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

Digitalisation is a leading topic in public and academic discourse worldwide and is widely understood as being the most powerful driver of change in economics, politics and social life. However, in order to assess in which way digital transformation helps to tackle current societal challenges, including climate change and the myriads of social and political crises around the world, cannot be left subject to a technology-based concept of digitalisation alone.

So far, technological determinism inherent in prevailing discourses around digitalisation has prevented us from attaining a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the far-reaching consequences of digitalised processes. In turn, analysing digital transformation from a more general perspective of the trajectory of social change, and moreover, within specific empirical contexts shows how digital transformation has different consequences for different social groups. The aim is to provide a new framework for analysis and empirical research of digitalisation. Such a framework serves to also shed light on digitalisation in regard to implementing social inequalities and bypassing unjust power structures through digitalized processes. Studying the diverse consequences and experiences of digitalised processes can also help us to better understand social problems not yet associated with digital transformation.

This regular session discusses approaches which conceptualise the trajectory of digital transformation within social science theories and/or approaches which contribute to theconceptualisation of digital transformation by empirical research, including how digital technology is used, focused on (unjust) outcomes of digitalised processes.