ABSTRACT. This abstract explores discrimination in the context of deafness, specifically concerning individuals born deaf who have chosen cochlear implants to address hearing impairment. Deaf individuals do not perceive themselves as disabled but rather as a linguistic minority which leads them to preserve their own identity and language rather than be assimilated through medical interventions such as cochlear implants. The cochlear implant is a medical device invented for repair and reduce the hearing impairment. Discrimination and rehabilitation are interconnected, as both play a significant role in a society built on the myth of the "normal" body. This myth, embedded in a socio-cultural context, highlights the mechanisms of discrimination. In this context, discrimination emerges within the deaf community itself, particularly towards implanted individuals who, rather than embracing sign language, adopt oralism to communicate with the hearing world. Undergoing cochlear implantation means submitting to the medical field, which seeks to "repair" hearing impairment as if it were a pathology. Rehabilitation through cochlear implants often entails distancing oneself from the deaf community, leading to a sense of exclusion for those who do not use sign language. Rather than only "repairing" deafness, cochlear implants have contributed to the creation of inequalities between two worlds, potentially causing identity crises in individuals who undergo surgery without exposure to the deaf community, especially considering that not all implanted individuals are bilingual. Rehabilitation thus results in the medicalisation of bodies where those with cochlear implants follow the path of oralism, becoming deaf individuals who resemble the hearing.

ABSTRACT. Studies that use autoethnography are characterized by a wide variety of approaches. They stand out for the importance given to the personal biography, the body, and the emotions of the researcher, as well as the writing methods employed, which are often in the first person and enriched with innovative techniques. As Jones observes, autoethnography requires that we observe ourselves while observing, question what we think and believe, and challenge our own assumptions, repeatedly asking ourselves if we have penetrated all the layers of our defenses, fears, and insecurities, as our project requires (Jones, 2013, p. 10). I have written an autoethnography about my experience in taking care of my parents, and now only of my father, who has Alzheimer's disease. I wanted to conduct research on care work, one of the key concepts in gender perspective considerations. I began to understand the concept of care work after the birth of my daughter. At some point, I found myself constantly taking care of another person. It’s a dimension that cannot be imagined before living it, and in my case, it mostly involved the first few years of life together. However, even before my daughter was born, I was already dealing with medical and bureaucratic issues for my parents. My mother, who had been suffering from a rare form of thyroid cancer for many years, often needed someone to liaise with the doctors. It wasn't easy to describe delicate and intimate situations. Autoethnography has given me the opportunity to outline situations that many people experience, especially women and those socialized as such; overall, family conflicts, power relations, and issues related to inadequate healthcare services.

ABSTRACT. In 2013 the onset of an aggressive Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma gave me the opportunity to enter two Italian Oncological Institutes characterized by distinct organizational cultures (Schein, 2004), approaches to clinical therapies, relations between research and standardized protocols, regard for emotions, lives and experiences. As a not naïve patient/STS researcher I could feel on my skin the consequences of nuances (and sometimes completely different colours) of organizational culture. On the one hand, an open-ended and reflexive organizational culture, based on high personalization and a translational approach (Institute 2); on the other, a sclerotized, blind protocol approach, where standardization was not in motion towards “local universality” (Timmermans and Berg, 1997) but locked in a dangerous series of bottlenecks (Pellegrino, 2021). The case of severe/critical illness (Rier, 2002) configures autoethnography as an inadvertent, contingent access to organizations, significantly different than the usually negotiated ethnography previously carried out during my research path (see Pellegrino, 2004) and often constraining methodological accuracy because of the extreme vulnerability experienced during several hospitalizations and continuous day hospital therapies. As a researcher in Science and Technology Studies, I used technoscientific artefacts to access organizational culture, especially standards and protocols as part of information infrastructures and classifications (Bowker and Star, 1999). The resulting evidence of a misdiagnosis and wrong therapies for two years, and the reiterated risk of death, positioned me in the wrong box as an orphan of the right classification (Bowker and Star, 1999). Therefore, my way to autoethnography was theoretically informed by both STS and Organization Studies, and methodologically by a mixed approach, both analytic (Anderson, 2006) and evocative (Bochner and Ellis, 2016), which allowed me to deal with dilemmas and conflicts emerging from the field, especially following the emergence of misdiagnosis and forced exit from Institute 1.

ABSTRACT. The proposal focuses attention on the processes of integration and inclusion of artificial intelligence in university systems in terms of management and organisation of teaching activities, student orientation and recruitment, with a particular focus on the ethical implications adopted to regulate the use of AI in the daily practices of the various stakeholders (students, teachers, technicians, administrative staff, etc.). Through the presentation of the European project Ethical AI, promoted by the University of Costa Rica with a partnership of universities from different countries at a global level, the contribution will focus on the regulatory framework shared within the network of partner universities, as well as on the verification of its integration within some universities selected as pioneers in the process of integrating AI within the university system

ABSTRACT. The essay proposes a critical reflection on AI, beginning with the studies of J.R. Searle, with the aim of questioning the use of the word “intelligence,” believing that we should speak at most of “imitation,” since artificial systems can simulate rather than duplicate the mind. From the analysis emerges the need to revise the known sociological categories, thanks to the most recent technological discoveries, focusing on foundational concepts of knowledge and cognition, such as brain, mind, consciousness and intentionality, destined to become increasingly central in the comparison between disciplines, for a science that will necessarily have to deal, not only with the epistemically objective, but also with the ontologically subjective.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the risks and opportunities of the social understanding of non-binary identities in digital communities, analysing the discursive dynamics that emerge on Reddit. While the web offers an arena where marginalised subjectivities can find support and visibility, the use of advanced technologies in social research raises crucial ethical and methodological issues. Using a mixed approach that combines web scraping, netnography and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), this research examines the conversations in subreddits dedicated to non-binary identities. Web scraping makes it possible to collect a vast amount of textual data, offering a broad view of the experiences and discursive practices that develop on the web. Netnography, on the other hand, allows us to immerse ourselves in social interactions, highlighting the strategies with which users construct and redefine their gender identity. Finally, Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) allows us to identify the deep structures of discourse, highlighting the kaleidoscopic narratives of non-binary. This research opens a critical reflection on the heuristic pool of digital data and its ability to faithfully represent social complexity. If on the one hand big data can reproduce pre-existing biases, marginalising less visible voices or distorting the meaning of online narratives, on the other hand the adoption of innovative tools allows us to grasp the transformations of gender identities in greater depth, offering more articulated and multifaceted interpretations. Therefore, through this analysis, the research aims to highlight how the data offered by the web is redefining the methodologies of social research, with ethical and epistemological implications that require a critical and reflective approach. In conclusion, the objective is to stimulate a debate on the need for methodological strategies that are attentive to the complexity of subjectivities emerging on the web.

ABSTRACT. The study presents an experimental design that transpose audit-studies to digital platforms with the aim to explore innovative solutions to investigate disparities in job access. Specifically, it examines gender‑based differences in access to STEM roles (programming and data analysis) in the Italian labor market. Its primary objective is to determine whether employers exhibit differentiated preferences to applications based solely on perceived candidate gender. Two fictitious identities, male and female,  were fabricated using generative AI for realistic profile images, with résumés matched for education, skills, and limited work experience. Their résumés were submitted to organizations advertising entry-level developer or data-scientist positions on Linkedin between January 15 and 30, 2025. A Python‑based scraper collected 939 job postings in a single session, which were then filtered for relevance, yielding 198 viable ads. The research team manually submitted applications under both identities and managed to submit both applications for 167 job postings, yielding a sample of dependent observations. Applications  outcomes  (viewed, responded to, and responded positively) were recorded manually in the two weeks following the last application, with final data updated on February 13, 2025. The results, although limited by low response rates,  reveal a statistically significant advantage for female applicants in early recruitment stages, which may reflect the influence of gender‑equity initiatives or residual organizational biases. This proof‑of‑concept can be extended by fabricating additional synthetic identities to control for more covariates, from both applicant and employer perspectives, and isolate selection biases across nationality, age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status to assess how intersecting identities affect labor‑market outcomes.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the integration of Social Network Analysis (SNA) and cartography of controversies as a methodological framework to examine the development of social science research infrastructures, with a focus on ethical concerns in the Italian Online Probability Panel (IOPP) within the European project FOSSR (Fostering Open Science in Social Science Research). By combining Cartography of Controversies (Venturini, 2010) and SNA, the study provides a novel approach to mapping the complex interplay of human and non-human actors, addressing ethical, methodological, and sociotechnical challenges. The study follows five analytical steps, moving (1) from statements to literature, (2) from literature to actors, (3) from actors to networks, (4) from networks to cosmoses (ideologies), and (5) from cosmoses to cosmopolitics (Young, 2022). First, it identifies three dominant ethical perspectives: ethics as constraint, as need, as holistic framework, Secondly, it identifies macro-actors involved detailing its roles and positions. Third, SNA is applied to analyze communication flows and relationships within the project’s digital environment. This step proves to be crucial in bringing out cosmos and cosmopolitics that underlie the two main ideological spheres: Ethics as Justice and Ethics as Practice. Cartography of controversies enriches this analysis by highlighting the complexities of managing diverse stakeholders and technical constraints. The results offer a detailed visualization of the relationships and power dynamics that shape decision-making processes, workloads and collaboration between individuals and their organizations. The central macro-actor plays a dominant role in ethical oversight, but reveal underutilized contributions from peripheral stakeholders, including practical, technical and methodological consultants. Enhanced collaboration across all actors is critical to fostering resilient and inclusive research infrastructures. The study underscores the importance of adaptable ethical frameworks, such as Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Ethics-by-Design, to balance operational efficiency with moral imperatives. These frameworks ensuring compliance with Open Science and FAIR principles while fostering sustainable, equitable research practices.

ABSTRACT. This paper introduces a three-dimensional approach for analysing brokerage in social networks that have the potential to open new areas of research in Science and Technology Studies (STS). Brokerage is a fundamental concept in social network analysis, where it refers to situations in which actors bridge otherwise disconnected actors. Such brokerage can have both individual consequences and consequences for the network as a whole. While traditional approaches to brokerage focus primarily on counting brokerage instances, our framework expands this perspective by examining three important dimensions of brokerage—brokerage activity, exclusivity, and diversity—focusing both on different established brokerage roles and in total. This comprehensive approach can provide insights into how knowledge flows, innovations spread, and power dynamics operate within scientific and technological networks.

In STS, understanding brokerage can, therefore, be essential for examining how knowledge crosses disciplinary boundaries, how innovations spread throughout research communities, and how certain actors gain influence by controlling information flows. It has been applied in STS, but our three-dimensional framework allows researchers to distinguish between different brokerage patterns that the conventional approach may conflate. For instance, it can differentiate between highly active brokers who connect many otherwise disconnected actors and those who serve as exclusive pathways between specific groups—a crucial distinction when studying gatekeeping in scientific communities.

We demonstrate this three-dimensional framework and its applicability with an empirical example of a collaborative governance network of actors mitigating flood risk together. By applying it to STS contexts, researchers may better understand the structural foundations of scientific innovation, disciplinary integration, and knowledge production. The paper contributes to the growing methodological toolkit for network-based research in STS and offers new perspectives on the relational structures underlying scientific and technological development.

ABSTRACT. This study maps and analyzes the social networks of scientists, researchers, and policymakers involved in the development of aerospace technologies in Turkey, where significant breakthroughs have occurred recently. Using Social Network Analysis (SNA), the study aims to: (i) identify key public and research actors within the Turkish Aerospace Ecosystem, a vital component of Turkey’s national innovation system, (ii) examine collaboration dynamics, and (iii) analyze knowledge and technology flows. The study will uncover structural collaboration patterns among public institutions and research institutes. In addition to quantitative network metrics, qualitative data from policy documents, interviews, and institutional reports will be used to provide a comprehensive understanding of the ecosystem. Finally, the findings will offer actionable recommendations for enhancing cooperation in Turkey’s aerospace ecosystem and strengthening the national innovation system.

ABSTRACT. When we talk about “Gambling”, we refer to a universe of human and non-human activities that is extremely heterogeneous in all its characteristics, a hybrid that is well suited to be studied with the ANT approach. Its declinations in problematic terms have for many years now been the focus of much controversy about how this phenomenon should be managed and regulated. The attempt to identify the actants that make up this object-network can benefit greatly from the use of SNA if we limit its use to the sphere pertaining to academic productions only. In this study, through a co-citation analysis performed on the Scopus and WoS databases, it was possible to build a network of scholarly publications, highlighting the most relevant disciplinary areas, lead authors, and dominant theoretical contributions. SNA facilitated the understanding of emerging trends and knowledge considered “canonical” in the field of gambling by identifying clusters of studies that share similar themes and approaches, providing insight into the dynamics of expert knowledge development on gambling. Comparing and integrating the results of the SNA with the material produced during field work, it becomes clear how the definitions of the phenomenon in terms of health risks exerts a crucial agency over all the actants involved. It is around this version of the object that the main controversy is centered, relegating all the remaining controversial components to the background. Based on the results obtained, I believe that SNA can effectively support classical ANT tools, although it is appropriate-as always, after all-to keep in mind that no method, no technique is ever neutral and that the objects we obtain through them are themselves a new and necessarily different instance of the phenomenon we intend to study.

ABSTRACT. In producing scientific knowledge, focusing on the discourses purported by groups of actors involved in such production may help understand how knowledge itself is legitimized and sustained by enrolling different allies. The tradition of Science and Technology Studies (STS) is known for the attention paid to such a discursive form of enrolment and how different networks of association may contribute to sustaining and enduring knowledge claims and their acceptance (e.g. Latour, 1987, 2005). In this proposal, we provide a theoretical and methodological framework for analysing these enrolment forms through Social Network Analysis (SNA) and particularly by using two-mode networks. The latter is known to be fruitfully employed in STS, dealing with the heterogeneity of technoscientific relationships (Mützel, 2009). In our proposal, two-mode networks are part of a protocol designed by the authors to study epistemic enrolment through a process of translation of discourse into network data. We thus present a mixed-method strategy developed in the spirit of qualitative networks (Hollstein, 2011; Bellotti, 2014) and within the perspective of social worlds, in line with the STS tradition (Clarke and Star, 2008). In this context, we consider epistemic enrolment as a set of linkages between knowledge claims and the human and non-human actors that are enrolled discursively to sustain these claims. These linkages are then operationalised by constructing actor-by-claim two-mode networks out of qualitative data collected by web-ethnography. To demonstrate the protocol’s applicability across various knowledge domains, our contribution illustrates the implementation of this analytical framework in two empirical cases concerning discourses in online spaces. The first case involves a study of two distinct "refused knowledge communities" during the COVID-19 pandemic (Neresini et al., 2024), and the second case focuses on the promotion of current space exploration programs via the NASA Artemis social media channels and webpages.

ABSTRACT. Following more than four decades of immigration to Italy, the children of immigrants now constitute a significant segment of the population with an immigrant background and play an increasingly prominent role in the Italian educational system. Since the 1990s, research has consistently demonstrated that students of immigrant origin exhibit higher rates of school dropout compared to their native Italian peers. They are more likely to experience grade retention, achieve lower academic performance, and obtain less favourable grades. Moreover, those enrolled in upper secondary education tend to follow less academically demanding pathways, with a higher concentration in technical and vocational institutions. The ‘Bambini e ragazzi: comportamenti, atteggiamenti e progetti futuri’ (Children and young people: behaviors, attitudes and future plans) Survey, conducted by Istat in 2023 on a nationally representative sample of 108,000 young people aged 11 to 19 residing in Italy, provides a unique opportunity to reassess these issues, examining the persistence of educational disadvantage and its association with key demographic, social, and economic characteristics of the respondents and their families. In addition to objective structural factors, the study incorporates subjective dimensions such as self-efficacy, enabling an analysis of the relationship between psychological well-being and educational success. Beyond the comparison with native Italian students, the analyses are stratified by gender, countries and/or macro-regions of origin, and migrant generation to identify group-specific patterns and better capture the heterogeneity of educational trajectories among students with an immigrant background. This research aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying educational inequalities and to inform evidence-based policies that promote equal opportunities and academic achievement for all students in Italy.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the marital and reproductive perspectives of second-generation youth of Albanian and North African descent in Trentino, within the framework of the The Children of Immigrants Have Grown Up project, which investigates the transition to adulthood of young people with a migratory background in Italy. Adopting a qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews with unmarried and childless individuals aged 18 to 30, this research explores their perceptions of marriage, partner selection strategies, and expectations regarding parenthood, as well as how these aspects are negotiated between cultural norms, family pressures, and individual aspirations. Marriage emerges as a central institution, yet one that is subject to reinterpretation and redefinition.

ABSTRACT. Italy holds one of the lowest fertility rates in Europe and the highest maternal mean age at first birth. Yet, births with at least a foreign parent represent a non-negligible 21.3% of all births which occurred in Italy in 2023 (ISTAT 2024) and recent research suggests that migrants have higher short-term fertility intentions than natives (Mussino, Gabrielli, Ortensi, Strozza, 2021). Signs of overall convergence between native and migrant fertility patterns, observed when analyzing actual fertility rates, may therefore be more a result of difficulties in realizing fertility intentions than of changing norms and preferences (Mussino, Ortensi, 2018). Furthermore, little do we know regarding the fertility of second-generation migrant women and men who were born or grew up in Italy. Indeed official statistics are based on data on births occurring in Italy by nationality of both parents; yet, due to acquisition of Italian citizenship upon reaching adulthood for youth of migrant origin, the contribution of second generations to the overall fertility rate is not readily available, let alone by country of citizenship. This study makes use of a new, rich data source, the ISTAT Children and Youth survey conducted in 2023, to examine the expectations and intentions regarding family formation and parenthood among young people aged 11–19. Particular attention is given to differences between native-born and migrant youth. Importantly, the survey enables us to examine reproductive preferences of both girls and boys as well as to consider different countries of citizenship. The paper explores how socio-economic and cultural factors shape adolescents’ family aspirations. The findings will provide new insights into ongoing transformations in fertility and family patterns and their implications for social inclusion and welfare policies.

ABSTRACT. The paper explores the condition of NEETs (i.e. ‘NOT in Education, Employment nor Training’) in Italy, by focusing on the interaction between migrant background and family status. Exploring the young aged 20-29 in the Italian Labour Force Survey (years 2021 to 2023), we study the interplay of fractional migrant generations (2.5G, 2.0G, 1.5G, and 1.0G), family resources (living with parents) and family burdens (having children) on the probability of being NEET, separately by gender. Considering the unbalanced distribution of migrant generations in the young Italian population, we standardize the age distribution of the whole sample by using that of the young with NOmigrant background as reference.

Our analyses show that 2.5G and 2.0G, while being on average younger and more enrolled in education than the youth without a migrant background, tend to replicate their NEET behaviour. Instead, among 1.5G and, especially, 1.0G, who are on average older and more active in the labour market, a higher likelihood to be NEET emerges. Indeed, they rarely enroll in education, and present a strong division of family roles: living independently (lack of parental resources) and having children (burden) push boys towards employment or unemployment (the latter being a NEET condition), while girls towards housekeeping (again, a NEET condition).

