(Title of session and revised call for paper coming soon)
Coordinator(s): Ardis Storm-Mathiesen and Arne Dulsrud (National Institute for Consumer Research, OsloMet)
This group session invites sociologists interested in research on how digital technologies are used, shape and transforms social processes and relations in society today. It welcomes those who focus on the infrastructural aspects (i.e. automation, algorithms, ‘smart’ solutions, platforms); those who study meanings, communication, interaction and socio-cultural forms produced with and through uses of digital products and services (i.e. identities, risks/vulnerabilities, competencies); and those who wish to discuss how the interconnections, blurring of boundaries and complexities that phenomenons of digitalization and dataficationproduce are challenging theoretical conceptions of actor-structure relationships and raise ethical-political issues. Contributions that seek to grasp wider wholes of socio-technical interactions and/or discuss how digitalization is transforming local practices and relations and/or various theoretical tools that fruitfully help with analysing these complex actor-networks are encouraged. The session wishes to provide researchers and students with interest in such themes with an opportunity to meet, present and discuss empirical, methodological and theoretical challenges. We wish to create a forum for engaged academic discussions and collaboration across subfield-divisions and contributions in all phases and on multiple problem formulations are welcomed.