Reading the Material Body through Sociological Lenses: Methodological and Theoretical Challenges.

For more than two decades, sociologists such as David Franks, Jonathan Turner, Bernard Lahire, and Warren D. TenHouten have urged sociology to revisit neuroscience findings. This need is especially pressing in the current context of neuroscience and biomedical research, which has found a new niche for analyzing social phenomena. This interest stems, in part, from the usefulness of certain physiological indicators and advances in portable, less expensive technologies, which now make it possible to analyze, in real time and under ecologically valid conditions, measures of heart rate variability (ECG), electrodermal activity (EDA), and brain frequency (EEG) contrasts between participants. Heart rate analysis can reveal synchronization among participants in collaborative and emotionally relevant activities; electrodermal activity can reveal stressful interactions; and synchronized participants’ brain frequencies can show increased engagement in social activities. Even so, these advances pose significant challenges for the social sciences, raising questions about how to interpret these findings.

Papers for this session should therefore address one or more of the following questions:

• How are individuals’ physiological reactions or movements interpreted, and how can sociology explain this without falling into biological reductionism?
• How can sociology use biological variables to define categories for studying situated agency and social relations?
• What interdisciplinary methodology for research on the body and emotions emerges from the intersection of sociology, psychology, and neuroscience?
• How can data from other disciplines be translated to understand social relations, power, and stratification?

Keywords: Interdisciplinary research; mixed methodologies; body; emotion; EDA; ECG; EEG.