Regarding NEET behaviour, a cleavage appears between 2.5G, 2.0G plus 1.5G, who mostly live with their parents, and 1.0G, who tend to live independently. Among the latter, the girls represent an alternative profile to the Italian NEET stereotype of young people living for long with parents without family burdens, while the boys register higher unemployment rates than those known for first migrant generation adults. Our research provides original evidence on the occupational, educational and family patterns of the fractional migrant generations in Italy, who are now coming to age in a relatively ‘new’ destination country.

ABSTRACT. Our research targets tertiary students with a migrant background, belonging to either the first migrant generation (arrived in Italy independently from their parents, e.g. to work or study) or the second generations (i.e. children of at least one migrant parent, either born or brought in Italy before adulthood). A key question is whether the behaviors of second generation students align more closely with those of first migrant generation or with their peers without a migrant background. Recent contributions in the filed suggest that gap with students without a migrant background diminishes for students born or raised in Italy since early age.

Exploiting a unique survey on students enrolled at University of Milan-Bicocca in the academic year 2020/21 (Uni4All), we identify three profiles of second-generation migrants (‘Italy-born to a mixed couple’, ‘Italy-born to non-Italian citizens only’ and ‘Foreign-born arrived before age 14’) and one profile of first-generation migrants (‘Foreign-born arrived at 14+ years old’). Not only are we able to follow their academic career in subsequent years (drops out, graduations, students out of track), but also to trace their living and working situation, ethnic networks, language proficiency and self-assessment.

Our preliminary results on the students with a migrant background show a lower share of drops out but slower academic careers, due to their higher working duties but also the language and network barriers. We highlight both a dual divide (second versus first-generation migrants) and a gradient (across multiple migrant backgrounds), suggesting for instance higher percentages of students on track among the Italians born to mixed couple, then gradually descending towards the last profile of foreign-born arrived in Italy after 14 years old. We aim to contribute to the flourishing and promising field of literature focusing on the academic performance of second generations in Italy, now coming to age for tertiary studies.

ABSTRACT. Italy has become a long-term destination for immigration, leading to the emergence of a new generation with a migration background. Despite the strong concentration of immigrant descendants in younger age groups, they are gradually reaching adulthood and entering the labor market, raising questions about their employment opportunities. Existing literature has widely analyzed the labor market disadvantages faced by first-generation immigrants—who are often confined to precarious jobs, low-skilled occupations, wage and profession penalties—the career trajectories of their descendants remain less explored in Italy. There is increasing interest in understanding the extent to which the children of immigrants experience ethnic penalties, including discrimination and occupational segregation. Our aim is to explore how the theory of segmented assimilation suggests that the children of immigrants may follow divergent pathways by (1) analyzing occupation and overqualification patterns between Italians and foreigners by migratory generation and (2) assessing the role of social networks in determining overeducation for migrants. Using data form the Italian Labour Force Survey, the analysis employs descriptive and multivariate techniques to examine employment opportunities and labor market conditions among second-generation, including those born to mixed-couple parents, those with two foreign-born parents, immigrants who arrived at school age, and first-generation immigrants. Over-education is a key variable, and a two-stage Heckman correction is applied to address sample selection bias. Results indicate that second-generation individuals face a higher risk of labor market exclusion than natives but experience lower ethnic penalty than the first generation. Those born to mixed couples tend to secure more qualified positions, while intermediate generations encounter greater challenges, suggesting that age at arrival plays a crucial role in shaping employment opportunities. Finally, informal networks play an important role for immigrants and children of immigrants, not also for children of Italians (natives and G2mix).

ABSTRACT. Participatory research, understood as a situated and evolving practice, offers new perspectives for integrating healthcare services with digital tools. This study, based on a co-design approach, explores the active involvement of older adults, caregivers, and healthcare professionals in developing a sociological healthcare dashboard. This tool integrates social, medical, and care-related information, redefining care management and self-management through collaboration among users and professionals. However, conducting participatory research with and for older adults presents significant challenges. The digital divide remains a major obstacle, as many older adults face barriers related to digital literacy and confidence in using technology. Moreover, their involvement in the design phase is often limited to later stages, reducing their ability to influence the development of digital health tools. This research highlights how co-design can address these limitations by creating an inclusive and trust-based participatory environment, fostering solidarity among different actors in the healthcare system and ensuring that older adults are recognized not as passive users but as agents in technological development. This study shows how co-design can bridge the gap between technological innovation and the real needs of older users. The findings emphasize the need for adaptive and context-sensitive methodologies, ensuring that participation is not merely symbolic but truly transformative, reinforcing collaborative networks of care.

ABSTRACT. In Social Sciences, data production may be biased in several ways. In the context of a stigmatised religious minority like French Muslims, the State’s surveillance and repression may limit the access to the field and, consequently, force scholars to adopt categories and research questions produced within the political realm - often characterised by securitarian and orientalist notions. Such a tendency results in an indirect overlap between the State’s and researchers’ agendas.

To overcome such an epistemological risk, researchers studying minorities in contemporary contexts often adopt a participatory research approach.

As a research-to-action approach emphasising engagement and the use of systematic inquiry in collaboration with research participants, participatory research enables researchers to overcome some of their positionalities ambiguities and grasp minorities’ perspectives. For instance, the inclusion of Muslim activists' perspectives in the data production of a research focused on the relations between the French State and Muslim associations, facilitated the emergence of dynamics and problematics otherwise underrepresented in academic research, while fostering a link of solidarity between the researcher and the activists.

The hereby presented paper, by investigating strategies to overcome positionality ambiguities in studying French Muslims activism as a white man, shows and analyses a research pattern from early doubts until the development of a design inclusive of my research participants' perspectives (21 Muslims activists). The outcomes are, on one hand, an interesting perspective over the notion of positionality and the role of solidarity in it; on the other, a descriptive analysis of my personal experience - mistakes included - that may be helpful for other researchers approaching marginalised communities.

ABSTRACT. This contribution is part of a Marie Curie project titled ‘Mig. Pro. – Migrants’ protests: How the borders of citizenship are conceived, mobilized and constructed by migrants’ farm workers protests’. This paper brings a reflection on participatory action research (PAR) applied to co-create and circulate knowledge with migrants’ networks of supporters and with migrants working and living with a precarious legal status.

Research on/for grass roots movements and networks of support for migrant agricultural workers’ (MAWs) rights has gained attention in the last decades in Italy and at times in other national contexts. Even though, migrants’ political agency have only occasionally received resonance in both public discourse and academia (Stepinphiler, 2021). Migrants employed in this specific sector-food production - that result fundamental to our societies are the main subject/actors of this research with the intent to challenge mainstream representations of migrants as essentialised and dichotomist: ‘precarious/well-integrated’, ‘vulnerable/criminals’, ‘invisible-passive/disturbing’, ‘undeserved/essential’; ii) methods utilised so far at least in the Italian context. Thus by looking both at micro/individual and at macro-level interactions in the two specific case studies for the Italian context, and by assuming a critical feminist standpoint this work intends to deconstruct power relations that may have place within the knowledge production itself. Departing from this perspective the contribution intends to share preliminary findings and contribute to the debate regarding PAR’s application. Thus with the intent that PAR’s application can help provide a response also to epistemic injustices (Fricker, 2007) often embedded within processes of knowledge production the paper will share on: i) PAR’s application in specific contexts, that may expose to criticalities and risky situations; ii) relationalities and research practices, by interrogating also on researcher’s posionality; ii) challenges and potentialities of applying PAR for participants for the ethic of knowledge production.

Disclaimer: Project funded by the European Union GA101066659

ABSTRACT. Solidarity is a key aspect of participatory ethnographic practice, but how can researchers foster participation and engage in participatory research through solidarity? This contribution draws on Participatory Action Research (PAR) and feminist methodologies to reflect on the role of solidarity in shaping relationships between academic researchers and civic participants. These approaches emphasize power distribution, democratic participation, and ethical commitments, all fundamental to co-designing research and co-producing situated knowledge.

This presentation discusses the challenges and opportunities for solidarity built between the researcher, organic farmers, and Alternative Food Network (AFN) members in Zagreb as a fieldwork strategy and ethical commitment. This is part of a PhD thesis aiming to understand the working conditions of organic farmers, including several stakeholders in the local AFN, to examine their relationships and dynamics.

Drawing on six months of fieldwork, I reflect on how solidarity relationships with key civic actors facilitated my introduction to the field. Over time, participation in volunteering, events, and collaborations deepened these relationships, demonstrating how solidarity functions as a methodological tool for PAR. While solidarity fostered trust, it also revealed tensions, highlighting the need for reflection in PAR.

Nonetheless, questions on challenges and opportunities prevail. First, how do power relationships in the existing network of actors enter and co-exist with new solidarity relationships? Second, how do practical constraints limit relationships with research actors? And finally, how is solidarity later joined in efforts of knowledge co-production?

This invitation to reflect on how different academic and civic research participants contribute to new meanings and practices of participatory research.

ABSTRACT. This research aims to offer a theoretical and methodological reflection on the role that local community participation, supported by open-source digital technologies (QGIS), assumes within territorial regeneration processes envisioned by Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and the National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI 2021/2027). The study focuses specifically on five inner areas in Apulia (Monti Dauni, Gargano, Alta Murgia, Alto Salento, and Sud Salento), traditionally perceived as marginal territories. These areas are analyzed through a dynamic and historically grounded approach, redefining the concept of territory as a continuous layering of socio-cultural processes, negotiations, and conflicts among local actors. Rather than interpreting these territories merely as marginal contexts, the research explores their inherent potentials and unique resources within a dynamic historical perspective, highlighting previously overlooked opportunities for sustainable regeneration. Methodologically, the research emphasizes participatory mapping practices combined with Historical GIS tools (particularly QGIS), aiming to foster territorial narratives that elevate local historical memory, reinforcing the dignity and centrality of community-based knowledge production. The active involvement of local communities emerges as essential for inclusive territorial decision-making processes. Yet, the research also critically acknowledges challenges inherent to participatory methodologies, such as ethical data management, the representativeness of involved groups, risks of local knowledge instrumentalization, and challenges in ensuring the long-term continuity and sustainability of participatory practices. Ultimately, this contribution seeks to explore both the potential and limitations of combining participatory approaches, historical analysis, and open-source GIS technology, proposing a replicable model that redefines marginal areas through active community engagement and historically grounded territorial knowledge.

ABSTRACT. Going to college has long conferred a large wage premium. We show that the relative premium received by lower-income college-goers has halved since the 1960s. We decompose the steady rise in American higher education’s regressivity using dozens of survey and administrative datasets that document 1900–2020 wage premiums and the composition and value-added of collegiate institutions and majors. Three trends explain two-thirds of rising collegiate regressivity. First, the less-selective and public institutions that disproportionately enroll lower-income students have declined in economic value. Second, lower-income students are increasingly over-represented in America’s shrinking community college sector since 1990. Third, higher-income students have driven declining humanities enrollment and expanding computer science enrollment since the 2000s, increasing their degrees’ value. Differential selection and shifts between four-year institutions are second-order. College-going provided equitable returns before 1960, but collegiate regressivity has curtailed higher education’s potential to reduce inequality and mediates 25 percent of intergenerational income transmission.

ABSTRACT. In the study of intergenerational educational inequalities, synthetic indices such as ESCS or SES are commonly used to summarize individuals’ socio-cultural and economic background. While these indicators provide a useful synthesis, they do not allow for an in-depth analysis of the micro-mechanisms underlying the reproduction of educational inequalities. This study examines the impact of students’ family cultural background on academic performance—measured through standardized tests—and educational expectations. The methodological contribution lies in constructing a typology that cross-classifies parental education levels, considering both homogamous conditions (similar educational levels between parents) and imbalanced situations, to estimate the differential weight of maternal and paternal education. Using OECD PISA 2022 data for Italy, this paper presents the proposed typology and examines its effects on test scores and educational expectations. The analysis proceeds in two steps. First, an analysis of variance compares differences in academic performance across the identified groups. Second, two sets of regression models are developed. The first set, based on multiple linear regression, transforms the typology into dummy variables and examines its effects while controlling for individual characteristics (e.g., gender, migration background). School track is included as a mediating variable to assess its role in shaping test scores. The goal is to estimate whether homogamy or heterogamy in parental education has a stronger impact on academic performance. The second set, based on logistic regression, follows a similar framework but focuses on students’ educational expectations. Here, in addition to school track, students’ competency levels (previously the dependent variable) are introduced as an additional mediating factor. These models allow us to understand whether family educational background influences aspirations beyond actual performance. We expect that in couples where mothers are more educated than fathers, the impact on scores will be stronger than in the opposite combination, reinforcing well-known patterns of educational reproduction.

ABSTRACT. The literature on student learning in Italy has highlighted how academic performance is influenced by multiple factors (individual, institutional, and contextual). Among these, the territorial context plays a crucial role in reproducing educational inequalities, with marked regional differences driven by the variability of educational and socio-economic resources.

To examine these disparities, this study adopts a methodological approach that combines multilevel analysis and multiple linear regression, observing the effect of individual (gender, ESCS, migratory background, grade repetition), school-level (track, average school ESCS), and stratification variables (regions). The aim is to assess variations in educational outcomes both between and within regions, highlighting the strengths and limitations of each method.

We use INVALSI 2022 data, which are comparable to OECD-PISA 2022, to analyse performance inequalities in reading and mathematics. First, multilevel analysis is employed to decompose the total variance in learning. This approach quantifies the impact of the territorial dimension on educational inequalities and provides a structured view of the distribution of learning opportunity. In addition, it distinguishes the share relating to regional differences from the residual variance. However, this technique does not allow for a direct estimation of the relative advantage with being born in region rather than another. To overcome this limitation, we introduce a multiple linear regression model in which regions are treated as dummy variables. This approach enables a direct comparison of regional effects and provides a more precise measure of the territorial impact on learning inequalities.

Results show the advantage of combining both techniques in capturing the complexity of the phenomenon. Multilevel regression highlights the vertical structure of regional disparities, while regression with regional dummies provides insights into their horizontal structure. We conclude that these methods are complementary: they function as bifocal lenses, offering a more comprehensive analysis of territorial gaps in learning outcomes.

ABSTRACT. During the last couple of decades, sexual relationships in Iran have been one of the areas which has undergone big changes. A society that has traditionally accepted only marriage as the form of relationship is now experiencing various forms of relationships, such as online dating and sex outside of marriage. The current study investigates how I did an ethnographic mixed-method study to explore the nuances of online dating in an Islamic country. Due to the lack of studies on sexual relationships and mainly online dating in Iran, I recruited an exploratory sequential mixed method. Based on what Creswel says this kind of research method is useful when we are going to develop measures and instruments that are sensitive to the needs of a specific cultural population or sample. When studying populations that are underrepresented or outside the mainstream of Western society, we cannot simply bring in measures and instruments from our Western culture. Against this background, I have used a modified exploratory sequential mixed methods to study online dating in Iran. During the first phase of my study following doing extensive fieldwork in Iran and reviewing the literature, some themes and the main research question arose. How online dating has changed the nature of sexual relationships in Iran? To investigate the main research question, I have used multiple ways such as nethnography, and in-depth interviews. Based on what I found during the first phase some main themes arose. then I developed hypotheses and a questionnaire to generalize the findings in the second phase.

ABSTRACT. The reflexive process that researchers develop in ethnographic research is exacerbated in enactive ethnography, where the researcher becomes part of the phenomenon under investigation (Wacquant, 2006). Doing so, they make their own body a heuristic tool and therefore negotiate their embeddedness in, and embodiment of the field (Bassetti, 2021). This approach well integrates with innovative multimodal approaches supported by a combination of tools and techniques that allow in exploration of participants’ experiences. Moreover, it is particularly suited for investigating tumultuous and dynamic environments, such as the complex contexts of high-risk professions and action sports. This contribution draws upon an ongoing ethnography of alpinism courses held by the Italian Alpine Club, aimed at investigating processes of cultural (re)production in complex contexts. The adopted multimodal approach combines enactive ethnography, visual, creative, and participatory methods (Giorgi et al., 2021). It makes use of diverse tools and techniques, among which the use of bodycams by both the researcher and the participants for producing “climbing videos”. These videos serve both as data and for video-voice elicitation during review-interviews designed to establish a dialogical relationship with the participants—thus for the co-production of situated, context-specific knowledge. This contribution focuses upon: i) the researcher’s positionality – from negotiating the access to the field to her performative and embodied presence within it - reflecting on her integration into the participants group and her comprehension of the observed situations; ii) the adopted tools and techniques, critically analysing their mediation effect in the co-production of data, and consequently on the results; iii) the epistemological and ethical issues related to co-production dynamics and to representation of participants’ voices, also seeking a balance between “going native” and “going alien” by conducting abductive analysis (Timmermans and Tavory, 2022), considering the researcher’s unique dual role as both an observer and a participant.

ABSTRACT. Urban territoriality, in its different configurations, can be defined based on the presence/absence of different organizations in certain spaces: state organizations, companies, residents' associations, sports associations, religious organizations, etc. The most important forms of social inclusion and exclusion in large social systems such as politics, law, health, sport, economics and religion depend directly on the spatial presence/absence of organizations. We seek to reflect on the specificities of peripheral territorialities in the territory of Morro da Mangueira, in Rio de Janeiro, based on patterns of presence and absence of various social organizations, with the aim of understanding the socio-ecological conditions that favour the creation and diffusion of small, medium and large evangelical churches, which are increasingly present in certain spaces of the urban peripheries. How do these religious organizations contribute to shaping peripheral territorialities, including their relationship with other organizations, networks and social communities? In this sense, situated ethnography as a method emphasizes understanding local contexts and the particularities of the territories studied. The use of multimodal techniques, such as observing and recording elements like sound, audio, video, maps and narratives, makes it possible to understand the social, spatial and political organization as well as the social dynamics taking place in this territory. The relationship between the adoption of multimodal ethnographic techniques and the production of specific knowledge makes it possible to record and interpret the complexity and uniqueness of these territories. The aim of this communication is to discuss ethnographic reflexivity as an important methodological and epistemological tool, which allows for greater dialog and interaction between the researcher and the object of research, as well as the production of situated knowledge. The relationship between peripheral territories, samba schools, churches and organizations will be observed through an analysis of the particularities of the research object

ABSTRACT. This study explores the use of Virtual Ethnography and Conversation Analysis (CA) to examine conversations among young peers on an anonymous web app chat. This is the first publicly accessible, nationwide online listening chat designed to identify and address problematic situations with the goal of preventing adolescents distress. Targeting young individuals aged 14 to 25, the service is managed by peers supported by professionals such as psychologists, social workers, and educators. Within this online environment, designed to be aligned with the communication styles of young people, users can interact anonymously with a peer to share issues (for instance, relational problems, school, family, bullying, depression, social isolation, self-acceptance) as well as more serious concerns such as self-harm, suicide or violence. In such cases, the peer can direct young people to appropriate local services. To analyze in detail the interactive practices employed by adolescents and peers on the web app, the study utilizes virtual ethnography and conversation analysis. Virtual ethnography allows the researcher to participate directly in the interactions occurring online. Therefore, capturing the social and communicative practices participants employ to establish interaction and to explore how digital technologies influence and transform the ways in which people communicate, interact, and construct the meaning of their experiences. CA, on the other hand, analyses conversational turns in the digitally mediated relation between the peer and users. In particular, CA focuses on the fine details of online interactions which are essential to understand how the complexity of social relations is established, maintained, and transformed for practical purposes and how people make sense of any given moment in interaction. Firstly, eight conversations each lasting two hours, will be examined through conversation analysis. Secondly, relevant excerpts in which the user seeks help and the peer provides support will be selected. The analysis will specifically focus on the type of support provided by the peer in response to the user’s request for help (emotional, informational, or network support), and if the former employs reformulations to rephrase the user’s problem descriptions. Besides the analysis of the chat conversations, this research will include interviews with peers and professionals about their experiences of working with the chat.

