about how immigration policies produce immigrant subjects responsible for developmental futures. Drawing on scholarship on the developmental migration state and immigrant subjectification, this paper offers a critical discourse analysis of South Korea's recent place-based immigration policies. I argue that these policies are underpinned by a developmental ideology that redefines development from economic growth to the reproduction of the nation itself through demographic renewal, care provision, and regional survival. Focusing on the Regional Specialized Visa introduced in 2022 and the steady expansion of visas to recruit migrant care workers culminating in the 2026 Pilot Program for Universities Training Foreign Care Workers, I examine who is constructed as a legitimate agent of development, what responsibilities are assigned to them, and through what policy measures. The analysis shows that the ideal developmental immigrant is imagined as forever-young, flexible, free from care responsibilities, and continuously available for labor in places experiencing demographic decline. While these policies expand pathways to settlement and permanent residence, they make incorporation conditional upon migrants' capacity to secure Korea's reproductive future. In doing so, they continually reproduce the us/them divide by producing immigrants as developmental subjects whose belonging depends on their willingness and capacity to sustain the nation's demographic and developmental future.
South Korea's recent immigration reforms redefine migrant workers not simply as labor needed to address labor shortages but as agents responsible for securing the nation's developmental future. As the country confronts rapid population aging, declining fertility, and regional depopulation, migrants are increasingly expected not only to fill labor shortages but also to revitalize shrinking communities and sustain care systems. While scholarship on the developmental migration state has shown how East Asian states strategically govern migration to advance national development, we know much less about how immigration policies produce immigrant subjects responsible for developmental futures. Drawing on scholarship on the developmental migration state and immigrant subjectification, this paper offers a critical discourse analysis of South Korea's recent place-based immigration policies. I argue that these policies are underpinned by a developmental ideology that redefines development from economic growth to the reproduction of the nation itself through demographic renewal, care provision, and regional survival. Focusing on the Regional Specialized Visa introduced in 2022 and the steady expansion of visas to recruit migrant care workers culminating in the 2026 Pilot Program for Universities Training Foreign Care Workers, I examine who is constructed as a legitimate agent of development, what responsibilities are assigned to them, and through what policy measures. The analysis shows that the ideal developmental immigrant is imagined as forever-young, flexible, free from care responsibilities, and continuously available for labor in places experiencing demographic decline. While these policies expand pathways to settlement and permanent residence, they make incorporation conditional upon migrants' capacity to secure Korea's reproductive future. In doing so, they continually reproduce the us/them divide by producing immigrants as developmental subjects whose belonging depends on their willingness and capacity to sustain the nation's demographic and developmental future.
South Korea's recent immigration reforms redefine migrant workers not simply as labor needed to address labor shortages but as agents responsible for securing the nation's developmental future. As the country confronts rapid population aging, declining fertility, and regional depopulation, migrants are increasingly expected not only to fill labor shortages but also to revitalize shrinking communities and sustain care systems. While scholarship on the developmental migration state has shown how East Asian states strategically govern migration to advance national development, we know much less about how immigration policies produce immigrant subjects responsible for developmental futures. Drawing on scholarship on the developmental migration state and immigrant subjectification, this paper offers a critical discourse analysis of South Korea's recent place-based immigration policies. I argue that these policies are underpinned by a developmental ideology that redefines development from economic growth to the reproduction of the nation itself through demographic renewal, care provision, and regional survival. Focusing on the Regional Specialized Visa introduced in 2022 and the steady expansion of visas to recruit migrant care workers culminating in the 2026 Pilot Program for Universities Training Foreign Care Workers, I examine who is constructed as a legitimate agent of development, what responsibilities are assigned to them, and through what policy measures. The analysis shows that the ideal developmental immigrant is imagined as forever-young, flexible, free from care responsibilities, and continuously available for labor in places experiencing demographic decline. While these policies expand pathways to settlement and permanent residence, they make incorporation conditional upon migrants' capacity to secure Korea's reproductive future. In doing so, they continually reproduce the us/them divide by producing immigrants as developmental subjects whose belonging depends on their willingness and capacity to sustain the nation's demographic and developmental future.
Keywords
Care migration
Developmental
South Korea
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Abstract
Caste, Capital and the Occupation of Ear Cleaning
- Mrinmoy MAJUMDER, Great Lakes Institute of Management Chennai, India, Shubhda ARORA, City, University of London, India and Harshit MAURYA, International Management Institute Delhi, India
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
This article explores ‘kān-malai’ (ear-cleaners) (Frembgen, 2011) as an occupation within the societal caste hierarchy and its subsequent transformation into exoticised artisanal labour within the context of urban spaces in India. Frembgen (2011) describes how the Shaikh Siddiqi zat (caste), historically associated with ear cleaning, is often viewed as quacks and charlatans, thereby reinforcing their caste-marginalised status. The advent of British colonialism, subsequent public health campaigns, and the growing popularity of modern medical practices in India led to the decline in the social status of many informal and indigenous health-related occupations, such as ear cleaning, further challenging the social legitimacy of this community (Arnold, 1988).
