XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 15-21, 2018)

JS-28

Visualizing Power: Epistemological and Theoretical Aspects of Studying Biographies Affected By Violence and Injustice

RC57 Visual Sociology (host committee)
RC38 Biography and Society
RC37 Sociology of Arts

Language: English

This joint session seeks to present different sociological perspectives on how visuals and the arts are related to biographies affected by power, violence and injustice. How images of different kinds and media, e.g. paintings, drawings, collages and photographs from art history, contemporary artists, scholars and non-scholars create ways to depict experiences, situations and social contexts shaped by power and violence? In what way images are used to deal with power and violence e.g. in political activism, public media or within families? How do they become relevant in processes of transmission between generations and within communities affected by power, violence and injustice? How can images become powerful and violent by themselves?

We seek papers that will explore various methodological, epistemological, and theoretical approaches concerning visibility and invisibility of power, violence and injustice. We particularly welcome papers that will examine these aspects in a comparative manner: between different observers, cross culturally, or across historical periods.