ABSTRACT. How have WhatsApp groups changed the practice of legal support for migrants in a legal assistance for asylum seekers? This is the question that this paper seeks to answer. It is based on a long-term ethnography of an asylum legal assistance within an activist association in France that aims to contest European and French migration policies and the conditions under which migrants are received. These WhatsApp groups, far from being limited to the reorganisation of legal support work throughout the asylum application process, have contributed to the design of a more flexible support framework, capable of supporting migrants' security and relationships of trust. But also, and centrally, of supporting the management and archiving of administrative documents that are essential for legal and administrative work. The creation of these groups is essential for bringing together a pair of volunteers, an interpreter and an asylum applicant throughout the various administrative and legal stages of the asylum process. Participating in these groups becomes both a means of testing and translating one's political commitment into action, and of empowering asylum seekers to be actors in their own processes. The study of WhatsApp interactions in this support work makes visible not only individual and collective practices that are mostly invisible, but also their place in the construction of common knowledge and a militant identity in a process at the crossroads of law, administration, care and reparation that is at the heart of the volunteers' political commitment.

ABSTRACT. This paper delves into how analogue and digital cultural translation methods can enhance the accuracy of cultural family studies. It highlights how to foster a deeper connection with the field of study and proposes a novel framework for studying family cultures in contemporary research. Teddy Bear Diaries represents an analogue cultural translation method which provides a unique, intimate glimpse into family life, capturing personal narratives and emotional experiences that enrich our understanding of familial interactions. These circulated diaries are a source of knowledge about the display and normative cultural standards of family life. The strength of the data lies in its circulation - in the school, between families and the school - before reaching the researcher, keeping researcher intervention low while the data remain socially and culturally saturated. An AI chatbot represents the digital cultural translation model. The chatbot is under development to coordinate communication between child services that multicultural families often use, ensuring cross-cultural adequacy and availability in multiple languages. Using a co-creation research design, the AI chatbot will support competency building for both service providers and users, ensuring that the solutions developed are accurate, practical, effective, and ethical in real-world settings. During the development of the chatbot, researchers will collect information from quality-assured sources and generate original content. This approach ensures that the data is accurate. By use of co-creative analogue and digital methodologies, researchers can gain a unique view of family cultures. This approach not only enhances the accuracy of cultural studies but also fosters a deeper connection with the subjects, making the research more relatable and impactful. These methods also allow for comparative cultural research. Having sets of data from different contexts adds to the richness of the data, providing a contrast needed to illuminate the taken-for-granted.

ABSTRACT. The digital revolution has encouraged major changes in the methods of bottom-up participation in decision-making processes, offering citizens a wide variety of online tools aimed at social research. If previously proposing an online questionnaire was an element of innovation, today the use of web surveys is now consolidated even in the sphere of public administration. In the latter, over the last 10 years, there has been a real constant innovative push, which has provided not only a form of wide-ranging dissemination of research results via newsletters, social media, online periodicals, etc. but also to provide research designs in which mixed methods and e-methods are foreseen. For public administration, the ultimate goal of this link between traditional methods and technological innovation concerns the desire to make all public procedures increasingly streamlined, not only research, finalizing everything to an integrated system that for a researcher means having a greater quantity of information than in the past, easier and more immediate to use in processing, to integrate data from multiple sources. The authors intend to bring to attention a case study on the National Evaluation System intended as a great catalyst for all the forms of innovation mentioned above, which also includes the Self-Evaluation Report drawn up by schools: a tool that collects different types of data, in a considerable amount of different sources. The problem of data comprehensibility, data literacy and data visualization therefore arises. The starting hypothesis is that the tools/documents that are published online on the platforms “Unica” and “Scuola in chiaro” are for use by the community, as an idea of transparency and accountability, to account for the resources spent and the results achieved. But are they really understandable to everyone? How much do they need to be in an educational context or to a wider public?

ABSTRACT. As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in healthcare decision-making, understanding medical professionals' algorithm awareness is essential for fostering informed adoption and mitigating biases. This pilot study explores how medical doctors (n=101) across different levels of seniority perceive, engage with, and critically assess AI-driven decision-support systems. By integrating mixed methods—including quantitative surveys, qualitative insights, and scenario-based assessments—this study examines attitudes, experiences, and perceived limitations of AI in medical practice. Findings contribute to the development of a Multidimensional AI Literacy Framework (MALF), categorizing algorithmic literacy into six constructs: Technical, Applied, Critical, Collaborative, Ethical-Normative, and Non-Proficient Literacy. This framework serves as a methodological tool to assess professionals' engagement with AI and highlights the need for targeted educational interventions to enhance algorithm awareness. Furthermore, the study explores how interactive learning techniques, such as Explainable AI (XAI), participatory design, and cross-disciplinary training, can improve algorithmic transparency and professional trust. By employing scenario-based methods, the research also elicits reflections on AI’s role in clinical decision-making and its broader societal implications. These findings align with the panel's focus on methodological advancements in algorithm awareness research, emphasizing how educational strategies—including interdisciplinary teaching, human-computer interaction, and real-world case studies—can bridge algorithmic literacy gaps. Addressing these challenges is crucial to ensuring fairness, transparency, and informed decision-making in algorithmic governance across professional fields.

ABSTRACT. The submitted contribution illustrates the doctoral research results on the competencies of managers within Italian public administrations, conducted by the author as part of the PhD program in Educational and Social Theory and Research at the Department of Educational Sciences of Roma Tre University. Specifically, it will outline the different implications of digital tools in document analysis of the research context, empirical research, and data analysis. The research project is rooted in sector studies of the sociology of economic processes and labor. A qualitative methodology employing semi-structured interviews and focus groups investigated three representative contexts for public administrations: hospitals, educational institutions, and correctional facilities. The organizational analysis was structured around four dimensions: structural analysis (Gallino, 1993), cultural analysis (Cocozza, 2004a), and analysis of roles and coordination mechanisms (Mintzberg, 1979). Traditional research methods were complemented by digital tools for each of these aspects. The contribution focuses on presenting the results of the empirical research activities. It will share the opportunities generated using digital traces to understand cultural dynamics in public administrations, some critical issues identified between computational text analysis, Emotional Text Mining, and traditional Content Analysis, and the strong correlation between methodological rigor and ethical considerations that arise in the context of Public Administrations.

ABSTRACT. Through this project we intend to show the results of a successive zoom survey on research samples using a combination of digital and traditional methods. Here we intend to present research on Wikipedia. Among the major online expression platforms, which are often based on a commercial model, Wikipedia is an exception with its free archives. This way, we have been able to build up a database containing information on the 720,000 revisions made to the 2841 biographical pages of candidates for parliamentary elections in France between 2002 and 2024. From this sample, we focused more specifically on the study of the 30 biographical pages, by conducting interviews with the people who are biographed. Through digital observation of the modification history, we were able to ask questions about the modifications made to the pages by the candidates or their staff. Moreover, while editing in Wikipedia is perceived as immoral, we were able to discover the revisions made by political actors and get them to reveal it. Of these 30 pages, we finally focused on 10 pages for which we carried out a content analysis by thematically coding the content added to the pages. By carrying out this precise analysis we were able to put into context the critical opinions given by the candidates about their pages during the interviews. Indeed, we were able to note the major place given to controversy and polemics on encyclopaedia pages. Finally, using the database, we studied the characteristics of each contributor to the 10 pages studied. Through an analysis of digital traces, we established the contributors‘ political profile by studying the candidate pages to which they contributed the most.

ABSTRACT. This proposal aims at providing a methodological framework for the study of online discursive spaces as forms of sociodigital worlds. Interactions in digital environments such as social media can be productive of “social worlds” constituted by processes of meaning-making that involve groups of actors working with shared objects (Clarke and Star, 2008). Indeed, these “universes of discourse” (Strauss, 1978) merit particular attention, especially in the context of controversial issues that are linked to societal concerns, such as health and wellbeing, leading to build and disseminate knowledge even in contrast to legitimate institutions, as is the case with refused knowledge communities (RKCs) (Neresini et al., 2024). As sociodigital worlds, these communities foster intense online debates, which calls for methodological choices apt to provide a deeper understanding of the collective shaping of knowledge in these spaces. The integration of qualitative and quantitative analytic strategies is crucial to gain insights into the construction and reproduction of knowledge in these sociodigital worlds, relying on interpretive tools and formal analytic techniques to unveil the relevant patterns of discourse and meaning. Therefore, the current proposal focuses on a mixed-method strategy that employs web-ethnography and social network analysis (SNA) techniques to investigate the social configuration of RKCs (Picardi et al., 2024; Serino et al., 2024). First, the coupling of the theoretical and methodological lenses of social worlds and SNA is illustrated. Second, appropriate forms of operationalisation are discussed, which consist in the translation of discursive units in the nodes of a two-mode network made up of knowledge claims and actors discursively enrolled to sustain such claims. Third, empirical applications on two RKCs are presented and discussed with reference to how such sociodigital worlds may turn into arenas, i.e., “multiple worlds organized ecologically around issues of mutual concern and commitment to action” (Clarke and Star, 2008).

ABSTRACT. Despite various political and social efforts to promote active aging in Italy, its implementation remains difficult due to the inequality and social vulnerability affecting older people. Older adults now account for 24.3% of the total population, making Italy the oldest country in Europe (Eurostat, 2024). Liguria is the country's oldest region (ISTAT, 2024), with an average age of 49.2 years, compared to the national average of 46.6 and the European average of 44.7. Moreover, the regional active population structure index has dropped from 162.4 in 2021 to 148.8 in 2024. Within this context, this study explored the identity representations of older people in the Metropolitan City of Genoa and its surrounding eastern and western provinces. Using a multimodal qualitative research design, we integrated different techniques and involved 24 participants aged 65 and over. Participants were selected based on factors such as residence area, gender, age, socioeconomic status, and social support network to ensure a heterogeneous sample, using a non-probabilistic approach. Initially, all participants completed a semi-structured interview. In the second phase, they were divided into three groups and participated in a photovoice project, a qualitative visual research method useful in gerontological studies. Our analysis showed a strong connection between participants' narratives and visual outputs, highlighting themes like self-representation, autonomy, and agency, which challenge stereotypes about older people. The findings also emphasized the importance of personal and public spaces in expressing identity. By incorporating self-produced photographic images and applying visual sociology techniques in conjunction with the more traditional semi-structured interview, this study enriched the data by combining creative and participatory methods.

This research approach focused on the participants, encouraging their learning and empowerment. These principles align with participatory action research methodologies, promoting preventive and proactive behaviors to enhance the sustainability of social and healthcare policies, while offering insights for future studies.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how multimodal qualitative methodologies can be employed to explore urban spatial perception and sensory engagement with riverfronts. Focusing on the River Someș in Cluj-Napoca, we investigate how different social groups interact with and interpret this urban space using a combination of surveys, in-depth interviews, mental mapping, and participatory sensory ethnography. Historically, the river functioned as a boundary between urban civility and marginality, neglected by city planning despite its centrality. For decades, the city turned its back on the Someș, treating it as a utilitarian infrastructure rather than an integrated public space. In recent years, revitalization projects have aimed to reintegrate the Someș into urban life, promoting it as a site for leisure, mobility, and social interaction. However, perceptions of these changes vary, reflecting deeper socio-spatial inequalities in access and use.

Methodologically, the study integrates CATI surveys with 866 residents, 24 semi-structured interviews to capture socio-cultural meanings, participatory mapping exercises where respondents visually represent their spatial experiences, and walk-along ethnographic interviews to document real-time sensory engagements. These diverse methodologies offer insight into how urban landscapes are emotionally and materially navigated, contested, and appropriated by different populations. By adopting a creative and multimodal approach, the research aims to bridge the gap between subjective spatial narratives and empirical data in urban studies.

Findings suggest that multimodal methodologies reveal discrepancies between institutional planning perspectives and lived experiences of space. Cognitive maps expose unequal spatial access, sensory observations capture the affective dimensions of urban engagement, and qualitative interviews highlight narratives of belonging and exclusion. This study reflects on the ethical implications of visual and creative methods in urban research and their potential for inclusive and participatory urban planning. By combining methodological innovation with grounded empirical research, this study contributes to the growing discourse on qualitative multimodal approaches in social science methodology.

ABSTRACT. This paper is based on two participatory research experiences carried out between 2019 and the present in the Emilia-Romagna Region.The first experience concerned a social project aimed at indoor sex workers; the second concerned the reception system for minors outside their family of origin.In both cases, the whole research plan, each research step and the related data collection tools were designed in a participatory process.This process involved social workers and, at a later stage, regional and municipal policy makers. In one of the two experiences, the inVisible project, it was also possible to collect the voice of the people targeted by the interventions through interviews administered by the social workers themselves.Each phase of the formulation of findings was shared between the research group and the social workers involved, also through forms of appropriation of the theoretical frameworks applied, giving rise to real moments of "cognitive displacement". These are to be understood as spaces of discontinuity in which to reflect on the reiteration of mechanisms of social reproduction, which take shape in the making of policies. Each of the two experiences had a significant impact on at least three dimensions. Firstly, it led to the sharing and visibility of experiential knowledge, which provided a basis not only for evaluating but also planning policies. Secondly, it clarified crucial nodes in implementing policies that differently involved the various actors. Finally, it facilitated the cognitive contribution in the design of policies (economic and regulatory). By employing a comparative method with these two experiences, this study aims to contribute to theoretical reflection in the field of social work. This theoretical reflection will focus on the role of informational bases as defined within the Capability Approach.

ABSTRACT. This research explores the application of creative methods, particularly collage and drawing, for the study of the urban imaginary of youth in Florence. The urban imaginary, understood as the set of representations, images and narratives through which young people understand and experience the city, is a complex and stratified object of study (Çinar & Bender 2007). The research aims to "make the invisible visible" (Carmagnola & Matera 2008) through the use of visual techniques that allow participants to express and rework their relationship with the city in an unconventional way. Through the integration of creative and traditional methods (semi-structured interviews), the study investigates how collage and drawing techniques can be used to: • Encourage critical reflection on the familiar: encouraging participants to problematize the "taken-for-granted" (Schütz 1967/2018) in their perceptions and representations of Florence. • Explore visual knowledge: analyzing the process of creating mental images and graphic representations, and their link with the urban practices and experiences of young people. • Promote the emergence of hidden narratives: offering participants a means to express points of view and experiences that would hardly emerge through direct verbal approaches. The research also addresses the methodological, epistemological and ethical challenges related to the study of the imaginary through creative methods, critically discussing the role of validity, reliability, reflexivity and the ethical implications in social research. Some examples of the works created during the research are presented and discussed, illustrating the potential and limitations of the creative approach for the study of the urban imaginary.

References: - Carmagnola, F., & Matera Vincenzo (Eds), (2008). Genealogie dell'immaginario. Torino: UTET Università. - Çinar, A., & Bender, T. (2007). Urban Imagineries. Locating the Modern City. Londra: University of Minnesota Press. - Schütz, A. (1967). The phenomenology of the social world. Illinois: Northwestern university press 2018.

ABSTRACT. The Dutch government has designated 20 ‘vulnerable areas’. In these areas, residents are considered to face multiple challenges surrounding poverty, health and safety. Also, up to 32 % of people in these areas have low language proficiency. Heerlen - Noord is one of these areas, where 20 % of inhabitants are classified by the Dutch government as having low language proficiency. In this context, the local library developed a family-oriented literacy program for parents and their children. We aimed to evaluate the program, by exploring families’ perceptions and experiences with the program, as well as the program’s perceived impact. Additionally, we sought to gain insight into the challenges participants may encounter in reading and writing and solutions they find. To achieve this, we designed a multimodal qualitative approach, combining qualitative interviews and Photovoice in a participatory and inclusive research design, which meant that program professionals and community members were involved in the development of the different aspects of the research design, such as research topic, and data collection methodology and instruments. By adopting this approach, we aimed to empower participants, shift traditional power dynamics between researchers and participants, co-construct knowledge, and facilitate mutual learning between researchers and the community. However, we encountered several challenges related precisely to these aims. Did we truly succeed in empowering participants? Did we manage to shift the power balance and transform knowledge production? Were participants’ voices genuinely represented? Furthermore, we faced ethical and practical challenges in applying our data collection methods and adhering to Open Science principles. In our presentation, we will reflect on our research process and findings, discussing what went well as well as problems and challenges and potential solutions.

ABSTRACT. The development of digital infrastructures for research actively promotes a culture of Open Science, supported by the adoption and dissemination of open data. The use of such data raises important methodological questions regarding representativeness, validity and management. This study examines scientific trends in open data research through an exploratory quantitative analysis of 3,000 publications in the social sciences and humanities from 2013 to 2022. The results indicate a growing and diversified interest in three main research areas: the fundamental principles of the open data approach, such as sharing, transparency and open government; methodological and procedural challenges, including data quality, replicability and evaluation criteria; and the broad spectrum of applications across different social domains, ranging from climate change policies to smart cities and the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, transparency emerges as a pivotal and cross-cutting theme in open data research, with significant consequences for governance structures and evolving scientific practices. The findings also highlight the plurality of perspectives adopted by studies over time, reflecting an increasing focus on the epistemological and social dimensions of data culture. Additionally, different challenges emerge concerning data quality, the limited data literacy among various stakeholders, and persistent tensions between openness and mechanisms of control in open data management. With this empirical study, this presentation engages with the debate on the opportunities and challenges of open data, providing reflections and analytical tools to explore methodological approaches and examine issues related to ethics, transparency, and collaboration in research practices.

