The European Sociological Association (ESA) is an academic association of sociologists and a non-profit Europe-wide association made up of 3000+ members. The 16th ESA conference was held recently in Portugal and ARENAS researcher, Gwenaëlle Bauvois from the University of Helsinki was one of the speakers who addressed the conference.
The ESA is the largest sociological conference in Europe and provides an international platform for thousands of European sociologists as well as sociologists worldwide. This year’s conference was held at the University of Porto from 27 to 30 of August, the very timely theme of the conference was Tension, Trust and Transformation.
Gwenaëlle Bauvois presented in the session ‘The diffusion of ideas and discourses’ organised by the ESA Research Network 15 ‘Global, transnational and Cosmopolitan Sociology’. Gwenaëlle works on the circulation of extremist narratives (Work Package 3) and the influence and spread of extremist narratives (Work Package 4). Her presentation explored the global circulation and performance of extremist narratives which is one of the key transversal issues of ARENAS.
Indeed, extremist narratives are frequently perceived as mere ‘stories’ recounting specific events within a particular national, political, historical, or cultural context, particularly in discussions related to nationalism. However, the exploration of extremism, along with its narrative content, should transcend narrow national confines and be regarded also as a global phenomenon. Extreme narratives are not static, impermeable and strictly restricted to one limited context, particularly amid global crises. While being localised on some level, these narratives also frequently exhibit striking similarities across different contexts, more notably when societal tensions take a supranational dimension.
This session, which centred on the diffusion of ideas and discourses, sparked lively and engaging discussions among sociologists from a diverse range of countries, including Italy, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Israel, and many more. The varied backgrounds and experiences of the attendees contributed to a dynamic atmosphere, making the session both insightful and stimulating for all involved.
