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

Transition has become a buzzword, used to describe very different and even antagonistic ideas, and processes. While the push for socioecological transitions initially came from trade unions and social movements, several dominant actors - such as transnational corporations, international organizations, and states - also use the discourse of ecological transition to reposition themselves in the post-pandemic world. Social movements are important drivers of change in society (Melucci, 1996), but they are also actors in which modernity as a process of progressive transformation has been subjected to critical examination and contestation (Touraine, 1995); and this double role also applies to the case of socioecological transition. This panel will delve into the struggles for socioecological transitions with a global perspective. It will critically analyze the role of social movements and their relationship with other actors, primarily states and corporations. What are the various proposals for social-ecological transitions? What are the impacts of hegemonic green transition projects in the Global South? How does this affect social movements and shape their actions? What are the leading practices, discourses, and grammars in the making? What kinds of interactions are taking place between these actors and projects? What is the role of the state in the eco-social transitions? What eco-social alternatives are emerging from social movements, and how do we analyze them? This panel aims to explore these questions based on critical and plural perspectives that help to understand conflicts and projects for social and political change (and their obstacles) in the face of environmental crisis.