ABSTRACT. Data sharing and re-use in the social sciences are practices that are facilitated by the availability of specialised research infrastructures, in particular the data archives. One of the main issues concerning data archives is trust within the scientific community, due to their role as intermediaries between researchers. Under this perspective, data depositors need to be guaranteed that their data will be cared for and accessed in a stable and secure manner, while data users need to be confident to access data easily and in a documented way to reuse it correctly. Based on this assumption, it is interesting to explore how data archives address the issue of trustworthiness towards their community. Trust is a broad concept that often overlaps with quality, validity, and reliability. How can it be measured? And how can an archive demonstrate its reliability to researchers? The acquisition of a “seal of approval” by a research infrastructure demonstrates its reliability. It certifies that the procedures followed for the acquisition, management, and long-term preservation of data meet high-quality standards. This also requires a technologically secure environment as well as skilled human resources qualified to operate the service. All of these requirements enhance the repository reputation and attractiveness to researchers and contribute to determining its ability to become a reference point for the scientific community for both data deposit and re-use. The proposed paper presents the path taken by the Data Archive for Social Sciences in Italy (DASSI) to obtain the quality certification issued by CoreTrustSeal, the certification approach recommended within the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and selected by CESSDA ERIC for its members. In particular, the paper reflects on the concept of “trust” and its implications for a research infrastructure, highlighting its impact on tasks and roles and focusing on key aspects to meet trustworthiness requirements.

ABSTRACT. Research data infrastructures striving to improve FAIR principles often concentrate on metadata enhancement. However, most FAIR principles apply to both data and metadata. Particularly interoperability aspects can be emphasized, such as standardized knowledge representation, the use of FAIR-compliant vocabularies, and explicit references to other data (Bahim et al. 2020). In this presentation, we will discuss areas of data planning and processing that can make data more FAIR. FAIR enhancement increases the overall re-usability and analytic potential of data, including possibilities of merging and combining different data sources. It is important to train researchers about the established best practices that increase re-usability (e.g. http://www.dlib.si/?URN=URN:NBN:SI:DOC-G0DPXMZ1). For example, comparability of data and conceptual clarity can be enhanced with the use of standard social science variables. Standard social science classification can be derived using shared computer code (see https://www.gesis.org/en/missy/materials/EU-SILC/tools/datahandling) . Data infrastructure services are often asked for advice regarding Data Management Plannig that requres to maximise on FAIR aspects. Historical research project that use printed archival resources from past (Mezzoli, 2022, https://doi.org/10.17898/ADP_HDS47_V1) unified the coding framework from different periods and locations. The variables operationalisations from key social science studies have known reliability and validity characterisations, which the CESSDA European Question Bank, with full survey question text in DDI format, will provide. The use of FAIR-compliant vocabularies, such as the European Language Social Science Thesaurus, to document the conceptual content of data at a granular level can add an additional layer of FAIR (see https://www.cessda.eu/Tools). In conclusions, a higher return on investment can be expected by publishing FAIR compliant data (Inau et al. 2023, https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e45013 ). Repositories can establish the evaluation criteria for the data that respect different aspects of FAIR data (e.g. https://pubmet2024.unizd.hr/janez-stebe-abstract/).

ABSTRACT. The Open Science movement is transforming the research landscape, with funders such as the European Commission mandating transparency and accessibility in research. Researchers must now publish not only their findings but also their datasets and software in trusted repositories, ensuring that research outputs are FAIR—Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Data Management Plans (DMPs) play a critical role in supporting these practices by promoting structured data handling and sharing. However, the successful implementation of Open Science principles relies on the services and infrastructure provided by data repositories. Repositories are more than storage spaces; they actively facilitate FAIR data practices by offering tools for metadata standardization, persistent identifiers, interoperability frameworks, and long-term preservation strategies. They also support researchers and data stewards in navigating evolving Open Science requirements, ensuring compliance with institutional and funder policies. A key example of this support is Slovenia’s SPOZNAJ project, which aligns with broader European Open Science developments. Slovenia has enacted significant legislative changes in the last four years. New policies mandate open access to research results, responsible evaluation of research work, and citizen engagement in research activities. To strengthen data stewardship and FAIR data management, the SPOZNAJ project consortium launched a data stewardship training program in 2024. This initiative began with the Catalogue of Competences for Data Experts, forming the basis for a three-week training program. In addition to publishing two handbooks on Open Science and Research Data Management Planning in Slovenian, the project also established the Slovenian Data Stewardship Network. This presentation will highlight how repositories, national initiatives, and institutional support can enhance research data management, accelerate the adoption of FAIR principles, and ensure the long-term success of Open Science.

ABSTRACT. The archiving of qualitative data has only recently gained significant attention in scholarly debates (Gaspani et al., 2019). As part of the data life cycle, which aims to ensure long-term preservation of research studies while facilitating access and data sharing, one of the main challenges of qualitative data archiving lies in the process of anonymization. It represents a trade-off between protecting the confidentiality of sensitive participant data and enabling open science, which enables qualitative research transparency, reproducibility, and secondary analysis. This presentation aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on the archiving of longitudinal qualitative data (Neale & Bishop, 2012) by reflecting on the experiences and challenges encountered during the archiving process of ILQA-19. ILQA-19 is a longitudinal qualitative case study initiated in 2020, which explores the transformations in the daily lives of elderly individuals (over 65) in the first cluster of villages in Italy subjected to quarantine following the Covid-19 outbreak. The anonymization and archiving procedures of the study have highlighted the blurred boundaries between “procedural ethics” and “ethics in practice” (Guillemin & Gillam, 2004). By discussing the practice of ILQA-19 archiving, along with some key decisions regarding anonymization throughout the waves, this presentation will document how the situational and relational aspects of qualitative research pose indeed a twofold challenge: the application of standardized protocols (Guerzoni, 2023) and the difficulty of creating codified procedures that can be applied to a specific case study. These complexities underline the delicate balance between adhering to ethical standards and maintaining the flexibility necessary to account for the nuances of longitudinal qualitative research. By reflecting on how this ambivalence is addressed in the context of the ILQA-19 study, the presentation will also offer insights into the broader implications and open challenges for longitudinal qualitative data archiving.

ABSTRACT. Qualitative research often brings researchers into close contact with emotionally charged narratives, particularly when working with vulnerable groups. This paper investigates how researchers experience and manage intense emotions during fieldwork and to what extent they feel prepared for such emotional labor. The study combines data from two sources: (1) in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 researchers (n = 20) from disciplines including social work, psychology and education, and (2) a secondary analysis of 35 field diaries and reflexive journals collected across eight qualitative projects conducted between 2018 and 2024 in North Macedonia and Serbia. The sample of interviewees included early-career researchers, senior academics, and independent fieldworkers, 70% of whom were female. Participants described working with trauma survivors, children in foster care, refugees, and people with disabilities—contexts where emotional intensity was inevitable. Using thematic analysis, four main categories emerged: (1) anticipatory preparedness (what training and support was available before fieldwork), (2) emotional coping during fieldwork (including avoidance, compartmentalization, and peer debriefing), (3) emotional consequences post-fieldwork (burnout, vicarious trauma, identity questioning), and (4) institutional blind spots (lack of formal support, emotional labor as invisible work). Findings reveal a significant gap between methodological training and real-life emotional experiences. While some researchers developed informal coping mechanisms (e.g., peer support groups, art journaling, therapy), others reported emotional overload and ethical dilemmas that remained unaddressed by supervisors or ethics boards. Notably, researchers from feminist and participatory paradigms were more likely to integrate emotional reflexivity as part of their epistemological stance. This paper calls for rethinking qualitative methodology curricula to include structured emotional preparedness, institutional guidelines for emotional safety, and recognition of emotional labor as part of academic workload. In doing so, we argue that emotional reflexivity is not a weakness, but a critical tool for ethical and rigorous qualitative inquiry.

ABSTRACT. In qualitative research, emotions and positionality are not merely methodological challenges but also crucial analytical tools, particularly within the politically polarized environments. This paper draws on ethnographic research conducted in Istanbul’s middle-class spaces to examine how political leanings and religious observance shaped researcher-respondent interactions during data collection. Based on participant observations and semi-structured interviews in three socio-politically distinct neighborhoods, the study explores how respondents framed their lifestyles at the intersection of class, politics, and religion. Discussions on Turkey’s economic and political transformations under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) frequently triggered emotional responses—ranging from pride and solidarity to discomfort and defensiveness—positioning the researcher in ways that required careful negotiation of field relations. Drawing on ethnographic field notes, this paper highlights how confessions of ignorance—deliberate displays of uncertainty regarding religious or political nuances—facilitated rapport-building by allowing respondents to assume the role of cultural or ideological informants. This approach not only diffused potential tensions but also provided a means of navigating broader struggles over cultural legitimacy, moral authority, and political power. Additionally, the researcher’s ethnographic toolkit—including prior professional experience as a psychological counselor—was instrumental in fostering trust, particularly as respondents articulated narratives of resentment, victimhood, exclusion, and marginalization. The researcher’s ability to navigate these emotional dynamics shaped the data collection process, structuring interactions and influencing engagement across ideological divides. Furthermore, linguistic cues, dress norms, and ideological alignments emerged as key symbolic markers that shaped respondents’ perceptions of the researcher as either an insider or outsider. This paper argues that positionality is neither a fixed constraint nor a passive attribute but a dynamic, relational tool that both facilitates and limits access. A reflexive engagement with positionality—through adaptation and self-awareness—deepens our understanding of power asymmetries, belonging, and emotional labor in qualitative research conducted in politically charged environments.

ABSTRACT. In this paper, I share my experiences of anger in fieldwork which many researchers might prefer to keep hidden or avoid discussing. When we consider emotions in fieldwork, we often focus on interviewees’ feelings or the positive emotions of the researcher, like sympathy. But what about the intense, hidden anger or negative emotions of the researcher? This is because interviewees are often workers, migrants, young and less educated, resulting in an unequal relationship where we, as those in power, typically experience positive emotions. But what if I am angry with my highly skilled interviewer?

During my PhD fieldwork on highly skilled migrants, I had some feelings in my heart and some questions in my mind. "Am I judging my interviewees? Do I hate some of them for making me feel less capable? Will my experiences influence my analysis?" The power struggles that skilled migrants experience in their daily lives and the way they projected their need to prove themselves to me during the field research led to a shift in our positions and turned into a kind of power struggle, and how would the complex dynamic of power, emotions and perceived authorities shape my research? Eventually, I realized I had become the field itself, just as qualitative research requires.

I must admit I felt insecure and angry long after fieldwork ended. Yet, conducting data analysis later allowed me to include the relationship between myself and the fieldwork in my analysis. This self-reflexive research made me rethink on so many things, including the ways of relating, the power asymmetries between the researcher and the interviewees, the role of negative emotions and affect, and the limitations of my positions. There is still much to explore about unspoken anger, and I share this experience to invite discussion.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores how digital futures take shape in and through interactions with generative AI, focusing on ChatGPT as an active collaborator in speculative ethnographic research. Moving beyond the framing of AI as either a tool or a disruptor, I argue that ChatGPT — and similar technologies — should be understood as agents within evolving socio-technical fields, co-creating the very futures we seek to imagine. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork from a "work futures" workshop — where twelve participants collaboratively envisioned and staged speculative workplaces set in 2050 at the Emerging Technologies Research Lab, Monash University — as well as intensive co-authoring engagements with ChatGPT, I examine how AI contributes to shaping these imaginaries. Rather than simply answering questions, ChatGPT dynamically influenced discussions, storylines, and decision-making processes. To conceptualise these interactions, I introduce conversational choreography — an approach that attends to the iterative, performative exchanges between humans and AI. Through these exchanges, meanings, roles, and speculative possibilities take shape. By analysing these choreographies, I argue that AI is not external to the social worlds we study but actively involved in configuring future imaginaries, roles, and relations. In doing so, this paper contributes to current debates on how to study sociodigital intra-actions and emergent futures, offering conversational choreography as a methodological tool for ethnographically engaging with AI in participatory and speculative settings. Ultimately, I reflect on what it means to engage AI not only as a research subject but as a collaborator in imagining and performing possible futures.

ABSTRACT. During my PhD research, which explored, among other things, how the Italian sex markets changed over the last fifteen years, I embarked on an online journey to try to understand how the increasing use of online advertising to promote the sale of sexual services consumed in person impacted the sex markets at large. This process landed me on many different platforms: Classified Ads Websites, Client Forums, Adult Service Websites, Review Websites, and much more. However, carrying out ethnographic research within these spaces required me to deal with a number of methodological and ethical issues I, naively, had not anticipated. Still, practicing feminist reflexivity means questioning the ethical implications of our research strategies every step of the way, especially when researching sensitive topics and stigmatized populations, and this is particularly true when assessing traditional research methods’ suitability in the digital context and their underlying assumptions (Hine, 2005). This contribution will therefore present the research design process, the methodology, the ethical dilemmas I faced, and the compromises I had to accept to conduct research on the ICT-mediated sex markets. Furthermore, it will present the different approaches adopted to carry out the research while protecting the privacy of all parties involved. In doing so, the presentation will highlight the importance of remaining aware of the implications and potential harm embedded in each and every methodological tool, and of the unintended consequences that could arise from research, not only for individual sex workers, but also for the sex working community at large.

Hine, C. (2008). Virtual Ethnography: Modes, Varieties, Affordances. The SAGE Handbook of Online Research Methods, 257–270.

ABSTRACT. Recently, national and supranational institutions have developed regulations and tools for assessing AI systems (AIS). Such dispositifs are divided into checklists, guidelines, frameworks, and assessment tools. They allow technical assessments of AIS impacts. However, they are mainly based on self-compiled declarations by managers or on checklists conducted by external evaluators, with the risk of partial or self-referential results. This contribution proposes a pluralist approach to assessing AIS by integrating social research methods into AI assessment practices. The triangulation of methods such as participant observation, interviews with key informants, and standardised survey assessment frameworks may improve the quality of the assessments and reduce the limitations of current practices. The results generate two key outcomes: the declared and the detected scores. The first derives from the administration of standardised survey assessment tools to AIS managers, and the second results from the researcher's empirical analysis through fieldwork activities. This integration fills the possible discrepancies between what is declared and what is observed, offering a deeper understanding of the AI system under scrutiny and its social implications. The method is configured as sociodigital because it assumes that the social and the digital are cohesive and inseparable elements which are mutually continuously reconfigured. The AIS is not just a technological object but a phenomenon emerging within the intra-action between digital infrastructures, human practices and social contexts. For this reason, the adopted method does not evaluate the AIS as an autonomous actant but considers its intra-action with the subjects involved in its development and use. The assessment thus becomes an interactive process between the researcher, the AIS and responsible management, in which knowledge emerges from the comparison between declaration and detection. This double articulation may bridge the limits of current assessment practices, offering a tool capable of capturing the complexity of AI Systems as sociodigital phenomena.

ABSTRACT. Social movement actors increasingly combine digital and traditional repertoires of action to promote their claims and advocate for social justice. The concept of hybridization, promoted by Pavan and Earl (forthcoming) to capture the intersecting dynamics between online and offline collective action, challenges methodological distinctions between digital and physical action spaces by highlighting the fusion of ‘social and technological’ agencies and the ‘cross-dimensional unfolding of contentious action dynamics’. This contribution draws on empirical data and methodological reflections from an ongoing PhD project investigating hybrid social media dynamics within a transnational socio-environmental collective action field. Empirical data is composed of Facebook and Instagram posts published by a number of organizations between 2019 and 2024. Organizations were selected if they participated in or endorsed globally-oriented events aimed at building a transnational radical front for climate and environmental justice. Through Social Network Analysis and computationally-assisted discourse analysis, I explore how relational patterns intersect with discursive shifts to appreciate the role of knowledge diffusion in structuring emerging transnational collective action fields. After presenting preliminary insights, I reflect on three methodological issues in socio-digital analyses of collective action fields. First, I problematize traditional concepts of ‘scales of action’ and ‘scale-shift’ in digital settings whose ‘flat’ infrastructures seem to minimize the impact of geographical and structural distance. Second, I illustrate methodological difficulties in studying sociodigital practices in different geographical contexts, highlighting how ‘local’ logics of action might be at work beyond the illusion of isophormity conveyed by digital platforms. Third, I empirically show how the phenomenon of drifting in platforms’ affordances and in actors’ practices poses methodological complication for any longitudinal analysis of hybrid collective action.

ABSTRACT. Over the past several years, I have explored the entanglement of human-digital agency in several different contexts and frameworks: through the lens of location-aware media and digital affordances (Nunes 2019); in nature, through mobile hiking apps (Nunes 2021); and on TikTok and other social media platforms (2024, 2025). I am particularly intrigued by how we talk about and construct our current understandings of both human and digital agency, and what it might mean if we were to take seriously the notion that our devices and the applications and algorithms that drive them are indeed social actors that "embody" their own form of machine habitus (Airoldi 2022). In the course of this work, I have found myself drawn in two theoretically productive directions. The first draws upon an assemblage of related concepts that complicate how can conceive of the human, the digital, and agency: Barad's (2007) discussion of entanglement and intra-action; Ihde’s (2002) concept of inter-relational ontologies; and Pickering's (1995) "mangle of practice." The second involves how these frameworks likewise complicate how we understand the relationship between researcher and subject matter and draws from the methodological insights of autoethnography (Adams, Jones & Ellis 2014; Poulos 2021). Over much of my work, I have used autoethnographic approaches alongside other methods in trying to answer that most basic of ethnographic and cultural studies questions: What is going on here? Autoethnographic approaches to questions of human-digital agency may well provide a means for addressing both the deeply situated nature of our sociodigital entanglements while also allowing for insights that extend beyond the personal to map potentialities for social being in the digital everyday. In addition to discussing these research-oriented questions, I will also discuss my use of autoethnographic methods within the undergraduate STS classroom to explore concepts such as "technostalgia" and "Life on Zoom."

ABSTRACT. The adoption of Digital Twins (DT) in cities is increasingly gaining momentum. The DT models are involved in transforming urban governance by providing advanced tools for simulating and managing complex systems. This innovative governance model is at the centre of a shift in decision-support mechanisms for policymaking and public participation, fostering new ways citizens and institutions interact in decision-making processes. This study explores the role of DT in citizen participation by analyzing the narratives of the actors involved in structuring, implementing, and managing DT models, focusing on the digital content produced by these actors. This content allows us to trace the narratives they disseminate. The second data collection phase is based on the study of DT platform affordances. Through a pluralistic approach to both analysis and the acquisition of digital documents and platform-derived data, we reconstruct how DTs are perceived and utilized as tools for public participation. The narrative-based approach enables an understanding of expectations, desires, and perspectives, shedding light on how policymakers and those structuring these models envision and redesign forms of power, strategies of legitimation, and challenges related to transparency and accessibility. Furthermore, this research process helps us grasp how these actors address critical issues related to digital disparities and information management, which risk reinforcing inequalities forms. We argue that narratives allow us to reconstruct the public dimension of the discourse on Digital Twins applied to urban environments, providing insights into the inclusion and exclusion strategies emerging using these new governance and participation models. On the other hand, the methodological approach undertaken enables us to reconstruct, from practical contexts, the strategy through which policymakers are developing participatory new forms.