Within the caste framework, the ear-cleaning occupation involves handling bodily fluids and waste, which are deemed impure and dirty work. This leads to social stigma, like other caste-based occupations, such as sanitation work and waste picking. While caste-based discrimination is abolished under the legal framework, some occupations remain stigmatised. The occupations continue to be prevalent among people from marginalised communities, as caste remains a determinant of occupation and reproduces social exclusion, which is another form of modern slavery.
By conducting in-depth interviews with participants engaged in ear-cleaning occupations, this article explores the trajectory of the socio-cultural transformation of dirty work within consumer imaginaries. Based on interview fieldwork and analysis, this study investigates how people engaged in the ear-cleaning occupation negotiate their social mobility amid the changing landscape of urbanisation and growing consumerism. Moreover, the fieldwork captures how people engaged in ear cleaning rebrand their skills and market themselves in urban settings. Using the frameworks of Said’s (1978) orientalism and Benjamin’s (1935) mechanical reproduction, the interview themes are analysed through the prism of the exoticisation of occupation and the commodification of informal and indigenous ear-cleaning practices into a caste-based occupation.
This article explores ‘kān-malai’ (ear-cleaners) (Frembgen, 2011) as an occupation within the societal caste hierarchy and its subsequent transformation into exoticised artisanal labour within the context of urban spaces in India. Frembgen (2011) describes how the Shaikh Siddiqi zat (caste), historically associated with ear cleaning, is often viewed as quacks and charlatans, thereby reinforcing their caste-marginalised status. The advent of British colonialism, subsequent public health campaigns, and the growing popularity of modern medical practices in India led to the decline in the social status of many informal and indigenous health-related occupations, such as ear cleaning, further challenging the social legitimacy of this community (Arnold, 1988).
Within the caste framework, the ear-cleaning occupation involves handling bodily fluids and waste, which are deemed impure and dirty work. This leads to social stigma, like other caste-based occupations, such as sanitation work and waste picking. While caste-based discrimination is abolished under the legal framework, some occupations remain stigmatised. The occupations continue to be prevalent among people from marginalised communities, as caste remains a determinant of occupation and reproduces social exclusion, which is another form of modern slavery.
By conducting in-depth interviews with participants engaged in ear-cleaning occupations, this article explores the trajectory of the socio-cultural transformation of dirty work within consumer imaginaries. Based on interview fieldwork and analysis, this study investigates how people engaged in the ear-cleaning occupation negotiate their social mobility amid the changing landscape of urbanisation and growing consumerism. Moreover, the fieldwork captures how people engaged in ear cleaning rebrand their skills and market themselves in urban settings. Using the frameworks of Said’s (1978) orientalism and Benjamin’s (1935) mechanical reproduction, the interview themes are analysed through the prism of the exoticisation of occupation and the commodification of informal and indigenous ear-cleaning practices into a caste-based occupation.
This article explores ‘kān-malai’ (ear-cleaners) (Frembgen, 2011) as an occupation within the societal caste hierarchy and its subsequent transformation into exoticised artisanal labour within the context of urban spaces in India. Frembgen (2011) describes how the Shaikh Siddiqi zat (caste), historically associated with ear cleaning, is often viewed as quacks and charlatans, thereby reinforcing their caste-marginalised status. The advent of British colonialism, subsequent public health campaigns, and the growing popularity of modern medical practices in India led to the decline in the social status of many informal and indigenous health-related occupations, such as ear cleaning, further challenging the social legitimacy of this community (Arnold, 1988).
Within the caste framework, the ear-cleaning occupation involves handling bodily fluids and waste, which are deemed impure and dirty work. This leads to social stigma, like other caste-based occupations, such as sanitation work and waste picking. While caste-based discrimination is abolished under the legal framework, some occupations remain stigmatised. The occupations continue to be prevalent among people from marginalised communities, as caste remains a determinant of occupation and reproduces social exclusion, which is another form of modern slavery.
By conducting in-depth interviews with participants engaged in ear-cleaning occupations, this article explores the trajectory of the socio-cultural transformation of dirty work within consumer imaginaries. Based on interview fieldwork and analysis, this study investigates how people engaged in the ear-cleaning occupation negotiate their social mobility amid the changing landscape of urbanisation and growing consumerism. Moreover, the fieldwork captures how people engaged in ear cleaning rebrand their skills and market themselves in urban settings. Using the frameworks of Said’s (1978) orientalism and Benjamin’s (1935) mechanical reproduction, the interview themes are analysed through the prism of the exoticisation of occupation and the commodification of informal and indigenous ear-cleaning practices into a caste-based occupation.
Keywords
Capitalism
Dirty Work
Social Inequality
South Asia
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Abstract
An Essay on Occupation of Death Labour, and the Organisation of Dying
- Mrinmoy MAJUMDER, Great Lakes Institute of Management Chennai, India
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
Employment studies have long unravelled the complex social nuances around dirty work, invisible and emotional labour, but there aren’t many theoretical frameworks that could explore hindu death rituals and labour dominated by brahminical ideals. Rituals during cremation and post-cremation are performed and assigned based on heredity and family lineage and are often an unrefusable form of labour imposed on families and society at large. This essay, therefore, makes an attempt to critique death rituals and labour practices within the socioeconomic context of Tripura, India by conceptually arguing how upper-caste hegemonic rituals reproduce themselves through the unfree labour performed in/around and after death. While doing that, this essay makes an attempt to shift the critique upwards by proposing a threefold analytical category of studying death labour - as an integrative social system of pollution-bearing labour forced upon oppressed communities; by exploiting grief and mourning as performative labour prescribed by brahmanical traditions; and by the extractive economy of death labour.
