[Commlist] CfP ESA 2026 - Session "Collective and Participatory Approaches to Evolving and Embodied Lives"

Invitation for abstract
17th European Sociological Association Conference
/Strengthening Democracies: Social Action, Solidarity, and Sustainable 
Futures <https://europeansociology.org/conference/2026>/
Warsaw (Poland), 25-28 August 2026

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*Collective and Participatory Approaches to Evolving and Embodied Lives*
/Joint session RN03 Biographical perspectives on European Societies & /
/RN16 Sociology of health and medicine /

Convenors:
Micol Pizzolati - University of Bergamo, Italy - 
(micol.pizzolati /at/ unibg.it) <mailto:(micol.pizzolati /at/ unibg.it)>
Ana Patrícia Hilário, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal - 
(patriciahilario /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(patriciahilario /at/ gmail.com)>

This session invites contributions on applied social research grounded 
in collective and participatory approaches for exploring evolving, lived 
and embodied experiences. We welcome discussions of social inquiry that 
engage participants collaboratively, combining biographical, creative, 
and embodied techniques – for instance body mapping, narrative and 
art-based exercises, participatory theatre, visual storytelling, object 
elicitation, and walking interviews – to co-create knowledge about 
bodily and lived transformations. Contributions may address ageing, 
illness, disability, gendered and embodied transitions, as well as the 
shifting perceptions shaped by the gaze of others. The session 
particularly welcomes reflexive accounts that unpack the ethical, 
epistemological, and practical dimensions of participatory research. We 
are especially interested in how collaborative approaches can challenge 
hierarchies between researchers and participants, foster inclusivity, 
and democratise the production of knowledge. By bringing together 
perspectives from the sociology of health and medicine and 
interdisciplinary biographical methods, this joint session seeks to 
foster dialogue across disciplines and research traditions. Our aim is 
to highlight methodological innovation while also addressing broader 
questions of agency, power, and representation. In doing so, we intend 
to explore how collective and participatory methods enrich academic 
understanding of embodied experiences and life trajectories while 
contributing to more responsive, socially engaged, and transformative 
research practices.

Submissions are open until 30 January through ConfTool 
<https://www.conftool.com/esa2026/>.


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