ABSTRACT. In this paper, we propose a model for the analysis of general social inequality, using examples from hybrid post-socialist societies in South-East Europe. We argue that, in these societies, social inequalities are generated by both exploitative market mechanisms (based on economic capital) and different types of social closure mechanisms (based on political and social capital). What is more, the influences of these mechanisms are intertwined and cannot be analytically isolated or reduced to a common foundation. Our model of “intersectional class” enables the analysis of the multiple mechanisms generating inequalities in hybrid societies and an understanding of the multidimensional class structure resulting from them. We present four steps necessary for analyzing class in hybrid societies: (1) construction of social space; (2) identification of key generators of social inequality; (3) analysis of indicators of the drawing of symbolic boundaries; (4) analysis of differential association and establishment of social boundaries. We also explain our modifications of the instruments of several established approaches to class analysis, which include a reconceptualization of Bourdieusian notions of political, social, and cultural capital, a different operationalization of social space, and parsimonious ways to study symbolic and social boundaries.

ABSTRACT. In this paper, we attempt to demonstrate the benefits of sidestepping what we see as a strange disconnect between the research traditions studying inequalities in the cultural field by examining the offline and online spheres separately. Instead, we propose a unified research framework for studying the joint impact of what we term “socio-digital inequalities” on four types of cultural practices: offline art-related practices, offline everyday cultural practices, online art-related practices, and online everyday cultural practices. We illustrate our approach using primary data from a comprehensive survey of cultural participation in nine European countries. We explain the broadened conceptualization of cultural participation and our choice of indicators of social, cultural and digital inequalities. Methods applied include multiple correspondence analysis, hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis, as well as multi-level and linear regression. The obtained results validate our framework and suggest that the subject of further research should be the interplay between inequalities and cultural practices in offline and online domains.

ABSTRACT. This research contributes to the existing literature on the relationship between performance-pay jobs and gender disparities. This topic, widely explored from multidisciplinary perspectives (Mincer and Polachek, 1974; Lemieux et al., 2009; Castilla, 2015; Addabbo, 2020; Abraham et al., 2024), highlights the existence of the motherhood penalty (Waldfogel, 1997, 1998; Correll, 2007). Although previous studies have documented the existence of intertwining gender inequalities legitimised by gender-neutral approaches (Koskinen-Sandberg, 2017), this phenomenon has not been investigated in the context of Italian public administrations. These administrations, following significant transformations driven by New Public Management reforms - particularly Legislative Decree 150/2009 - have adopted performance-based pay systems, linking individual appraisals to both career progression and financial incentives. Despite this structural change, little is known about how such mechanisms interact with gender dynamics, especially in relation to parental leave. Drawing on longitudinal datasets over five years from two large Italian municipalities (N=1839), this study estimates the likelihood of changes in performance appraisal scores associated with maternity and paternity leave, analysing both absolute and differential effects. We assess these dynamics in relation to the entire workforce and specifically within the female workforce. Using a range of econometric techniques, the study investigates the impact of paternity and maternity leave on performance evaluation, enhancing the analysis by incorporating additional regressors. The study pursues three main objectives: (1) to assess the role of performance-based pay as a determinant of gender gaps in Italian public administrations; (2) to explore the impact of maternity and paternity leave on performance evaluations and career trajectories; and (3) to provide a comprehensive overview of gender disparities in this sector.

ABSTRACT. More and more jobs can be automated with the help of AI and other digital technologies. So far, this has potentially affected more men than women. However, this does not necessarily mean that women benefit more from digitalisation than men. There are arguments that they can either exacerbate or reduce existing gender inequalities. Studies have shown that new technology offers the opportunity to challenge existing power relations, role assignments and the given division of labour (see also MacKenzie/Wajcman 1999). This raises the question of the extent to which AI and other digital technologies are contributing to a redefinition of gender relations in the labour market. In our presentation, we first discuss in general terms the extent to which digitalisation can contribute to a worsening or levelling of existing gender inequalities. We provide descriptive evidence that women are less likely than men to work in occupations with a high substitution potential. However, we also show that women in some occupations are exposed to a higher risk of substitution than men. In recent years, technological progress has made it easier to replace tasks that are predominantly performed by women, so that the potential for substitution has increased more for women than for men. Furthermore, the potential for substitution is not realised immediately or completely. The results of the multivariate analysis show that there is a negative correlation between occupation-specific substitution potential and employment trends for women and men. Employment shrank above all in occupations with high substitution potential and a low proportion of women. Can it be concluded from this that the use of AI and other digital technologies reduces gender inequalities? Or are there signs that traditional gender inequalities are nevertheless being reproduced?

ABSTRACT. Despite gradual changes in the division of household labour in contemporary Europe, gender continues to be a key predictor of who performs different housework chores and care work. The persistence of gender asymmetry has been well documented in research and serves as a reliable proxy for gender inequality in unpaid work. However, the attempts to study the intersections of gender and class in this sphere are still rare, which is at least partly attributable to increasingly complex class structures in contemporary capitalist societies. In this paper, we present methodological tools we used to research the intersections of gender-based and classed-based inequalities in the post-socialist Croatian society. To construct the social space of inequalities in Croatia, we utilised a multidimensional model of class analysis for hybrid societies developed by Cvetičanin et al (2021), using indicators of economic, cultural, social and political capital. To gain an understanding of their class dimension, we then projected the qualitatively established types of the strategies of gender division of housework into the space of social inequalities, obtained by multiple correspondence and hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis. We also projected the gender divisions of different types of household chores and care work, obtained by a nationally representative survey. This approach, based on mixed methods and exploratory techniques, enabled us to establish the importance of class effects in the sphere in which previous research pointed to the prevalent importance of gender stratification.

ABSTRACT. Markets are chaotic and lively places where smells, colours and sounds mingle. Outdoor markets, particularly, are fluid and ever-changing, occupying public spaces for limited periods of time. Their presence and customer turnout fluctuate based on weather and seasonal variations. Ethnography is well suited to capturing markets’ complexity, revealing unexpected aspects that challenge prior assumptions. However, the intersection of formality and informality, the constant social and economic exchanges, and the ephemeral nature of markets make them a challenging research object. This paper examines how market rhythms and temporality shape ethnographic experience and knowledge production, drawing on fieldwork in three outdoor markets in Turin, Marseille and Florence. These markets operate on different schedules - one takes place weekly, while another runs six days a week - affecting the researcher’s opportunities to interact with vendors and customers. Since most sellers live far from the market and must transport their goods after closing, they are available for interviews only during working hours. Interviews, therefore, occur within the market, where sellers have little time to spare and are often interrupted by customer interactions. Given these temporal constraints, we propose a flexible ethnography based on “thin” observation (Valz Gris et al., 2022), relying on flash interviews (Goldstein, 2016). These short yet focused interactions allow researchers to gather valuable insights while minimizing disruptions to vendors' work. Additionally, the interruptions in the interviews offer an ethnographic opportunity. The soundscape of the market becomes an integral part of the ethnographic material. Moreover, these enforced pauses create moments of waiting and silences (Barron, 2022), allowing for self-reflection and speechless observation, enriching the research process. The context-specific nature of market ethnography, shaped by its spatial environment and by its temporal organisation, requires researchers to be flexible, adapting to the rhythms and constraints of the field, and benefiting from them.

ABSTRACT. Ethnography is an essential tool to investigate complex phenomena such as migration processes and trajectories of access to housing rights, particularly in contexts characterized by intricate bureaucratic dynamics that often obscure the "faults" of inclusion systems. Through a reflexive ethnographic approach, this contribution explores inclusion policies and access to housing in the Campania region, with a focus on Naples and Avellino. It highlights how close observation of the field allows informal practices and resistant strategies that escape normative logics to emerge. The methodology combines in-depth interviews, periods of shadowing (Czarniawska 2007), and qualitative analysis, enabling the deconstruction of top-down categories and giving voice to the actors involved. Particular attention is given to the use of relational maps and visual tools (Desmond 2014; Latham 2003; Orango Tango 2018), which allow for the tracing of complex geographies, highlighting power networks, conflicts, and the "faults" of the Italian reception system. These maps not only provide a multi-level view of the relationships between actors and places but also become participatory tools for directly involving subjects in the construction of knowledge. Methodological reflexivity translates into the ability to reformulate research questions based on field encounters, avoiding the overdetermination of actors' agency and promoting effective empowerment. This approach proves crucial in contexts of intersectional vulnerability, where it is necessary to make space for narratives that restore visibility to often marginalized subjects and informal practices, are often invisible when viewed from a purely normative perspective. In this sense, ethnography is configured not only as an investigative tool but also as a transformative and situated practice, capable of producing critical and context-specific knowledge.

ABSTRACT. Ethnographic research employs a range of techniques that enable an embodied and situated understanding of everyday practices and their entanglement with broader social structures. At the same time, biographical research focuses on the processual and temporal dynamics of practices and self-world relationships and captures how social changes are experienced, reflected upon and integrated into everyday practices over the course of (life) time. In both the ethnographic and the biographical research tradition, there are discussions and arguments in favor of a combination of both research traditions in the framework of situated context-specific knowledge production and implement reflexivity. Lila Abu-Lugh proposes “ethnographies of the particular” (Abu-Lughod, 2008) by following and telling biographies of individuals in ethnographic research as a strategy to write “against” culture instead of formulating generalized narratives about a culture. It is through culture and constructed cultural differences that “the others” are constructed in the first place in contrast to “one's own” culture. Ethnographic research must therefore also be a “writing against culture” (Abu-Lughod, 2008) and address the question of whether there are ways of writing about lived experiences and practices that constitute others as less different. In this panel contribution, I will first summarize approximations and reasons for approaches to the other research tradition from both research traditions (Lechner & Renault, 2018; McQueeney & Lavelle, 2017; Dausien & Kelle, 2009) in order to then present my own research methodology in the field work on experiences of social inequality and migration using excerpts from my own field notes. Finally, I would like to elaborate on essential epistemological opportunities for the Situated context-specific knowledge production (Haraway, 1988) and the demand for a reflexive research procedure (Ruokonen-Engler & Siouti, 2013) that arise from the combination of both traditions.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the emotional and reflexive dimensions of conducting ethnographic research on tourism in Scampia, a stigmatized and marginalized neighborhood of Naples (Southern Italy). Through an autoethnographic lens, I examine how my dual role as both a researcher and a tourist influenced my emotional engagement with the field and shaped the process of data interpretation. While conducting ethnography on guided tours in this stigmatized area, I grappled with feelings of intrusion, navigating between self-judgment and judgment toward other 'poverty tourists.' Instead of distancing myself from these emotions, I sought to embrace and analyze them. By adopting a reflexive approach to tourism studies (Hall, 2004; Harrison, 2003; 2019; Leite, Castañeda, & Adams, 2019), I recognized that, in many ways, the researcher’s role mirrored that of the tourist, especially in the early stages of fieldwork (Simoni and McCabe, 2008). Reviewing my field diary, I found myself experiencing emotions typical of tourists—curiosity, discomfort, and excitement—while balancing my identity as a researcher. Additionally, repeated participation in guided tours allowed me to appreciate the positive emotions—conviviality, joy, and happiness—that accompany the tourist experience. I found myself interacting with tourists during moments of leisure and being included in their group activities, blurring the line between observer and participant. This reflexive approach helped me acknowledge that I, too, am a tourist in other contexts, prompting me to critically reflect on my own emotions and experiences while navigating the contradictions of researching tourism and simultaneously gaining a better understanding of the phenomenon.

ABSTRACT. The rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how we analyze complex, multidimensional data in the social sciences while simultaneously challenging traditional notions of creativity and human agency. Advanced Machine Learning (ML) techniques now enable researchers to uncover hidden relationships in data from social media, IoT sensors, and other sources. However, these systems often function as opaque “black boxes,” raising significant ethical concerns.

In particular, the lack of transparency in these models can reinforce existing biases present in the training data, leading to discriminatory outcomes that disproportionately affect vulnerable and marginalized communities. When decisions regarding resource allocation, surveillance, or public safety are made without clear accountability, these groups face heightened risks. This paper critically examines the ethical challenges posed by black box generative AI models, exploring how algorithmic opacity complicates the evaluation of creative outputs and decision-making processes while reproducing systemic inequalities.

Drawing historical parallels with earlier technological revolutions, this study situates contemporary concerns within a broader socio-cultural context. It advocates for the integration of Explainable AI (XAI) methodologies within both quantitative and qualitative research frameworks to enhance transparency, ethical accountability, and regulatory oversight. By addressing these challenges, the research contributes to methodological innovation in the social sciences and fosters an interdisciplinary dialogue on the transformative yet ethically fraught role of ML in society.

Ultimately, this paper calls for a re-evaluation of how we attribute value to creative and intellectual labor in an age where generative AI increasingly blurs the boundaries between human and machine-made artifacts, ensuring that vulnerable populations are protected from the adverse impacts of biased algorithms.

ABSTRACT. Large Language Models are, increasingly, heralded as the future of social research, promising to increase scale, speed-up results and reduce costs. While there are good reasons to be sceptical of such claims, our starting point is that we cannot afford to simply accept or reject LLMs. The genie is out of the bottle. LLMs are promoted by governments, universities and funders, and are already in-use for social research in and beyond the Academy. In this context, we must explore what LLMs mean for social research practice and, indeed, for the future of Sociology as a discipline.

This paper mobilises computational and sociological expertise towards a critical and comparative interrogation of three LLM chatbots with varying capacities and business models. Our approach is experimental, deploying iterative analysis of 14,000 free-text responses to a workforce survey, to trace the sociotechnical prerogatives of these applications. In presenting our findings, we focus on the following aspects and their epistemic consequences: (1) multiplicity – how different models work with the same data; (2) dynamism – how models change in real time to produce different results from the same data; (3) hard-wiring – how elements such as the context window/token capacity, and system prompts shape the epistemic ‘tone’; and (4) semantics vs syntax – the challenges of prompt engineering for sociological research. Overall, our aim is to develop a practical methodological approach to reveal, challenge and – at times - ‘work with’ the sociotechnical prerogatives of these chatbots as they produce accounts of the social world.

Our broader conclusion is that there can be no single or fixed answer to determine what LLMs mean for social research. Rather, the priority is to build critical capacity for ongoing engagement with this emergent models to better understand their consequences for Sociology’s dynamic epistemological, ontological and methodological repertoires.

ABSTRACT. The recent rise of generative artificial intelligence is profoundly transforming our society, offering new opportunities while simultaneously raising critical questions about the functioning of language models and the underlying processes governing them. Like the algorithms that govern digital systems, language models regulating AI systems embed choices, values, and cognitive frames that reflect not only the work of programmers but also the broader sociocultural and political context in which these systems are developed (Amato, Aragona & De Angelis, 2023). This implies that every seemingly technical decision—ranging from the selection of training data to the adjustment of operational parameters—is ultimately shaped by human worldviews and priorities, directly influencing knowledge production and the representation of digital reality. These considerations underscore the growing need for approaches in explainable AI (Peeperkorn, 2024; Dwivedi et al., 2023). Through an experimental study conducted on Govern-AI, a chatbot designed for professionals in the socio-educational and labor sectors, we analyze how AI-generated responses are influenced by temperature—a key regulatory parameter that affects textual outputs. Our findings indicate that this regulation, often opaque to end users, can modify the level of detail and formality in responses, potentially shaping perceptions of their accuracy and comprehensibility. Our study highlights how such variations, stemming from specific technical and design choices, carry significant epistemological and methodological implications, as they shape the role of LLMs as agents in knowledge construction. Investigating the “behind-the-scenes” mechanisms of these systems and understanding the implications of parameter tuning is not merely a technical concern; rather, it becomes essential in fostering critical awareness and the responsible use of AI-driven innovations, particularly in professional settings where AI is increasingly leveraged to support operational and interpretative decision-making.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the quality and utilization of open government data (OGD) in Italy, focusing on regional and municipal portals. OGDs represent a crucial resource for promoting transparency, innovation and civic engagement, but their effectiveness depends also on metadata quality and effective user adoption. The objective of the research is threefold: identifying trends in dataset usage, assessing metadata quality, and exploring a potential relationship between these aspects. The methodology builds on established theoretical frameworks by Neumaier et al. (2016) and Quarati (2023), adapted to the Italian context. Data were collected programmatically through APIs on CKAN and Socrata portals, selected for their regional and city-wide coverage. Usage metrics were primarily focused on the number of views due to the limited availability of data on downloads. Metadata quality was measured through three main dimensions - existence, conformance and openness - using the DCAT standard to ensure interoperability. The results reveal widespread underutilization of datasets, with significant regional and city disparities between northern, central and southern Italy. Metadata quality varies widely: while existence is often satisfactory, conformance and openness are often lacking, compromising the reusability of the data. Moreover, no clear correlation emerges between metadata quality and usage trends, suggesting that social, economic or technological factors may influence engagement beyond technical aspects. This study highlights the need for targeted interventions to improve metadata management and dataset relevance. In conclusion, it calls for further qualitative research to identify barriers to OGD adoption and inform strategies to maximize their potential in Italy.

ABSTRACT. Despite the growing emphasis on Open Government Data (OGD) as a driver of transparency, innovation, and data-driven policymaking, its practical usability remains limited by persistent quality and applicability challenges. The project “Open Government Data: Understanding Society Through Public Administration Data” - funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research for the period 2023–2027, under Grant No. 15659 dated 28/12/2022 - aims to bridge this gap by developing systematic approaches to validate, document, and merge public datasets for enhanced accessibility and research utility. This presentation will discuss key findings from the project, focusing on: Data Validation and Documentation – Addressing the lack of metadata, inconsistent formats, and outdated datasets through structured validation workflows; Merging and Standardizing Data – Overcoming fragmentation by integrating data from multiple sources (local, regional, national) using a Data as Code framework; Enhancing Accessibility and FAIR Compliance – Implementing machine-readable, API-accessible social indicators to ensure usability for both policymakers and researchers. Through case studies and practical examples, this talk will illustrate how methodological innovations—such as data source validation, JSON-structured metadata, and API-driven dissemination—can improve the reliability and impact of OGD. By aligning technical strategies with the principles of openness and transparency, we can move beyond the narrative of OGD’s potential and focus on making it a truly actionable resource for public good.