Employment studies have long unravelled the complex social nuances around dirty work, invisible and emotional labour, but there aren’t many theoretical frameworks that could explore hindu death rituals and labour dominated by brahminical ideals. Rituals during cremation and post-cremation are performed and assigned based on heredity and family lineage and are often an unrefusable form of labour imposed on families and society at large. This essay, therefore, makes an attempt to critique death rituals and labour practices within the socioeconomic context of Tripura, India by conceptually arguing how upper-caste hegemonic rituals reproduce themselves through the unfree labour performed in/around and after death. While doing that, this essay makes an attempt to shift the critique upwards by proposing a threefold analytical category of studying death labour - as an integrative social system of pollution-bearing labour forced upon oppressed communities; by exploiting grief and mourning as performative labour prescribed by brahmanical traditions; and by the extractive economy of death labour.
Employment studies have long unravelled the complex social nuances around dirty work, invisible and emotional labour, but there aren’t many theoretical frameworks that could explore hindu death rituals and labour dominated by brahminical ideals. Rituals during cremation and post-cremation are performed and assigned based on heredity and family lineage and are often an unrefusable form of labour imposed on families and society at large. This essay, therefore, makes an attempt to critique death rituals and labour practices within the socioeconomic context of Tripura, India by conceptually arguing how upper-caste hegemonic rituals reproduce themselves through the unfree labour performed in/around and after death. While doing that, this essay makes an attempt to shift the critique upwards by proposing a threefold analytical category of studying death labour - as an integrative social system of pollution-bearing labour forced upon oppressed communities; by exploiting grief and mourning as performative labour prescribed by brahmanical traditions; and by the extractive economy of death labour.
Keywords
Caste
Death Labour
Dirty Work
Inequality
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Abstract
Longitudinal Recovery Challenges In the Case of the German Flood Disaster In 2021
- Alexander FEKETE, Technical University Cologne, Germany and Farhat NAZ, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, India
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
Globally, flood damages are increasing in many countries, exacerbated by climate change. The German floods in 2021 came as a shock also to an international audience for failure of management and governance, leading to a ‚second disaster‘ on top of flood related fatalities and economic damage. In the recovery process, we empirically analyzed hindrance factors and best practices of affected local citizens, authorities, responder, and volunteer organizations. Five years after the disaster still cross-sectoral understanding of societal recovery needs to be better understood. Reasons for unwillingness to relocate, social groups feeling forgotten in the recovery process and other factors of what is termed ‚climate captivity‘ has been investigated by a combination of global north and global south researchers. The findings can help to design longitudinal research on recovery and better understanding of longitudinal transformation of society.
To conduct this, a theoretical framework to intersect frameworks such as the disaster cycle and the pressure and release framework will be combined with psychological frameworks to better understand behavior and hindrance factors of individuals and social groups to change behaviors or adjust to stressors such as disasters.
This framework will guide further empirical analysis of surveys and interviews, focus group discussions with affected residents as well as informal civil society organizations in the affected area. To capture and align it with international research of the rare longitudinal studies after disaster, cross-cultural, and comparable research items will be selected for future surveys and interviews.
The German case shows that recovery is long-term, although official programs, funding lines, and public awareness is ceasing. This calls for more awareness of situations of people still struggling with bureaucracy, psychological trauma, and calls for search for improving planning and governing processes.
Globally, flood damages are increasing in many countries, exacerbated by climate change. The German floods in 2021 came as a shock also to an international audience for failure of management and governance, leading to a ‚second disaster‘ on top of flood related fatalities and economic damage. In the recovery process, we empirically analyzed hindrance factors and best practices of affected local citizens, authorities, responder, and volunteer organizations. Five years after the disaster still cross-sectoral understanding of societal recovery needs to be better understood. Reasons for unwillingness to relocate, social groups feeling forgotten in the recovery process and other factors of what is termed ‚climate captivity‘ has been investigated by a combination of global north and global south researchers. The findings can help to design longitudinal research on recovery and better understanding of longitudinal transformation of society.
To conduct this, a theoretical framework to intersect frameworks such as the disaster cycle and the pressure and release framework will be combined with psychological frameworks to better understand behavior and hindrance factors of individuals and social groups to change behaviors or adjust to stressors such as disasters.
This framework will guide further empirical analysis of surveys and interviews, focus group discussions with affected residents as well as informal civil society organizations in the affected area. To capture and align it with international research of the rare longitudinal studies after disaster, cross-cultural, and comparable research items will be selected for future surveys and interviews.
