[Commlist] CfP: Toward a Critical Sociology of Mediated Democracy

CfP: Reclaiming the Political: Toward a Critical Sociology of Mediated 
Democracy, Warsaw, 25-28/8/2025

17th ESA conference, Warsaw, Poland, 25 – 28 August 2026

RN 18: Sociology of Communications and Media Research invites paper 
submissions for the 17th ESA Conference, to be held in Warsaw, Poland, 
from 25th to 28th August 2026 under the broad theme Strengthening 
Democracies: Social Action, Solidarity, and Sustainable Futures. RN18 
will organise sessions within the specialised sub-theme framework:

Reclaiming the Political: Toward a Critical Sociology of Mediated Democracy

In times marked by crises and turbulence, communications and media stand 
at the heart of democratic possibility and peril. As liberal 
institutional configurations confront intersecting challenges of 
authoritarianism, socioeconomic inequality, and ecological breakdown, 
the sociology of communications and media must play a pivotal role in 
analysing how capitalism mediates communication and how solidarities are 
either fragmented or forged. RN18 invites papers that critically examine 
how communication shapes and is shaped by struggles for democracy, 
equity, and sustainability.

We seek contributions that interrogate the structural entanglements of 
media and communication with capitalism, labour, ideology, and political 
discourse; that explore the role of journalism, digital platforms, and 
media in sustaining or undermining democratic imaginaries; and that 
assess how communicative practices enable or hinder collective action 
and public engagement across diverse social groups. In light of mounting 
disillusionment with liberal political orders and market-driven media 
infrastructures, contributors are encouraged to reflect on the prospects 
of post-capitalist and post-liberal democratic horizons, imaginaries 
that foreground decommodification, radical egalitarianism, participatory 
governance, epistemic justice, and ecological care. What forms of 
democracy might emerge when communication is disentangled from profit 
logics, when solidarity transcends national borders, and when media 
systems and advanced technologies are reoriented toward common goods?

We are particularly interested in submissions that examine the 
contradictory implications of digital technology and AI, from their 
deployment to reinforce techno-economic ordering, surveillance, and 
post-truth regimes to their potential to enable civic empowerment and 
new forms of counter-power. We welcome all scholars committed to 
advancing theoretical and empirical, critical sociological insight into 
the conditions, crises, and prospects of mediated democracy today. We 
invite researchers wishing to participate to submit their abstracts by 
30 January 2026. All abstracts must be submitted via the official 
conference platform:

https://www.conftool.com/esa2026/ <https://www.conftool.com/esa2026/>


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