ABSTRACT. Open government data holds great potential for social sciences (Charalabidis et al., 2016; Safarov et al., 2017). In socio-demographic research, open data offers publicly accessible information on key indicators such as sex, age, place of living, employment status, education attainment, family composition, and foreign-born populations. Using datasets from the Municipality of Milan and the Lombardy Region's open data portals, along with ISTAT, this study explores the methodological opportunities and challenges of using open government data to analyse population groups. A significant advantage of open data is its availability at various levels of aggregation, from neighbourhood to national records, and for extensive time periods. This allows researchers to study socio-demographic patterns across different spatial scales and track trends over time. Additionally, the large volume of data offers opportunities for comparative analyses and policy evaluation. However, despite these advantages, significant challenges remain. A key limitation is the lack of comprehensive metadata, which complicates data interpretation and integration. Inconsistencies between datasets – stemming from differences in definitions, classification methods, and collection periods – can lead to incoherencies that hinder cross-source comparisons and data integrations. Another challenge is the inconsistency in data availability across territorial levels: while some indicators are available at the lowest level of aggregation, others exist only at higher levels. Additionally, territorial boundaries are not always compatible; for example, the same neighbourhood may be divided among multiple administrative zones. Further complications arise from administrative changes, such as municipalities being dissolved or reassigned to different provinces, making longitudinal analyses difficult. This paper argues that to enhance the applicability of open government data in socio-demographic research, greater coordination between data providers is needed. Harmonising indicators, more explicit metadata documentation, and standardised data formats would improve usability and comparability. By addressing these challenges, open data can better support both academic research and evidence-based policymaking.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines the representation of open government data (OGD) in the centre-left British newspaper, The Guardian, the main news source of British civil servants and local government workers and, from the late 2000s, a key global champion of open data (OD). In particular, between 2008 and 2015, The Guardian was a leading international voice in campaigns for the promotion and release of OD and OGD. Through its articles, dedicated blogs and organization of public events, it became a reference point in (Anglophone) debates on data transparency, participatory democracy and innovation. As a result of its close collaboration with experts and activists in open data communities, the newspaper also put a lot emphasis on methodological concerns regarding the quality and implementation of OD/OGD, highlighting examples of best practices but also failures, providing guidelines to local governments, and organizing data visualization competitions for its readers. Since 2016, however, there has been a marked decline in OD and OGD-related news in The Guardian. In addition to the general dynamics of news cycles and the changing priorities of the newspaper itself (which discontinued its data blog in 2016), unresolved dilemmas about the applicability of OD/OGD appear to have played a role in the sudden drop in the newspaper’s coverage. Based on a content and discourse analysis of the representation of OGD in different European newspapers conducted as part of the “Open Government Data: Conoscere la Società Attraverso i Dati della Pubblica Amministrazione” project at the University of Milan-Bicocca, this paper examines the different and shifting frames through which The Guardian addressed methodological issues related to OGD, and reflects on what this case tells us more broadly about the relationship between open (government) data and the mainstream public sphere.

ABSTRACT. In the debate on social impact assessment there is a tendency to overlook the fact that public bodies are an active player in assessment processes: they define objectives, allocate resources, and condition the implementation of services. The reform of the third sector has given a strong impetus to shared administration, through the tools of co-design and co-programming. The essay examines the guidelines for social impact assessment adopted by the Ministry of Labour and some Italian regions, focusing on the role of cooperation between local authorities and ETS, in the various forms of shared administration. It then highlights the (still limited) experience of thematic guidelines constructed through participatory processes, going so far as to propose a possible strategy of co-construction of evaluation designs.

ABSTRACT. This proposal offers a sociological reflection on the evolution of the measurement of gender equality (Monticelli, Falci, 2024), examining in particular its connection in current trends with the impact generated by welfare interventions in the management of care tasks. It places a specific focus on the social impact on the processes of change activated and supported by third sector organizations, in collaboration with public and private entities (Polidori, Bartoli, 2020). The presentation is part of the theoretical framework of the PRIN PNNR 2022 project “Women’s empowerment: the use of Mentoring and Diversity Management in private sector and public administration as tools for equal opportunities and innovation according to the 5 priorities of the NRRP strategy (work, income, competences, time, power)”*, analyzing the social, political, and economic dynamics that result in an unequal distribution of power between the sexes (Gianturco, Colella, 2023). From this perspective, a methodological reflection relates to the domains and subdomains of the indicators that compose the main gender-related indexes at an international level. This will be followed by an analysis of secondary data, highlighting the trends which underline the growing impact of the activities carried out by third sector in relieving women of the role of caregiver.

* (funded by the European Union - Next Generation EU, Mission 4 Component 1. CUP E53D23021110001, scientific director Prof. Francesca Colella, PI University of L’Aquila).

References

Gianturco G., Colella F. (eds.) (2023). Processi di innovazione sociale per la parità di genre. Lavoro, reddito, competenze, tempo, potere: le cinque priorità della strategia nazionale del PNRR. Milano: FrancoAngeli.

Monticelli A., Falci L. (2024). Tempo e potere nei principali indici gender-related. Riflessione sociologica, trend evolutivi e buone pratiche. The Lab’s Quarterly. XXVI, 4, 2024: 71-94.

Polidori S., Bartoli G., 2020, Cambiamento e impatto sociale negli Enti del Terzo settore, in Amministrazione in cammino.

ABSTRACT. This research is structured around a “puzzle” (Gustafsson and Hagström 2018) concerning the gap between the normative and implementation levels of anti‐poverty policies in Italy, with a particular focus on the phenomenon of non‐take‐up (Van Oorschot 1991). Non‐take‐up refers to the situation in which individuals who are most eligible for social benefits do not apply for them, raising critical questions about the efficacy of locally developed welfare measures. The central research question is: why do individuals eligible for social benefits fail to access and effectively benefit from these measures?

To explore this issue, the study employs a multimodal ethnographic approach capable of capturing the nuances of everyday practices and identity construction. Utilizing qualitative techniques such as participant observation, semi‐structured interviews, and digital ethnography, the research examines how eligibility criteria, stigma, and processes of self‐stigmatization influence individuals’ decisions to apply for support. Drawing on theoretical frameworks including street‐level bureaucracy (Lipsky 2010) and anti‐oppressive social work (Burke and Harrison 1998), the project also investigates the transition from inscribed policy texts to embodied and enacted knowledge (Freeman and Sturdy 2014) that emerges from interactions between citizens and institutional intermediaries, such as Patronati and CAF.

In a context marked by fragmented social policies and increasing organizational complexity, this ethnographic approach is essential for understanding how cultural representations and everyday practices shape perceptions of the right to support. The integration of diverse multimodal tools—including video, photography, and digital data collection methods—increases the study’s analytical capacity by unveiling the sensory and contextual dimensions of potential beneficiaries’ experiences. Ultimately, this research aims to provide empirical insights that promote equity and social justice in the practice of social services, contributing to a multidimensional understanding of non‐take‐up at the local welfare level. This comprehensive analysis integrates policy intentions with everyday experiences, illuminating the interplay between design and actual practice.

ABSTRACT. In Italy, the debate on SVI has intensified with the Third Sector Reform (Law 106/2016 and subsequent implementing decrees) which elevates it as “a qualitative and quantitative assessment, in the short, medium and long term, of the effects of the activities carried out on the reference community with respect to the identified objective” which must be based on social value and function “[...] as an expression of participation, solidarity and pluralism [...]” (art. 2 L. 106/2016, VIS MLPS Guidelines of 2019). In this context, the inclusion in Notice 1/2018 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies (addressed to certain types of Third Sector organizations) of the “ex post impact assessment of initiatives or projects” is to “evaluate the results achieved at the end of the activities and the impacts produced two years after the conclusion of the project” (art. 72 of the CTS). Evaluation – not compulsory, but optional, with an ad hoc reward in the selection of project proposals – was to be carried out by a third party delegated by the Third Sector, with proven experience in the VIS sector. Hence our interest - “exploratory” - in having cognitive and informative knowledge of the actual outcome of the approximately 51 projects financed in 2018 that included impact assessment. We have performed an ex-ante analysis of evaluative intentions as inserted in the project proposal and an ex-post analysis of publicly available materials after the conclusion of the projects. We have mapped the actors of evaluations, the methodologies proposed and the public evidence of the evaluations. This prompted us to formulate further research questions as to the potential of evaluation as a vehicle for transformative cultural change in both the ETS and public administrations.

ABSTRACT. Studying the subjective well-being (SWB) of immigrants represents an innovative yet well-established approach to examining their integration into the host country from a subjective perspective. This approach appears crucial for understanding the immigrant-native gap in the SWB of immigrant descendants, facilitating the development of targeted interventions aimed at promoting their successful integration into society. While several aspects of the health outcomes of immigrant descendants align with the immigrant health paradox, showing better results in health compared to natives, multiple studies have reported lower levels of SWB among immigrant in European countries. This paper aims to explore differences in the SWB between immigrant and native adolescents in European countries, including Italy. Our analysis is based on data from the 2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Survey, which examines the health and well-being of adolescents aged 11, 13, and 15. We focused on 28 European countries (distinguished by main macro-regions of residence) that provided information on the country of birth of both the adolescents and their parents. The study includes 111,897 adolescents, of whom 4,427 are 1.5-generation immigrants and 6,705 are second-generation immigrants. To assess SWB, we used self-reported life satisfaction, measured on an 11-point Likert scale (0–10), and applied linear regression analysis (OLS). Additionally, we examined the association between life satisfaction and various aspects of adolescents’ lives, including family environment, support from family, peers, friends and teachers, and experiences with bullying. Preliminary findings indicate that both 1.5- and second-generation immigrants report lower life satisfaction than their native counterparts. However, life satisfaction is positively associated with perceived support from family, peers, friends, and teachers, an influence that appears to be even more significant for immigrant adolescents than for natives.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the satisfaction with democracy among first- and second-generation migrants in both their national government and the European Union (EU). As immigrant descendants increasingly shape the socio-political context of their host countries, understanding their attitudes toward democratic systems offers key insights into their integration trajectories. While research has explored their socio-demographic behaviours in terms of education, labor market participation, and social inclusion, less is known about their political attitudes and democratic satisfaction. This paper addresses this gap by comparing first- and second-generation migrants to provide an intergenerational perspective on democratic satisfaction at both national and supranational levels. Our expectations are informed by theories of electoral representation and migrant integration. On the one hand, neo-assimilation theory suggests that second-generation migrants, sharing more socio-economic and cultural traits with natives, should align with natives' positions. On the other hand, the socialization hypothesis emphasizes the enduring influence of migrant family background, suggesting that second-generation migrants may adopt attitudes similar to the first generation, reinforcing intergenerational continuity. Using the 2024 European Election Study (EES), we apply multilevel modeling to account for demographic, political, and country-level factors. Preliminary results show that second-generation migrants generally do not follow first-generation patterns. They report higher satisfaction with both national and EU democracy. However, migrant generation and social class interact in shaping democratic satisfaction. While second-generation migrants in the upper social class do not significantly differ from other groups, long-term first-generation migrants in the upper class report lower satisfaction with both EU and national democracy. This suggests that higher social status does not necessarily translate into greater political satisfaction for well-integrated migrants, but rather that migration status continues to pose structural barriers to democratic experience. Our findings contribute to the broader discussion on immigrant descendants' socio-political behavior by showing how migrant integration and intergenerational dynamics influence democratic satisfaction.

ABSTRACT. While research has highlighted the role of parental socio-economic status (SES), gender, and migratory background in postponing key life events in European democracies, little attention has been paid to differences in family formation norms and expectations between native youth and second-generation immigrants. This study addresses this gap by examining the timing of parenthood preferences among 18-year-old students in Lombardy, Italy, which hosts 24% of all students with migrant backgrounds in the country. Using original data from the MAYBE—Moving into Adulthood in Uncertain Times project (University of Milan), we analyze 2,756 final-year high school students (77.4% natives, 14.5% children of immigrants, 7.5% mixed origin) surveyed in 165 classes across 81 schools in 55 municipalities, employing a probabilistic multistage sampling design. The MAYBE questionnaire, aligned with the European Social Survey (ESS) Timing of Life module, measures: Fertility norms (perceived upper age limit),Ideal age for first birth,Expected age of parenthood. Additional related items include gender norms regarding parenthood, perceived parent-child similarity on gender norms, and parental age at first birth. Drawing on theories of emerging adulthood, intergenerational transmission, and stratified pathways to adulthood, we hypothesize that parental norms regarding the “ideal” timing of life events and gender roles are passed down across generations (socialization hypothesis). However, for second-generation immigrants, this transmission may be disrupted by structural constraints and cultural adaptation. Consequently, we expect that the effect of traditional family SES variables is weaker for students with a migrant background than for their native counterparts. To test the influence of specific cultural legacies, we differentiate respondents based on religious affiliation, parents’ country of origin, and the political regime of their parents' countries of origin. Using multilevel regression models, we examine individual, school, and municipal-level factors, situating second-generation immigrants within broader socio-economic contexts to contribute to research on family formation and life-course inequalities.

ABSTRACT. Historically emigration nations, Southern European countries have now become key immigration destinations, home to a growing population of immigrant descendants. Despite this demographic shift, political participation among the 1.5 and second generations migrants remain strikingly lower than that of native populations, a phenomenon widely examined in the literature on migrant political incorporation. While much research emphasizes the role of formal political rights—such as access to nationality and voting rights—this paper argues that broader integration policies play a fundamental role in shaping political engagement. Drawing on policy feedback theory and opportunity structures, this study argues that anti-discrimination, labour market access, education, and family reunification policies are not merely background conditions but active forces shaping political participation among immigrant descendants. These policies send powerful signals of inclusion, recognition, and fairness, shaping perceptions of belonging and equal treatment. Specifically, inclusive policies are expected to foster political efficacy—the belief that individuals can influence political processes, and that the system is responsive to their needs—and increase participation. Drawing on European Social Survey (ESS) data from 2002 to 2023 (Rounds 1-11) and the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX), this study focuses on immigrant descendants in Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Greece. The sample includes 3,976 1.5-generation immigrants (who migrated before adulthood) and 6,530 second-generation immigrants. Using additional measures from MIPEX, a multilevel model is employed, integrating individual-level factors (gender, SES, political interest, political efficacy, religious affiliation, age at migration, and length of residence) with macro-level characteristics, such as anti-discrimination, labour market access, family reunification, education, and access to nationality and political rights. The findings suggest that policies beyond formal rights, particularly those related to anti-discrimination and education, are associated with higher levels of political efficacy and influence political participation among second-generation migrants.

ABSTRACT. Sociological research with vulnerable populations relies on a relational process of knowledge production, yet cross-language research introduces unique ethical and methodological challenges. Translation is not a neutral act; it is a site of power negotiation, where meaning is shaped by linguistic structures, researcher positionality, and the social hierarchies embedded in forced migration contexts. This panel explores how sociological inquiry can navigate these complexities while ensuring both scientific rigor and ethical responsibility. Drawing on empirical findings from the Protracted Displacement Economies (PDE) project in Lebanon, which documented over 300 hours of refugee testimonies, this paper critically examines three core dilemmas: (1) Power and Participation – To what extent can co-research mitigate the inherent asymmetries in researcher-participant relationships? (2) Rigor and Flexibility – How can translation methodologies balance fidelity to lived experiences with the constraints of standardized research? (3) Authenticity and Interpretation – What strategies prevent the distortion of refugee narratives while maintaining analytical depth? Our analysis of PDE testimonies demonstrates that standard transcription models systematically erase non-verbal cues and refugee agencies, reinforcing dominant research paradigms and limiting the interpretative richness of displaced voices. This contribution directly aligns with the panel’s focus on harmonizing methodological rigor with ethical commitments. By challenging extractive research models, we advocate for multimodal transcription, participatory translation, and reflexive methodologies, which counteract knowledge hierarchies by embedding refugee agency within the research process itself. Rather than treating translation as a technical tool, we propose a paradigm shift that recognizes it as an epistemic act—one that can either reinforce or resist hegemonic research frameworks. Through this lens, translation becomes a critical means of decolonizing migration research, challenging dominant narratives while ensuring that displaced voices actively shape how their experiences are understood and represented.

ABSTRACT. Qualitative research in precarious contexts presents unique methodological and ethical challenges, particularly when working with vulnerable populations. This paper explores how power asymmetries shape knowledge production and the ethical dilemmas that arise from academic extractivism and "research voyeurism." In Latin America, the structural vulnerabilities of many social groups heighten the risk of exploitative research practices, making it crucial to critically reflect on methodological rigor and ethical responsibility. Building on research conducted in Latin America, we analyze how extractive logics—often justified under the need for large datasets or academic productivity—lead to the overuse of already-studied populations, such as low-income communities, migrants, and Indigenous groups. Similarly, we discuss how research voyeurism can turn suffering into an object of inquiry without offering meaningful contributions to participants' lives or challenging the very structures that produce their marginalization. These issues are not just ethical but epistemological, as they shape whose knowledge is valued and whose voices remain unheard. To counteract these tendencies, we argue for an approach to qualitative research that is methodologically rigorous and actively engaged in fostering reciprocal relationships with participants. This shift requires rethinking research practices to move beyond passive observation and embrace participatory and creative strategies that respect and amplify the agency of vulnerable communities. We present concrete examples of research conducted in Latin America where creative methodologies—such as collaborative analysis, visual methods, and non-traditional forms of data dissemination—have enabled more ethical and context-sensitive engagements with participants. By situating these debates within the Latin American experience, this paper contributes to the discussion on how qualitative research can challenge extractivist tendencies while producing ethically and socially relevant knowledge.

ABSTRACT. Despite its abolition in the constitution, untouchability remains pervasive as Hindu social order in urban India. For a long time, it was assumed that it would vanish through rural-to-urban migration. However, it continues to be omnipresent through different practices and codes. Dalit women, formerly known as 'untouchables', are the most vulnerable in this system of social stratification that is perpetuated through direct, structural, and environmental violence, materialized in caste-based labor such as waste picking. Dalits are double-colonized pertaining to India's position in the world-system and their position within the postcolonial nation-state. At the same time they remain indispensable for neoliberal city development and in mitigating climate change through their precarious and feminized labor. Dalits' ground-life realities as survivor communities remain underexplored, particularly in urban settings, as they continue to survive caste apartheid, neoliberalism, and patriarchy through quotidian forms of resilience and resistance.

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in urban peripheries of Mumbai and Delhi, mainly in informal settlements and landfills, this paper explores qualitative research on 'life-course' that incorporates decolonial and feminist learning into research with historically double-colonized and oppressed communities. Over the course of ten months, 53 semi-structured and open interviews with female Dalit waste pickers, their children, and Dalit social activists were conducted. Building upon the Bourdieusian concept of 'habitus' and enriched by theories of decolonization, it delves into questions of critical reflexivity, self-determination, pluriversal knowledge production, and transformative praxis. At the same time, it employs photo-documentation as a form of decolonial counter-mapping and part of a broader mixed-method approach, to supplement qualitative research and visualize the dimensions of structural and environmental violence that are usually go unnoticed. Therefore, this paper seeks to address issues of ethical responsibility and risks in volatile and vulnerable environments, shaped by linguistical and religious diversity and age differences.