The German case shows that recovery is long-term, although official programs, funding lines, and public awareness is ceasing. This calls for more awareness of situations of people still struggling with bureaucracy, psychological trauma, and calls for search for improving planning and governing processes.
Globally, flood damages are increasing in many countries, exacerbated by climate change. The German floods in 2021 came as a shock also to an international audience for failure of management and governance, leading to a ‚second disaster‘ on top of flood related fatalities and economic damage. In the recovery process, we empirically analyzed hindrance factors and best practices of affected local citizens, authorities, responder, and volunteer organizations. Five years after the disaster still cross-sectoral understanding of societal recovery needs to be better understood. Reasons for unwillingness to relocate, social groups feeling forgotten in the recovery process and other factors of what is termed ‚climate captivity‘ has been investigated by a combination of global north and global south researchers. The findings can help to design longitudinal research on recovery and better understanding of longitudinal transformation of society.
To conduct this, a theoretical framework to intersect frameworks such as the disaster cycle and the pressure and release framework will be combined with psychological frameworks to better understand behavior and hindrance factors of individuals and social groups to change behaviors or adjust to stressors such as disasters.
This framework will guide further empirical analysis of surveys and interviews, focus group discussions with affected residents as well as informal civil society organizations in the affected area. To capture and align it with international research of the rare longitudinal studies after disaster, cross-cultural, and comparable research items will be selected for future surveys and interviews.
The German case shows that recovery is long-term, although official programs, funding lines, and public awareness is ceasing. This calls for more awareness of situations of people still struggling with bureaucracy, psychological trauma, and calls for search for improving planning and governing processes.
Keywords
Climate captivity
Disaster recovery
Longitudinal studies
Social transformation
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Abstract
On Bernard Stiegler’s Sociology
- Joff P. N. BRADLEY, Teikyo University, Japan
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
This paper examines hikikomori and related forms of social withdrawal in Japan and South Korea as symptoms of a wider crisis in social and technological individuation rather than primarily as individual psychological disorders. Synthesizing the work on Carlo Bordoni, Bernard Stiegler, Gilbert Simondon, Félix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze, and Byung-Chul Han, I ask how algorithmic control, precarious employment, educational pressure, social conformity, and anxiety about the future reshape young people’s subjectivity. I situate withdrawal within Stiegler’s and Simondon’s conceptions of society as an organological and pharmacological process constituted through the co-individuation of psychic individuals. Technics conditions memory, attention, desire, education, and intergenerational transmission, yet under computational algorithmic capitalism these processes are increasingly captured by automated systems that short-circuit attention, disindividuate knowledge and the individual, and thus weaken circuits of transindividuation. While digital technologies may provide protective milieus that help individuals manage an increasingly intolerable world outside, they may also enclose users within perseverative circuits of gaming, streaming, social media, and algorithmically managed attention.
A comparison between Japan and South Korea places European philosophical concepts in dialogue with East Asian experiences shaped by accelerated modernization and digitally saturated everyday life. Hikikomori will be understood not simply as a refusal of society, but as evidence of society’s diminished capacity to imagine a different future to come. I conclude by considering Stiegler’s ideas of contributory research that would reorganise education, work, technology, and political economy around care, knowledge, and participation, creating social and technical milieus in which new forms of collective intelligence and subjectivation. Social transformation becomes a struggle over toxic technical conditions which is capable of generating negentropic bifurcations and renewing collective desire for the future as such.
This paper examines hikikomori and related forms of social withdrawal in Japan and South Korea as symptoms of a wider crisis in social and technological individuation rather than primarily as individual psychological disorders. Synthesizing the work on Carlo Bordoni, Bernard Stiegler, Gilbert Simondon, Félix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze, and Byung-Chul Han, I ask how algorithmic control, precarious employment, educational pressure, social conformity, and anxiety about the future reshape young people’s subjectivity. I situate withdrawal within Stiegler’s and Simondon’s conceptions of society as an organological and pharmacological process constituted through the co-individuation of psychic individuals. Technics conditions memory, attention, desire, education, and intergenerational transmission, yet under computational algorithmic capitalism these processes are increasingly captured by automated systems that short-circuit attention, disindividuate knowledge and the individual, and thus weaken circuits of transindividuation. While digital technologies may provide protective milieus that help individuals manage an increasingly intolerable world outside, they may also enclose users within perseverative circuits of gaming, streaming, social media, and algorithmically managed attention.
A comparison between Japan and South Korea places European philosophical concepts in dialogue with East Asian experiences shaped by accelerated modernization and digitally saturated everyday life. Hikikomori will be understood not simply as a refusal of society, but as evidence of society’s diminished capacity to imagine a different future to come. I conclude by considering Stiegler’s ideas of contributory research that would reorganise education, work, technology, and political economy around care, knowledge, and participation, creating social and technical milieus in which new forms of collective intelligence and subjectivation. Social transformation becomes a struggle over toxic technical conditions which is capable of generating negentropic bifurcations and renewing collective desire for the future as such.
