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

It is widely acknowledged that the world’s current socio-economic system contributes to critical crises of the natural system. This session’s topic is influenced by Wallerstein’s prediction of a possible system change of the capitalist order that currently challenges life on earth and has disastrous environmental consequences. It seems as if Polany’s view matters on the transformation of the socio-economic current system into a system that is sharing wealth and tackles global questions in common efforts. Inequality is widespread but political and economic elites continue to favor the success of the fittest population groups and look for possibilities to continue the current world capitalist order by launching i.e. right-wing parties’ solutions . Instead, there is a need to imagine possible ways of socio-economic changes that may result in a challenge to overthink current job finding rules that lead large groups worldwide into informal and precarious job structures.

In this session, we are looking for papers that discuss possible socioeconomic transformations initiated not only by elites but by populations at large that can contribute to democratic ways of looking for possible solutions of socio-economic changes on a global level. Political confrontations therefore should no longer be at the forefront of the media but solutions that tackle current worldwide challenges, such as socioeconomic inequality, right-wing movements, and the climate change. Possible solutions should be discussed by RC 09 members that may and should influence globalized politics in the coming years.