ABSTRACT. Research on migrants has long been analysed as an example of hard-to-survey populations due to the difficulty of sampling, identifying, finding, contacting, persuading and/or interviewing migrants. Nonetheless, survey-based research has generated valuable knowledge about migration in different contexts, and many surveys have been made available by data producers for reuse precisely because so much time, money and expertise is required to produce high-quality survey data. In this paper, I focus on issues of survey data reuse in the area of migration. I describe how this type of data is relatively easy to access through repositories after signing the data use agreement, but paradoxically it is difficult to reuse in an ethical and reflexive way. This problem is not sufficiently addressed in ethics textbooks, which devote a lot of attention to the data production phase, while the number of open data available for reuse is increasing and with it the number of new ethical challenges. The reuse of data is usually described in terms of anonymity, confidentiality and appropriate attribution of the data source. As migration research often relates to vulnerable populations, ethical tracking raises further questions. Examining metadata available in repositories allows for understanding the quality of secondary data, but more attention should be paid to understanding the context of the original research and the original research questions. In addition, the consent form should be scrutinised to understand whether the aims of the re-use of data fall within the original research aims described in the form. If this is not the case, a new consent should be obtained. An overview of the research ethics literature will be supplemented by an analysis of licences for the reuse of data to provide practical tips for working with secondary data.

ABSTRACT. Recalling significant life events can be challenging for hard-to-reach populations, particularly street dwellers who often face literacy barriers and histories of trauma. This study integrates the Biographical Narrative Interpretive Method (BNIM) with the Life History Calendar (LHC) to enhance data collection and analysis. Over a two-month ethnographic study, the researcher engaged with 15 street dwellers in Metro Manila to explore: (1) How does the LHC support BNIM and facilitate interaction between respondents and researcher? (2) What are the positive and negative effects of using LHC? and (3) How does the LHC enhance data reconstruction?

Findings indicate that combining LHC and BNIM effectively structured life narratives around key domains such as birth, home-leaving, street dwelling, education, relationships, employment, and childbearing. The LHC enabled respondents to categorize life events systematically, helping researcher accurately document personal histories while fostering deeper rapport and trust. Moreover, the visual and temporal structuring of LHC allowed respondents to recall events with greater clarity, mitigating recall biases and memory fragmentation commonly associated with individuals experiencing long-term hardship. The tool also provided a means for respondents to recognize patterns in their own lives, which in some cases facilitated self-reflection and personal insight.

Additionally, the LHC proved valuable in capturing accumulated risks, critical life transitions, and significant incidents over time, offering a nuanced understanding of the vulnerabilities and resilience of street dwellers. While the process facilitated catharsis and empowered respondents through storytelling, it also surfaced painful memories related to trauma, loss, and abuse. This underscores the ethical responsibility of researchers to incorporate trauma-informed approaches and ensure appropriate psychosocial support mechanisms. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that integrating LHC with BNIM not only enhances methodological rigor in reconstructing marginalized life histories but also underscores the importance of ethical research practices when working with vulnerable populations.

ABSTRACT. Integrating patient-partners into qualitative research is increasingly recognized as a way to democratize knowledge production and ensure that the voices of those directly affected by illness shape sociological inquiry. However, engaging patient-partners, especially those undergoing treatment, raises critical ethical and methodological challenges that are often overlooked. This presentation reflects on a research project conducted in France, where two breast cancer patient-partners disengaged from the study, revealing key dilemmas in participatory research.

The first patient-partner withdrew due to the lack of financial compensation, highlighting the economic barriers to sustained engagement and the ethical complexities of unpaid participation in academic research. The second disengaged during the data analysis phase, feeling emotionally overwhelmed when confronted with other patients’ narratives. These cases illustrate the unpredictable nature of emotional work in participatory research and the difficulties in anticipating the emotional impact of engagement.

By analyzing these experiences, this presentation explores critical ethical and methodological questions: To what extent can researchers anticipate and mitigate the emotional burden placed on patient-partners? Is it possible—or even ethical—to shield participants from potential distress? How can we design participatory research that is both methodologically rigorous and ethically responsible when working with individuals in vulnerable situations?

This discussion contributes to the broader reflection on participatory research with vulnerable populations, emphasizing the need for ethically sound and adaptable research frameworks. It calls for a deeper understanding of the limits of participation and proposes strategies to balance engagement with the well-being of patient-partners navigating illness.

ABSTRACT. In the 1960s, a well-known essay by Robert Nisbet (1962) questioned the opposition between art and science, observing that, during the Renaissance, “[...] art and science were universally regarded as but different manifestations of the same form of creative consciousness” (ibid., p. 67), as witnessed, for example, by Leonardo da Vinci. Then, with the industrial revolution, “the myth [...] of method” (ibid., p. 68) was affirmed, which reconfigured the very meaning of science “making it not what it had been for centuries, primarily a pursuit of the reflective mind, but a profession governed by rules and by criteria of service, all of a piece with law, engineering, and medicine” (ibid., p. 68), with consequent enhancement of applied science. For example, we recall the birth of the Land Grant Colleges in the United States (ibid., p. 68) where, as early as the 1950s, Wright Mills (1959) called for the use of the sociological imagination to avoid becoming slaves to a rigid procedural code. Starting from this premise, our paper has a twofold objective: 1. argue about the scientific method as a ‘problem’, relating various sociological classics such as Becker, Nisbet, Wright Mills and Znaniecki; 2. draw attention to “autodramas” as creative sources, referring in particular to the case of the Teatro Povero in Monticchiello.

How do these texts come into being? How do they differ from other experimental theatre performances, such as psychodrama and sociodrama (Bruschi 1999, p. 461), which are referred to in some methodology manuals? After answering these questions, we will dwell on some “fables2 (e.g. the ‘fola di Campriano’), showing how even texts, that have no concrete referents in reality, nonetheless, provide a representation of the world, stimulating both the deepening of themes already explored and the identification of new research topics (Longo 2012, 2019, 2020; Longo et al. 2022).

ABSTRACT. In 2023, I became a certified LEGO® Serious Play facilitator. Having spent two days playing with bricks to reflect on the challenges of working in Higher Education in the UK, I felt driven to adopt this creative methodology to further explore the concept of ‘aesthetic distancing’ in research (Glass, 2006). The approach was adapted for a project – led in collaboration with the NHS (National Health Service) and Motivatemetees® (a Birmingham-based charity) – to explore students’ emotional health and wellbeing in university settings.

Overall, the project required 30 participants to hold diaries for 10 weeks, to investigate whether journalling had any impact on students’ emotional wellbeing. We started the project by conducting 3 focus groups using LEGO® Serious Play to understand how students made sense of their emotional wellbeing, and where they felt they would benefit from more support. After 10 weeks, the project ended with 3 traditional focus groups, where students were asked to reflect on their experiences of journalling (or not). Interestingly, what the students recalled and praised the most were the LEGO® focus groups, something we had not anticipated.

In this session, I will therefore i) explain how we used LEGO® bricks to creatively explore students’ experiences of emotional wellbeing in Higher Education without having to share any direct personal experiences, ii) showcase what the data collected looks like, and iii) reflect on deeper issues, showcasing that creative methodologies allow researchers not only to conduct research in inclusive and sensitive ways, but also help ensure the process is not extractive. In this case, it provided participants with an opportunity to make sense of their own experiences in novel and playful ways, which they reported felt ‘cathartic’. This case study demonstrates that creative methods are not only well-suited for sociological research, but simultaneously can provide participants with new tools to navigate society.

ABSTRACT. For those who work out ideas and projects analogically, there are no ‘invariable’ rules in scientific knowledge, but rather dishcloths to follow, as in a set list that serves to improvise Jazz; as in a script that describes a subject for a micro-screenplay; as in an associational process that triggers brainstorming; as in a design project that involves combining or destroying the rules of the game. By comparing the creative method of designer Munari (1977), Bateson’s metalogues (1976), and Abbott's ‘fractal’ methods of discovery (1997), we will try to understand how some of the techniques used in art to trigger creative processes can provide ideas and tools for sociological analysis, inspiring new theoretical formulations through deconstruction practices involving paradigms, subjects and physical contexts (Glăveanu, 2021). From a comparative perspective, we will examine the common rules that bring the ‘conventions’ of art (Becker, 2008) closer to the insights of the sociological imagination (Mills, 1959), in search of metaphors and simulacra (Baudrillard, 1981) that link different knowledge in the journey towards counter-intuitive and counterfactual understanding (Feyerabend, 1974) in an attempt to go beyond technical rationality (Heidegger, 1953); Severino, 2008) and to return from the Greek concept of τέχνη that combines art, science, and conviviality (Illich, 1974). It is a matter of re-evaluating analogical practices of stimulating the creative gesture capable of activating non-predictable and non-standardisable flows (Csíkszentmihalyi, 2023) that resize the computational and predetermined practices of the Digital Society.

ABSTRACT. In recent years, what can be defined as "women’s protests" have led European feminist movements to reinvent their communication strategies through digital networks. 2016 marked the urgency of two new forms of social mobilization in Europe: on October 3rd in Warsaw, known as "Black Monday," the first protest of the Strajk Kobiet (SK) movement took place in response to a proposed law tightening abortion restrictions in Poland, sparking a new civic force; on November 25th in Rome, the first national demonstration of Non Una Di Meno (NUDM) occurred, leading to a political movement in Italy determined to ensure that no woman is ever lost again, whether to male violence or any other form of abuse. NUDM and SK serve as the two empirical cases examined in this paper, representing resistance to gender-based violence and reproductive rights restrictions. The analysis follows a cross-case method and is structured around the "what," "how," and "why", addressing four primary research questions: What forms of violence, misogyny, and culture are NUDM and SK responding to in their digital communications? How do NUDM and SK use digital media to articulate their mission and document their mobilizations? How can the digital media strategies of NUDM and SK be understood as tools of accountability? Why do NUDM and SK choose to mobilize digital communication technologies in such a way? In order to outline how these movements express their mission, assess digital media as a tool for social accountability, compare their communication strategies, and identify their social impact. The data will be collected through text mining and sentiment analysis of social networks, alongside ethnographic methods such as interviews, surveys, and online community observations. Finally, this paper's main aim is to examine the role of digital media in shaping new forms of civic activism and building social accountability.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the phenomenon of non-reproductive choices (childfree), examining its social and professional implications through a gendered perspective and a thematic analysis of discussions on r/childfree, an international Reddit forum. The childfree identity refers to individuals who consciously decide not to have children, distinguishing this choice from childlessness, which results from external constraints rather than personal preference. The investigation is situated within the context of demographic and economic transformations, highlighting a steady decline in birth rates across Europe, where stereotypes persist that associate motherhood with women’s primary social value. The research reveals that childfree individuals face unique challenges in the workplace, including disproportionate workloads, disparities in access to corporate benefits, and stigma rooted in organizational norms that penalize those who deviate from the traditional worker-parent ideal. Childfree women experience a double penalty: they are perceived as deviating from dominant cultural paradigms while also being burdened with heightened professional expectations. The r/childfree community emerges as a critical space for analyzing these dynamics, as users share experiences, report discrimination, and reflect on cultural perceptions surrounding their choice. This study conducts a qualitative analysis of 1,448 comments from r/childfree, collected between November 2024 and January 2025, employing a methodological framework that integrates digital ethnography and thematic coding through NVivo software to categorize discussions into macro-categories and subcategories, thereby facilitating the examination of discursive patterns, personal accounts, and identity negotiations within the digital sphere. Digital ethnography emerges as a crucial tool for understanding online communities where individuals engage in authentic and voluntary discussions on their lived experiences. The findings underscore the importance of inclusive workplace policies and cultural shifts to address gender inequalities and promote a more equitable society that values the plurality of human experiences.

ABSTRACT. Online and offline social environments are in dynamic interaction. Number of Internet users are increasing and the Internet seems to be a crucial place for people to communicate with each other, build social relationships, create new sub-societies, share their ideas and look for solving their problems. These examples of interactions are only a few opportunities that can affect on Internet users. In this presentation, I would like to focus on the methodological and ethical aspects of my Ph.D. project related to the social phenomena of creating new societies in the Internet environment on the example of selected Polish online groups named under the umbrella term "the manosphere". The case of "manosphere" groups can highlight many challenges that a researcher may experience in the process of designing research on online communities. I will discuss the dynamics of emerging and disappearing online communities and their structure and rules. I will also consider the difficulties related to the objectified measure of engagement and the direction of impact between online communities on users and vice versa. The above elements that I have pointed out concerning the "manosphere" lead to two important questions: can a group centered around the topic of the manosphere be called an online community, and how can the study of such dynamically changing communities tell us something about the relationship between the virtual world and the social world?

ABSTRACT. Social media plays a crucial role in shaping public discourse, especially during elections. Popular platforms like Twitter (X) and Facebook have long served as arenas where political opinions are formed, debated, and amplified, thus shaping public perceptions and dis-course. The reliance on social media for political information raises important questions about how different user groups engage in discussions, frame key issues, and contribute to the broader public debate. Understanding these dynamics is essential for assessing the role of social media in democracy, the potential for echo chambers or misinformation, and the evolving nature of political communication. This study uses data from a survey of the German Longitudinal Environmental Study (GLEN), a newly launched registered-based panel study. This survey was conducted from January to March 2025, with the German federal election happening mid data collection on February 23rd. Around 17.000 participants participated in the survey and were asked to answer the open-ended question “Which topics will be particularly important for Germany in the new year?“. Using the responses to this question, we employ computational text analysis meth-ods to investigate the relationship between social media usage and individuals‘ perception of political relevance in 2025. First frequency analyses based on preliminary data indicate that, as expected, the election strongly influences the answers to the open-ended questions, with the top 5 words being: economy, migration, federal election, war, and Ukraine. Running a structural topic model reveals some patterns following public discourse and election campaigns. With this ap-proach, we investigate how social media usage patterns correlate with specific thematic structures in political relevance perceptions. These findings further aim to contribute to ongoing debates about the implementation and its accompanying challenges of integrating text data in otherwise standardized surveys.

ABSTRACT. In this study we use a combined source of digital observational and survey data collected through a data donation approach to investigate the health-related behaviour of Hungarian social media users. We seek to answer whether vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals can be identified by their digital behaviour and aim to determine which types of online behaviour contribute the most to predicting COVID-19 vaccine uptake. To answer these questions, we predict the vaccination status of participants purely based on their digital footprints on Google, YouTube and Facebook and focus on the diverse importance of features to detect those online activities, along which vaccinated and not vaccinated individuals can be distinguished from each other. In the current data donation study, nearly 800 Hungarian individuals have agreed to share their entire social media activity data stored about them by the platforms for research purposes, including Facebook, Google, YouTube and in some cases, smaller platforms (Instagram, TikTok). The sample of users is representative of the Hungarian internet user population by gender, age and region. The donation was accompanied by a detailed questionnaire that participants filled out. The survey included a number of health-related topics, including questions about COVID-19 vaccination status. For the prediction of vaccination status, digital behavioural indicators were created. Modelling was performed using a fine-tuned and cross-validated XGBoost model. The XGBoost model shows the effect of various digital and social media behaviours as features on the prediction of vaccination status. Key factors include Google searches and clicks on vaccine-related keywords, YouTube video consumption patterns, and Facebook reactions.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the relationship between xenophobic discourse on social media and individual attitudes toward migration, using a novel approach that integrates social media and survey data. Specifically, we analyze Twitter posts from two six-month periods in 2015 and 2022, identifying xenophobic, migrant-accepting, and neutral/irrelevant content through a combination of human and large language model (LLM) annotations. These labeled Tweets serve as training data for a predictive model, which estimates the probability of xenophobic content in the remaining Twitter dataset. The predicted probabilities are then aggregated at the geographical level of "pseudo-counties" (subdivisions based on federal states and municipal size) and by month. To measure migrant acceptance, we use Politbarometer survey data, specifically the percentage of respondents agreeing that migration is the most pressing national issue. Since the survey does not provide county-level residence, we construct 64 pseudo-counties by dividing each of Germany’s 16 federal states into four population-size categories. We then match the aggregated predicted xenophobia probabilities from Twitter to the survey data at the pseudo-county and monthly levels. This methodological approach allows us to model migrant acceptance as a function of xenophobic discourse intensity on social media while controlling for demographic covariates. By bridging social media discourse and survey responses, our study provides insights into how online narratives may shape public opinion on migration. This contributes to broader discussions on digital influence, public sentiment, and the role of social media in shaping societal attitudes.

ABSTRACT. Conducting qualitative research in prisons poses a number of distinctive challenges. These include difficulties in gaining access to the field and constraints imposed by institutional gatekeepers (Reiter, 2014; Sbraccia & Vianello, 2016). The process of negotiating entry frequently culminates in mediated access, which influences the scope and extent of the study, thereby giving rise to critical questions concerning the validity of the knowledge produced (Waldram, 2009). This paper explores the challenges of conducting qualitative research in carceral settings, reflecting on the methodological compromises researchers must navigate. The aim of prison ethnography is to capture the complex interplay of life in prisons, but the reality is often what many scholars have described as a 'partial' ethnography (Mugnaini, 2020). Drawing on insights from sociology, this paper argues that qualitative research in prisons is a vital tool for uncovering hidden power dynamics and control strategies (Foucault, 1975; Melossi & Pavarini, 1977). The implementation of an expanded, holistic approach to research facilitates the maintenance of analytical profundity while concurrently embracing methodological innovation. In this manner, we draw upon Becker's "tricks of the trade" (Becker, 2007), using researchers' adaptability and reflexivity to overcome institutional obstacles without compromising rigour. These challenges are exemplified by two case studies: the study of university education in prison and the exploration of fatherhood among incarcerated men. The first shows how prison university programs facilitate a symbolic escape and personal transformation for detainees yet remain embedded in power dynamics that define access and participation. The second examines the experiences of fathers in prison and how their narratives enable the construction of new identities despite constraints. These two examples underscore the paradoxes inherent in prison research, where moments of genuine connection and insight are often counterbalanced by the structural limitations imposed by the institution (Acocella, Pastore, 2020).

