The Imaginary Man: For a Sociology of Knowledge (in tribute to E. Morin, Founder of RC14)

Morin argued that mass culture, promoting the consumption of material and spiritual goods has also promoted the possibility of satisfaction in the “dream” (erasing frontiers between reality and imaginary) offering adventure to people “wearing slippers”. We can easily use the above pivotal idea for the understanding of contemporary socialities characterized by the networks (f.i. the increasing “participation” in social media, the entertainment habits via platforms, the new features of “online proximity” and “being together” etc.).

Because “reality” and “virtuality” are thus relied nowadays, and because images are dominant everywhere (being part of the so called “iconic turn” in the frame of the societies of the spectacle), imagination is more dynamic than ever before, characterizing habits, beliefs, values and even “activities”; online proximities become a prevailing habit, causing material distancing, changing the significance of the “social link”. In this way, emotions can be easily transferred to the fictional stories narrated on the screens (cinema and mass culture products).

This session, invites papers taking into account Morin’s method and/or theory (critical analyses of contemporary societies -topics such as imaginary, complexity, uncertainty, diversity, transdisciplinary approach to knowledge etc.) in order to better approach sociologically current social issues (such as the social and political participation, the relation of audiences to cultural products and the heritage of mass culture; the power of images in shaping societal norms and individual identities and the dimensions of the fabrication of the contemporary “influencers” – compared to idols- in the ongoing global societies, indicating the “spirit of our time”).