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

Today’s digital interactions encompass human engagements with apps, social media, chatbots, virtual reality, wearables, video streaming platforms, and gaming, among others. These objects are used for communication, interaction, and participation in daily activities like exercise, remote work, teaching, shopping, or health monitoring, contributing to reshaping our senses ⁽¹⁾, self and identities.

This session calls for research proposals exploring the effects of emerging technologies, AI, digitalisation, social media, and robotics on our sensory experiences and behaviour. It is an open invitation to collectively explore how technology can disrupt social life and strongly influence human experiences, relationships, social change, embodiment, and the structure of identities and life paths. We welcome studies examining the interaction between the mind, body, and technology in its affective and material forms, emphasising the immediacy of the body in the world and including a discussion on the impact of the rise of mediated, technological, and digital forms of social bonding and living. It aims to provide a platform for discussion on a wide range of critical questions and topics such as:

• The increasing use of technology, devices, prosthetics, wearables, analytics intelligence, and its significant societal implications. How does it affect our emotions, cognition, senses, interactions, and sociability? Does it enhance or diminish our sense of embodiment?
• How do social media platforms, communication technologies, and digital work tools influence interactions, behaviours, perception, attention, and body language?

⁽¹⁾ Pink, S. (Ed.). (2016). The sensory Social. Sage Publications.