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

The sociology of arts is well embedded in sociological theories, e.g., by Howard Becker, Pierre Bourdieu or Vera Zolberg. However, these theories have been developed in the last century, and thus the question arises whether this theoretical canon is still completely valuable in the second quarter of the 21^st century. The above scholars could not sufficiently predict and incorporate recent developments of, e.g., globalization and subaltern post-colonialism, the significance of the multiple crises of non-sustainability, or digitalization and the appearance of social platforms/ AI (to name just a few).

However, empirical studies of the sociology of arts sometimes lack a thorough theoretical background. Contemporary arts sociology should make use of newer models of general social theory, such as Actor-Network-Theory ANT, Social Network Theory SNT or Science and Technology Studies STS and, of course, other theories, such as queer theory or new models of capitalist critique. Some arts sociological studies have also tackled with these developments, e.g., as new “facets of the production of culture” (Richard Peterson).This section wants to discuss potential new theoretical approaches that are helpful for a sociology of the arts in the coming years.