5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

Almost all social scientists agree that “logos” (either as religious discourse, law, politics, mythologies or media narratives) is fundamental for giving sense to social life (to being together). Appadurai has analyzed the contemporary five dimensions of global cultural flow (ethnoscapes, technoscapes, financescapes, ideoscapes and mediascapes). Mediascapes concern the flow of contemporary media which is far more easily and rapidly shared regardless of geographic borders (ex. Brazilian telenovelas, Bollywood films, mega-events or media rituals such as the World Cup, the Olympics, a King’s coronation or a President’s oath, from wherever they may live).

Independently of the adherence to the term “Anthropocene” it is sociologically correct to affirm that the contemporary globalized “logos” determines any social life and that this logos is based on the “media narratives” (the “news”, the political analysis and discourses but also the mythical narratives based on the artistic creation and diffused by cultural industries).

This session intends to define and analyze the multiple facets of the contemporary media narratives (based either on dominant ideas on economy, politics and sociality or on successful fictional stories which nevertheless point out current values, fears and wishes on human existence in society and in the planet); having in mind that these ideas and stories “define” (at least as “dominant” ideological frame) the contemporary world.

Media researches on successful emissions (either “serious” or “playful”: news, political or economic magazines, games, series, reality shows etc.) are thus welcome to this session, in order to try to define the contemporary “logos”.