This paper examines hikikomori and related forms of social withdrawal in Japan and South Korea as symptoms of a wider crisis in social and technological individuation rather than primarily as individual psychological disorders. Synthesizing the work on Carlo Bordoni, Bernard Stiegler, Gilbert Simondon, Félix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze, and Byung-Chul Han, I ask how algorithmic control, precarious employment, educational pressure, social conformity, and anxiety about the future reshape young people’s subjectivity. I situate withdrawal within Stiegler’s and Simondon’s conceptions of society as an organological and pharmacological process constituted through the co-individuation of psychic individuals. Technics conditions memory, attention, desire, education, and intergenerational transmission, yet under computational algorithmic capitalism these processes are increasingly captured by automated systems that short-circuit attention, disindividuate knowledge and the individual, and thus weaken circuits of transindividuation. While digital technologies may provide protective milieus that help individuals manage an increasingly intolerable world outside, they may also enclose users within perseverative circuits of gaming, streaming, social media, and algorithmically managed attention.
A comparison between Japan and South Korea places European philosophical concepts in dialogue with East Asian experiences shaped by accelerated modernization and digitally saturated everyday life. Hikikomori will be understood not simply as a refusal of society, but as evidence of society’s diminished capacity to imagine a different future to come. I conclude by considering Stiegler’s ideas of contributory research that would reorganise education, work, technology, and political economy around care, knowledge, and participation, creating social and technical milieus in which new forms of collective intelligence and subjectivation. Social transformation becomes a struggle over toxic technical conditions which is capable of generating negentropic bifurcations and renewing collective desire for the future as such.
Keywords
Bernard Stiegler
Carlo Bordoni
Deleuze
hikikomori
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Abstract
Critical Remarks on Smart City-Society 5.0 Imaginations In Japan and Korea
- Joff P. N. BRADLEY, Teikyo University, Japan
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
This paper claims that Society 5.0, the smart city, and the Metaverse as interconnected components of what Félix Guattari called Integrated World Capitalism. I argue that these technological imaginaries promise safety, sustainability, efficiency, and human-centred development while simultaneously intensifying surveillance, data extraction, behavioural modulation, and the erosion of collective life. Focusing on Japan’s Society 5.0 project and putting Bernard Stiegler, Félix Guattari, Paul Virilio, Jean-Luc Nancy, Maurizio Lazzarato, and Byung-Chul Han into conversation, I critically explore how smart urban environments are reorganizing space, time, perception, and subjectivity. In the Korean context. I approach the Metaverse not simply as an immersive digital environment but as an abstract machine capable of mining desire, manufacturing the collective unconscious, and extending algorithmic governance into everyday life. I shall adopt a transdisciplinary perspective, skirting across the humanities, social sciences, architecture, and technology to contest corporate monopolies over the imagination of future societies. Drawing on Stiegler’s concept of negentropy and Guattari’s vision of the Subjective City, I ask how the smart city–Metaverse nexus might be redirected away from technological solutionism and toward genuinely democratic, therapeutic, and creative forms of urban life.
This paper claims that Society 5.0, the smart city, and the Metaverse as interconnected components of what Félix Guattari called Integrated World Capitalism. I argue that these technological imaginaries promise safety, sustainability, efficiency, and human-centred development while simultaneously intensifying surveillance, data extraction, behavioural modulation, and the erosion of collective life. Focusing on Japan’s Society 5.0 project and putting Bernard Stiegler, Félix Guattari, Paul Virilio, Jean-Luc Nancy, Maurizio Lazzarato, and Byung-Chul Han into conversation, I critically explore how smart urban environments are reorganizing space, time, perception, and subjectivity. In the Korean context. I approach the Metaverse not simply as an immersive digital environment but as an abstract machine capable of mining desire, manufacturing the collective unconscious, and extending algorithmic governance into everyday life. I shall adopt a transdisciplinary perspective, skirting across the humanities, social sciences, architecture, and technology to contest corporate monopolies over the imagination of future societies. Drawing on Stiegler’s concept of negentropy and Guattari’s vision of the Subjective City, I ask how the smart city–Metaverse nexus might be redirected away from technological solutionism and toward genuinely democratic, therapeutic, and creative forms of urban life.
This paper claims that Society 5.0, the smart city, and the Metaverse as interconnected components of what Félix Guattari called Integrated World Capitalism. I argue that these technological imaginaries promise safety, sustainability, efficiency, and human-centred development while simultaneously intensifying surveillance, data extraction, behavioural modulation, and the erosion of collective life. Focusing on Japan’s Society 5.0 project and putting Bernard Stiegler, Félix Guattari, Paul Virilio, Jean-Luc Nancy, Maurizio Lazzarato, and Byung-Chul Han into conversation, I critically explore how smart urban environments are reorganizing space, time, perception, and subjectivity. In the Korean context. I approach the Metaverse not simply as an immersive digital environment but as an abstract machine capable of mining desire, manufacturing the collective unconscious, and extending algorithmic governance into everyday life. I shall adopt a transdisciplinary perspective, skirting across the humanities, social sciences, architecture, and technology to contest corporate monopolies over the imagination of future societies. Drawing on Stiegler’s concept of negentropy and Guattari’s vision of the Subjective City, I ask how the smart city–Metaverse nexus might be redirected away from technological solutionism and toward genuinely democratic, therapeutic, and creative forms of urban life.
Keywords
Deleuze
Guattari
Stiegler
smart city
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Abstract
Combating Domestic Violence and Access to Justice for Women In Kazakhstan
- Mr. Sergey KONOVALOV, Doctor of Sociology, Institute of Contemporary Politics, Kazakhstan and Zhanna KONOVALOVA, ICP, Kazakhstan
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
Kazakhstan is a changing country in multiple aspects. We are witnessing the transition from the post-Soviet to the modern state.
The attitude toward women is a central indicator of the quality of this transition. In 2026, the country underwent dramatic constitutional changes.
At the same time, the system remains largely authoritarian and paternalistic. Many conservative practices persist. The country cultivates the concept of "traditional values" and the "traditional family." Therefore, attitudes toward sexual minorities and LGBTIQ+ people remain complex. Research and observations have shown that attitudes toward anything "different" and "non-traditional" limit the ability to build an inclusive society.
A detailed analysis of Kazakhstan's international obligations in the areas of human and women's rights was conducted. It was found that Kazakhstan is generally moving in line with the human rights agenda. However, the overall global situation is impacting "domestic appetite" for human rights, women's rights, and domestic violence. This includes, first and foremost, the democracy backsliding, the weakening of the UN institutions, and pressure on academic sphere as a result of rising authoritarian tendencies.
Kazakhstan must consider both its internal traditions and its geopolitical environment. Authoritarian tendencies prevail in neighboring countries. Following constitutional reform, the Kazakh authorities have increased women's representation in parliament. However, the overall nature of power remains "male." Therefore, patterns of discrimination and violence are difficult to eradicate. A focus on legal justice is seen as the only correct course for the state in the current circumstances.
In this context, the problem of domestic violence is presented as a "gender battle." We are witnessing a new gender balance. Women are assuming new roles, while institutions support male dominance. Some theoretical aspects of this issue were presented at the NGO CSW70 panel session on March 13, 2026. The topic was named as "Gender and Access to Justice."
Kazakhstan is a changing country in multiple aspects. We are witnessing the transition from the post-Soviet to the modern state.
The attitude toward women is a central indicator of the quality of this transition. In 2026, the country underwent dramatic constitutional changes.
At the same time, the system remains largely authoritarian and paternalistic. Many conservative practices persist. The country cultivates the concept of "traditional values" and the "traditional family." Therefore, attitudes toward sexual minorities and LGBTIQ+ people remain complex. Research and observations have shown that attitudes toward anything "different" and "non-traditional" limit the ability to build an inclusive society.
A detailed analysis of Kazakhstan's international obligations in the areas of human and women's rights was conducted. It was found that Kazakhstan is generally moving in line with the human rights agenda. However, the overall global situation is impacting "domestic appetite" for human rights, women's rights, and domestic violence. This includes, first and foremost, the democracy backsliding, the weakening of the UN institutions, and pressure on academic sphere as a result of rising authoritarian tendencies.
Kazakhstan must consider both its internal traditions and its geopolitical environment. Authoritarian tendencies prevail in neighboring countries. Following constitutional reform, the Kazakh authorities have increased women's representation in parliament. However, the overall nature of power remains "male." Therefore, patterns of discrimination and violence are difficult to eradicate. A focus on legal justice is seen as the only correct course for the state in the current circumstances.
In this context, the problem of domestic violence is presented as a "gender battle." We are witnessing a new gender balance. Women are assuming new roles, while institutions support male dominance. Some theoretical aspects of this issue were presented at the NGO CSW70 panel session on March 13, 2026. The topic was named as "Gender and Access to Justice."
Kazakhstan is a changing country in multiple aspects. We are witnessing the transition from the post-Soviet to the modern state.
The attitude toward women is a central indicator of the quality of this transition. In 2026, the country underwent dramatic constitutional changes.
At the same time, the system remains largely authoritarian and paternalistic. Many conservative practices persist. The country cultivates the concept of "traditional values" and the "traditional family." Therefore, attitudes toward sexual minorities and LGBTIQ+ people remain complex. Research and observations have shown that attitudes toward anything "different" and "non-traditional" limit the ability to build an inclusive society.
A detailed analysis of Kazakhstan's international obligations in the areas of human and women's rights was conducted. It was found that Kazakhstan is generally moving in line with the human rights agenda. However, the overall global situation is impacting "domestic appetite" for human rights, women's rights, and domestic violence. This includes, first and foremost, the democracy backsliding, the weakening of the UN institutions, and pressure on academic sphere as a result of rising authoritarian tendencies.
Kazakhstan must consider both its internal traditions and its geopolitical environment. Authoritarian tendencies prevail in neighboring countries. Following constitutional reform, the Kazakh authorities have increased women's representation in parliament. However, the overall nature of power remains "male." Therefore, patterns of discrimination and violence are difficult to eradicate. A focus on legal justice is seen as the only correct course for the state in the current circumstances.
In this context, the problem of domestic violence is presented as a "gender battle." We are witnessing a new gender balance. Women are assuming new roles, while institutions support male dominance. Some theoretical aspects of this issue were presented at the NGO CSW70 panel session on March 13, 2026. The topic was named as "Gender and Access to Justice."
Keywords
Domestic violence
Gender battle
Social and legal justice
Society of opportunity
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Abstract
Retaliation Against the Peacebuilders: The Role of Revenge In Terrorists' Motivation In the Erstwhile FATA-Pakistan
- JAN ALAM, Department of Sociology, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat KPK, KPK, Pakistan
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
The article explores emergent responses to perceived injustices and inequalities (real or imagined), often rooted in shared grievances that can lead to violence, including revenge terrorism. Such forms of terror attacks are determined by a desire to retaliate, transforming any personal or group suffering into acts of terror aimed at the public or any government. An intrinsic case study method was employed, and 25 participants were interviewed, along with 4 Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) with victims of terrorist attacks, social activists, and local elders. The collected data were analyzed using a thematic analysis method and field notes. The findings revealed that terrorism in the study region is a revenge-based phenomenon, and the major elements of such attacks are due to resistance by the Peace Committees, socio-economic deprivation, avenging the prevalence of un-Islamic laws, and referring to “war on terror” as a “war for dollars”.
The article explores emergent responses to perceived injustices and inequalities (real or imagined), often rooted in shared grievances that can lead to violence, including revenge terrorism. Such forms of terror attacks are determined by a desire to retaliate, transforming any personal or group suffering into acts of terror aimed at the public or any government. An intrinsic case study method was employed, and 25 participants were interviewed, along with 4 Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) with victims of terrorist attacks, social activists, and local elders. The collected data were analyzed using a thematic analysis method and field notes. The findings revealed that terrorism in the study region is a revenge-based phenomenon, and the major elements of such attacks are due to resistance by the Peace Committees, socio-economic deprivation, avenging the prevalence of un-Islamic laws, and referring to “war on terror” as a “war for dollars”.
The article explores emergent responses to perceived injustices and inequalities (real or imagined), often rooted in shared grievances that can lead to violence, including revenge terrorism. Such forms of terror attacks are determined by a desire to retaliate, transforming any personal or group suffering into acts of terror aimed at the public or any government. An intrinsic case study method was employed, and 25 participants were interviewed, along with 4 Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) with victims of terrorist attacks, social activists, and local elders. The collected data were analyzed using a thematic analysis method and field notes. The findings revealed that terrorism in the study region is a revenge-based phenomenon, and the major elements of such attacks are due to resistance by the Peace Committees, socio-economic deprivation, avenging the prevalence of un-Islamic laws, and referring to “war on terror” as a “war for dollars”.
Keywords
Peacebuilders
Revenge
Terrorism
Victimization
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Abstract
Beyond Fracture: Responsibility Culture As a Sociological Framework for the In-between Common World
- Ines CALOISI, University of Malaga, Italy
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
Contemporary societies are undergoing profound transformations driven by the convergence of technological, environmental, political, economic and cultural dynamics — transformations that increasingly manifest as fracture, polarization and civilizational mistrust rather than a shared trajectory. Institutions, organisations and individuals frequently address the visible symptoms of division without engaging its deeper nature, producing a growing asymmetry between the pace of societal change and the human capacity to interpret and consciously respond to it.
This paper argues that addressing this asymmetry requires repositioning responsibility as a central sociological category, capable of sustaining dialogue within a world already entangled through risk, economy, technology, migration and ecological crisis, yet not yet organised reflexively or justly around that interconnection. Responsibility is usually examined through ethical, legal or organisational lenses; this paper proposes instead that what societies recognise and practice as responsible action is culturally mediated, shaped by traditions ranging from Western individual accountability to Confucian relational obligation, Buddhist interdependence, Daoist attunement to natural order, and Indian, Latin American and Muslim conceptions of the self-in-relation.
Responsibility Culture (RESC) is introduced as an open sociological framework for exploring these cultural variations and their implications for how societies interpret and respond to ongoing transformation. Rather than proposing a universal doctrine of responsible behaviour — a move this paper explicitly declines, along with appeals to power or abstract moral universalism — RESC offers a conceptual space in which different traditions can test, reinterpret and transform their claims about responsibility in relation to one another.
By repositioning responsibility as a category for interpreting the in-between common world — already a reality, and still an unaccomplished task — RESC aims to contribute to sociological theory and to support a shift from reactive adaptation toward more conscious, culturally grounded and reflective responses to the transformations shaping contemporary societies.
Contemporary societies are undergoing profound transformations driven by the convergence of technological, environmental, political, economic and cultural dynamics — transformations that increasingly manifest as fracture, polarization and civilizational mistrust rather than a shared trajectory. Institutions, organisations and individuals frequently address the visible symptoms of division without engaging its deeper nature, producing a growing asymmetry between the pace of societal change and the human capacity to interpret and consciously respond to it.
This paper argues that addressing this asymmetry requires repositioning responsibility as a central sociological category, capable of sustaining dialogue within a world already entangled through risk, economy, technology, migration and ecological crisis, yet not yet organised reflexively or justly around that interconnection. Responsibility is usually examined through ethical, legal or organisational lenses; this paper proposes instead that what societies recognise and practice as responsible action is culturally mediated, shaped by traditions ranging from Western individual accountability to Confucian relational obligation, Buddhist interdependence, Daoist attunement to natural order, and Indian, Latin American and Muslim conceptions of the self-in-relation.
Responsibility Culture (RESC) is introduced as an open sociological framework for exploring these cultural variations and their implications for how societies interpret and respond to ongoing transformation. Rather than proposing a universal doctrine of responsible behaviour — a move this paper explicitly declines, along with appeals to power or abstract moral universalism — RESC offers a conceptual space in which different traditions can test, reinterpret and transform their claims about responsibility in relation to one another.
By repositioning responsibility as a category for interpreting the in-between common world — already a reality, and still an unaccomplished task — RESC aims to contribute to sociological theory and to support a shift from reactive adaptation toward more conscious, culturally grounded and reflective responses to the transformations shaping contemporary societies.
Contemporary societies are undergoing profound transformations driven by the convergence of technological, environmental, political, economic and cultural dynamics — transformations that increasingly manifest as fracture, polarization and civilizational mistrust rather than a shared trajectory. Institutions, organisations and individuals frequently address the visible symptoms of division without engaging its deeper nature, producing a growing asymmetry between the pace of societal change and the human capacity to interpret and consciously respond to it.
This paper argues that addressing this asymmetry requires repositioning responsibility as a central sociological category, capable of sustaining dialogue within a world already entangled through risk, economy, technology, migration and ecological crisis, yet not yet organised reflexively or justly around that interconnection. Responsibility is usually examined through ethical, legal or organisational lenses; this paper proposes instead that what societies recognise and practice as responsible action is culturally mediated, shaped by traditions ranging from Western individual accountability to Confucian relational obligation, Buddhist interdependence, Daoist attunement to natural order, and Indian, Latin American and Muslim conceptions of the self-in-relation.
Responsibility Culture (RESC) is introduced as an open sociological framework for exploring these cultural variations and their implications for how societies interpret and respond to ongoing transformation. Rather than proposing a universal doctrine of responsible behaviour — a move this paper explicitly declines, along with appeals to power or abstract moral universalism — RESC offers a conceptual space in which different traditions can test, reinterpret and transform their claims about responsibility in relation to one another.
By repositioning responsibility as a category for interpreting the in-between common world — already a reality, and still an unaccomplished task — RESC aims to contribute to sociological theory and to support a shift from reactive adaptation toward more conscious, culturally grounded and reflective responses to the transformations shaping contemporary societies.
Keywords
cultural pluralism
polarization
responsibility culture
social transformation
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Abstract
Religious Identity and Politics: Exploring the Causes of the Political Persecution of Religious Minorities In Kohat District, Pakistan
- JAN ALAM, Department of Sociology, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat KPK, KPK, Pakistan
- XXI ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 4 - 10, 2027)
Religious minorities are victims of political isolation and persecution in societies where they are subject to violence and discrimination. This study was undertaken in a terrorism-affected area to explore those elements that subjugate and suppress religious minorities’ political participation and representation. To conduct an in-depth analysis, a qualitative inquiry was used for data collection and analysis. The researcher interviewed 13 Christians, seven Hindus, and six Sikhs, using a purposive sampling technique and a semi-structured interview guide. The primary data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The researcher found that some of the underlying factors behind the political persecution are leadership vacuum, political neglect, post-election negligence, vote dislocation, political ignorance, and political subordination. This study presented a framework for policymakers to address minorities’ political problems and for researchers to better understand minorities’ political oppression at local and international levels.
Religious minorities are victims of political isolation and persecution in societies where they are subject to violence and discrimination. This study was undertaken in a terrorism-affected area to explore those elements that subjugate and suppress religious minorities’ political participation and representation. To conduct an in-depth analysis, a qualitative inquiry was used for data collection and analysis. The researcher interviewed 13 Christians, seven Hindus, and six Sikhs, using a purposive sampling technique and a semi-structured interview guide. The primary data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The researcher found that some of the underlying factors behind the political persecution are leadership vacuum, political neglect, post-election negligence, vote dislocation, political ignorance, and political subordination. This study presented a framework for policymakers to address minorities’ political problems and for researchers to better understand minorities’ political oppression at local and international levels.
Religious minorities are victims of political isolation and persecution in societies where they are subject to violence and discrimination. This study was undertaken in a terrorism-affected area to explore those elements that subjugate and suppress religious minorities’ political participation and representation. To conduct an in-depth analysis, a qualitative inquiry was used for data collection and analysis. The researcher interviewed 13 Christians, seven Hindus, and six Sikhs, using a purposive sampling technique and a semi-structured interview guide. The primary data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The researcher found that some of the underlying factors behind the political persecution are leadership vacuum, political neglect, post-election negligence, vote dislocation, political ignorance, and political subordination. This study presented a framework for policymakers to address minorities’ political problems and for researchers to better understand minorities’ political oppression at local and international levels.
Keywords
Leadership Vacuum
Political Persecution
Poor Representation
Religious Minorities