ABSTRACT. This paper examines the integration of qualitative methodology as an addition to quantitative research in the context of Slovene prisons. It focuses on the methodological challenges and concerns encountered during a multi-method study of social climate and the quality of life and work in Slovene prisons, conducted by a team of researchers from the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. While the core of the study involved quantitative questionnaires, the research team deepened their understanding of the data through a mix of qualitative methods, including focus groups, interviews, field observations, and visual materials. The paper demonstrates how qualitative approaches can enhance the interpretation of data by providing deeper insights into the context, relationships, and dynamics within prisons. It furthermore highlights the unique advantage of qualitative methods in reaching marginalized populations—such as foreign inmates, individuals of Roma ethnicity, and others with limited (Slovene) language proficiency or capacities to understand — who often find themselves excluded from participation in quantitative surveys and having their experiences overlooked. By making use of certain qualitative techniques, the study effectively captured the experiences of these vulnerable groups, offering a more nuanced and context-specific understanding of their realities. In addressing the limitations of traditional quantitative instruments, this research offers some solutions for overcoming barriers to data collection, ensuring that harder-to-reach populations are included and their experiences accurately represented. Ultimately, the paper underscores the value of combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies to enhance the inclusivity, accuracy, and depth of research in sensitive environments like prisons.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: Imprisonment alters women's childbearing and mothering experiences. Women in prison have diverse and distinct reproductive well-being needs. Globally, incarcerated women globally are of reproductive age, and many are mothers. Their reproductive health needs concerning menstruation, childbearing, and newborn care are often overlooked, unmet by prison institutions, and negatively affected due to the male-centric prison environment. Objective: Using Goffman’s (1961) concept of mortification of self, this article examines the impacts of imprisonment on the mothering identity of 18 Filipino incarcerated women. Methodology: A qualitative inductive approach was undertaken to explore the impacts of imprisonment on the mothering identity of 18 Filipino incarcerated women. This research project used reflexive thematic analysis to examine the data from semi-structured interviews with 18 Filipino pregnant prisoners. Results: The participants’ experiences of childbearing in prison were reflected in three overarching themes: a) Lack of autonomy over pregnancy, b) prisoner identity overriding reproductive well-being, and c) Coping with disrupted mothering identity. These themes reflect the women’s experiences of how imprisonment intensifies their reproductive issues and creates distinct needs. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate how pregnancy needs appeared secondary to their institutionally imposed ‘prisoner identity,’ a situation exacerbated by their experience of systemic scarcity and limited autonomy. Conclusion: This research makes a significant contribution by examining the nexus between pregnancy and imprisonment by unpacking how prison deprivations are linked to incarcerated women’s distinct needs. The findings highlight the urgent need to reform prison regulations and practices to address women’s vulnerability and maternal health in prison. This paper highlights an urgent need to reform correctional policies and practices to address incarcerated women’s distinct needs.

ABSTRACT. Globally the issue of resocialization and social inclusion appears to be in crisis today, with growing doubts about the effectiveness and functionality of these practices. In this context, there is an urgent need to overcome traditional approaches and explore innovative practices, fostering dialogue between reintegrative and educational models from different contexts. This study focuses on two re-educational experiences in Buenos Aires: the Devoto University Centre (CUD) and the San Martín University Centre (CUSAM). These centres boast innovative strategies of prisoner reintegration, based on empowerment and collectivism, deeply rooted in the national cultural and political context. Grossi highlights the importance of analysing both the educational potential and limitations of 'model' experiences from the Global North (Shammas, 2014), while also exploring lesser-studied experiences from the Global South to encourage mutual influence. This study aims to explore the resocialisation strategies adopted by these centres,investigating their underlying dynamics, to understand if and how these models influence social reintegration, promoting the individual's autonomy and empowerment. In particular, the aim is to understand how these practices contribute to building a sense of belonging with the territory, transforming participants into active agents. The study will adopt a qualitative approach, using Constructionist Grounded Theory (CGT), which allows a flexible and in-depth analysis of the meaning that individuals attribute to their experiences (Charmaz, 2006). Data will be collected through in-depth interviews with individuals who have already served their sentences and have reintegrated into society, as well as with professionals involved in reintegration processes. The research will be conducted over the course of April to June 2025 with a focus on understanding the specific dynamics of educational programmes in these centres. The anticipated results aim to shed light on the effectiveness of the educational methods employed, contributing to the broader discourse on prisoner reintegration and potentially informing policy reforms.

ABSTRACT. Monitoring the social atmosphere in six prisons and one correctional home in Slovenia has a long-established tradition, dating back to the 1980s. This practice began as a periodic assessment and has provided valuable insights into the conditions and trends in the development and operations of these institutions. In line with this tradition of regularly measuring the climate in Slovenian prisons, our team at the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law has taken on the task of updating the methodological framework for studying the social atmosphere in these settings through both quantitative and qualitative methods. After thorough consideration, we chose to employ the established "Measuring the Quality of Prison Life" (MQPL+) tool, which was developed at the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge by Professor Alison Liebling. In 2025, we conducted measurements of the social atmosphere in prisons and the correctional home. This effort represented a significant advancement in assessing the social environment and enhanced our ability to compare findings with international research. In the presentation, we will discuss the challenges of applying an established methodological framework in a new setting. We will also address some issues that arose during the preparation phase and the implementation process within a prison environment.

ABSTRACT. Qualitative interviews have been a core technique of sociological methods for generations, providing essential insights on how subjects experience the world around them. As digital technologies now pervade everyday life, particularly the lives of young people, new opportunities have emerged to adapt traditional in-depth interview techniques through the use of these technologies in the course of interviewing study participants. Video provides an especially promising pathway for sociological research as the use of TikTok, YouTube, and other video-based platforms become routinely integrated into everyday activities. Yet, rather than be reactive to content posted on social media platforms, scholars have an opportunity to more proactively integrate video into sociological research. This paper describes a novel approach involving the integration of video-based experience sampling techniques to adapt qualitative in-depth interviews that focus on the experience of specific social events. By incorporating brief video data captured systematically through smart-phone apps designed for experience sampling into qualitative interviews, such techniques can not only invigorate the interview process, but also help scholars move beyond certain challenges of traditional qualitative interviews. In this paper, we describe the processes and procedures for conducting these video-augmented qualitative interviews as well as highlight how the approach may enhance opportunities for qualitative analysis and minimize certain limitations of traditional qualitative interviews. While traditional in-depth interviews are likely to remain at the core of qualitative sociological inquiry, video-based experience sampling techniques may be especially useful for qualitative interviews about behavior and experiences that occur during specific events or discrete moments of time.

ABSTRACT. Oral History Photography is a participatory research-creation methodology that fuses oral history and photography into an integrated process of meaning-making. The research process itself is not neutral; it is shaped by ongoing negotiation, where researcher subjectivity, participant agency, and the broader methodological framework interact in complex ways. This presentation examines how these elements interact in the construction of meaning within Oral History Photography. It explores the ways in which visual and narrative forms influence one another, the challenges of balancing aesthetic and ethical responsibilities, and the complexities of representing lived experience in ways that account for its fluidity and relational nature, while also recognizing the interpretive role of both researcher and participant. It considers how participatory research-creation engages with questions of agency, power, and representation, highlighting the tensions that arise when shaping what is seen, told, and ultimately understood.

Oral History Photography operates within participatory research-creation, requiring critical reflection on the responsibilities researchers hold in constructing meaning. This presentation argues that beyond ethical considerations, participatory research-creation requires actively navigating relational dynamics, negotiating power, and making interpretive choices that shape meaning—processes that directly influence research outcomes and the ways in which knowledge is produced.

ABSTRACT. Reflections on the objectives and characteristics of research have expanded the methodological landscape, fostering the integration of techniques that adopt diverse expressive languages. In particular, the adoption of participatory and creative methodologies allows for a deeper exploration of social phenomena, offering new perspectives (Giorgi, Pizzolati, Vacchelli 2021). This paper examines the use of Collaborative Filmmaking, a visual and participatory technique (Baumann 2020), within a project line dedicated to adoption, as part of the FORTIES project—an interdisciplinary research into parental well-being in contexts of late and latest-late fertility in Italy. The objective is to explore the specificities, critical issues and useful resources in the complex adoption process. In this context, Collaborative Filmmaking actively involved participants in the co-definition and co-production of research outcomes, providing an emic perspective on adoptive experiences. The research included approximately 30 video interviews with adoptive couples and professionals in the field (psychologists, social workers, etc.). The collected material will be used to co-create a documentary on adoption, currently in production, ensuring the direct involvement of interviewees. The use of this research technique aims to bring out participants' knowledge of the phenomenon through a bottom-up approach, fostering their empowerment and agency while encouraging reflection on the researcher's role (Decataldo, Russo 2022). This method minimizes the researcher's observational bias, facilitating a participatory reworking of emerging themes and amplifying insider voices. The production of participatory films extends the impact of research beyond academia, raising public awareness and highlighting the most sensitive stages of the adoption process while considering the regulatory framework and parental welfare policies in Italy. This study also delves into the ethical challenges of participatory research, including power dynamics, representation, and data ownership. Through the analysis of methodology and preliminary findings, this contribution aims to reflect on the scientific and communicative potential of these specific research approaches. ________________ Baumann, S. E., Lhaki, P., & Burke, J. G. (2020) Collaborative filmmaking: A participatory, visual research method. Qual. Health Res., 30(14), 2248-2264 Decataldo, A., Russo, C. (2022) Metodologia e tecniche partecipative. La ricerca sociologica al tempo della complessità. Pearsons. Giorgi, A., Pizzolati, M., Vacchelli, E. (2021) Metodi creativi per la ricerca sociale. Contesto, pratiche e strumenti. Il Mulino.

ABSTRACT. With big tech becoming increasingly dominant across politics, economics and culture, it may seem as if pathways to future technologised societies are pre-determined. Top-down, proprietary visions that celebrate the potential roles of AI, ML, immersive and robotic technologies in widescale digital transformation are supported and promoted by nation states and international companies. Methodologically, academic research tends to approach such visions as sociotechnical imaginaries, analysing policy documents and media representations and conducting ethnographically informed research (e.g. Jasanoff and Kim 2015). Such work is necessary to better understand how future imaginaries are constructed and framed and how visions are materialised in practice. However, what is also required are new methods for imagining and making better futures. In this paper, we examine the roles of community technologies in future-making through a collaboration between a university researcher and Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC), an arts centre and charity, located in a post-war council estate, Bristol, UK, facing many social injustices.

First, drawing on work on utopia as method (Levitas 2013) and collective, yet differentiated, people-centred ‘ustopias’ (Benjamin 2023), we examine how academic researchers may not only study future imaginaries but actively cultivate them. Second, we argue community tech – broadly, technology built with, by and for communities – offers much potential for making futures. Working with community tech can centre those marginalised from designing and implementing (big) tech, facilitating bottom-up futures that work for them. We focus on the co-development and deployment of creative visual methods to produce and materialise images of better futures in engaging, inclusive ways. We discuss some of our collaborative work to date, including experimenting with hybrid technologies at a community festival, a working group on community tech futures, public programming and an exhibition on KWMC’s rich array of work on empowering learning, community storymaking, data publics and making real.

ABSTRACT. Methodological reflections on participatory research often focus primarily on the role of the researcher, emphasizing the importance of sharing power and fostering genuine co-production of knowledge. However, less attention is given to the role of other social actors, such as stakeholders and epistemic communities (Marcus, 2000; Rappaport, 2008), in shaping the research process and its outcomes. Community-driven research carries the same risks as researcher-led approaches: it can reproduce stigma, reinforce hierarchies among participants, and fail to engage key local actors essential to understanding the phenomenon being studied (Kennelly, 2018). This paper critically examines the methodological challenges of participatory research, questioning the assumption that community-driven approaches inherently lead to more inclusive and equitable outcomes. While participatory methodologies aim to decentralize research authority, they can also create imbalances in representation, privileging certain voices over others. The negotiation of power within participatory frameworks extends beyond the researcher-participant relationship and requires scrutiny of how epistemic communities and stakeholders influence knowledge production. We examine these dynamics by engaging with the existing literature and case studies on participatory methodologies across different research contexts, highlighting instances where community-driven initiatives have inadvertently reinforced exclusionary practices. Building on this discussion, we present an empirical study conducted in an Italian city with people who use drugs, where a community-driven research approach aimed to involve both PWUD and local residents in shaping urban policies. This example illustrates how pre-existing stigmas persisted within the research process despite efforts to decentralize knowledge production. By examining these challenges, we propose methodological strategies that enhance inclusivity while mitigating the risks of epistemic dominance. This discussion contributes to broader debates on qualitative multimodal research, ethics, and the complexities of achieving meaningful collaboration in participatory inquiry.

ABSTRACT. Housing related conflicts have intensified due to declining public investment, public housing deterioration, and housing policies' financialisation. These dynamics have fueled debates on affordability, social inequality, and the balance between housing as a right and as a market-driven service. This contribution is part of an ongoing PhD research project which focuses on the conflictual relationships between different actors locally and variously involved in occupations issues. All processes, including those resorting to repression, those practising the squats and those evolving in dialogical and collaborative relationships, manifest a high degree of conflict. Indeed, actors’ identities and actions always go through tensions and threats, which eventually contribute to the shaping of the local housing welfare system. The research integrates perspectives from welfare institutions, social movements, and civil society studies through an organisational theory approach. The methodology consists of adopting a mixed-methods approach within a comparative case study design. The combination of document analysis, semi-structured interviews, social network analysis, and participatory techniques help define the shared sphere of action among local actors, revealing how they perceive threats and experience them. Additionally, the study examines how organizations envisioned housing welfare scenarios, exploring the role of conflicts in shaping their desired welfare system and the strategies they developed to make it concrete. The use of participatory techniques highlights the role of emotions and expectations in shared scenarios, which traditional qualitative approaches may struggle to capture. The contribution aims at reflecting on participatory research and representation, especially focusing on the potentialities of techniques such as the photo voice or the production of artifacts. Additionally, the challenges of conducting fieldwork in conflictual contexts marked by power asymmetries and resource struggles will be examined through engagement with other conference participants.

ABSTRACT. In recent decades, infrastructure and public health initiatives in several Western countries have been downsized and privatized (Roscoe et al., 2021; Price et al., 2024). This neoliberal shift in policy has impacted patients access to care and the workload of healthcare professionals, who must deal with heavier shifts, higher patient volumes, and requests of greater individual responsibility (Wichterich, 2020). In this context, emotional labour has become a key dimensions of healthcare workers’ experiences (Whiley and Grandy, 2022), who are required to manage their emotions and expressions to meet job demands (Zhang et al., 2021), risking poor health outcomes (Roh et al., 2016; Kim and Choo, 2017). Interestingly, these challenges frequently stem from implicit, internalized rules within professional environments and cultural contexts (Moretti and Pronzato, 2024). In this contribution, we outline a creative method for investigating the multifaceted, embodied and complex ways in which emotional labour is experienced by healthcare professionals. Through Delphi technique, we have anchored a collective discussion with selected groups in which we use prompts, structured interviews, and body mapping techniques to support healthcare professionals to explore and reflect on their lived emotional experiences. Specifically, we involved 20 healthcare professionals, located in Italy, to favour the production of visual, discursive, performative self-narratives. Bodymapping raised the attention on the individuals’ experiences and perceptions of emotional labour, reflecting on how the regulation and management of emotions in healthcare is visualized and is shaped by social dynamics, working conditions and professional life. Particularly, the storytelling flow highlights the embodied and taken-for-granted aspects of emotional labour and the necessity to shed light on how these elements affect professionals’ bodies, feelings, and activities. This arts-based study sheds lights on how a creative method could be used as a self-reflexive, informative and supportive tools in the complex field of healthcare.

ABSTRACT. This discussion originates from an ethnographic research conducted between March 2022 and October 2023 on vulvodynia. The research unfolded through two Participatory Action Research methodologies: the creation of an artifact (collage or drawing) representing a body part significant in the experience of the illness, and the Identity Box (Brown, 2019), creating a symbolic path composed of objects narrating the body perception from the onset of pain. The common denominator of suffering shortened the time needed for trust to form, which would otherwise have been required. Conducting participatory and creative research means leaving room for the participants to maneuver allowing participants to feel like co-authors of the work (Moretti, 2022). The objects and drawings become the why of the research. Pain was transferred from the abstract world to the concrete one, resisting the death of language (Scarry, 1990). The panel will focus on how useful it is to invoke creative methodologies to investigate health discrimination. Bearing in mind that pain has no objective references in the concrete world (Scarry, 1990), how functional does it become to question that same abstract material by shaping something that is concrete by nature? Vulvodynia is an unrecognized and invisibilized chronic pain condition by the Italian State. The will not to see manifests through acts of invisibilization: at the levels of rights, social body, and existential space (Ramsay, 2019). Objects take on new roles, losing their essence to embody symbolic power and existence. A postcard to express the dyagnostic delay, a yoga mat to discuss therapeutic taming, a drawing to accept pain, and an elastic band to maintain the balance of a suffering body. If objects speak of Us (Miller, 2008), then interrogating them diversifies the experience of narrating the body, allowing it to exist and thus becoming a story Not to pass on (Morrison, 2013).

ABSTRACT. This paper illustrates the potential of collaborative poetic inquiry to disrupt hegemonic power relations in migration studies by platforming the subaltern knowledge of postcolonial migrant groups. It draws on preliminary findings from fieldwork in Lisbon for my doctoral research, which explores how Lusophone immigrants recount and resist persisting colonial discourse and dynamics in present-day Portugal. Constituting over half of all voluntary immigrants in the country, Lusophone immigrants are those who originate from countries formerly colonised by Portugal. As both economic migrants and postcolonial subjects, they hold a uniquely vulnerable position in Portugal’s sociopolitical landscape, being targets for national narratives that glorify colonial history and oppose increasing immigration, often simultaneously. I place Lusophone immigrants’ narratives at the centre of inquiry through an innovative co-creative methodology that combines collaborative poetry workshops with unstructured follow-up interviews. In three two-hour workshops run in collaboration with Lisbon-based immigration NGO Casa do Brasil de Lisboa, participants are first introduced to the basics of poetry and provided with prompts and activities to inspire their writing. Participants then submit their poem(s) at the interview stage, having the opportunity to expand on the writing process and overall experience. Virtually unexplored within the social sciences, this approach to poetic inquiry extends beyond the usual researcher-led poetic re-presentations of participant narratives by enabling the involvement of participants in research “as (co-)writers of poems based on their experiences” (Manning, 2018). In doing so, it edges toward the deconstruction of Western methodological and epistemological traditions used to explore and explain the experiences of subalternised migrants in the global North. In line with the focus of this panel, my paper takes an arts-based, participant-centric approach to offer insight into postcolonial immigration to Portugal – the European nation with the longest experience of colonialism –, and the related social implications, notably race-based inequality and exclusion.

ABSTRACT. The extant literature in the field of Survivor Studies has focused primarily on the experiences of psychological and physical abuse related to psychiatric mental health service users (Faulkner, 2017; Shimrat, 2021), while some contributions have analysed the biographical trajectory of survivors of sexual abuse (Maltz, 2012; Domhardt et al., 2015). However, to the best of the author's knowledge, there is an absence of literature addressing the experiences of disabled survivors. Within this epistemological framework, the autoethnography (Adams et al., 2016; Gariglio, 2017; 2018) of the first speaker aims to explore her own embodied experience as a disabled survivor of violence, and the collaborative experience of the second speaker, which aims to explore experiences of violence among survivors with and without disabilities, is a natural fit. In light of these challenges, the primary researcher opted to employ visual elements, namely comic strips and illustrations, to facilitate a more efficacious depiction of her internal landscape and the experiences of violence she endured, in comparison to conventional textual methods. This approach has proven to be particularly fruitful in circumventing the difficulties encountered with the autoethnographic method and in accounting for experiences that are impossible to narrate otherwise. In the second research experience documented here, the second author employs visual methods, including comic strips and drawings, to facilitate a collaborative autoethnography and to engage with women living with disabilities who have experienced violence. In this particular instance, the utilisation of visual methods not only served as a medium for eliciting information but also as a conduit for co-constructing narratives.

The objective of this contribution is to initiate a critical reflection on the limits of the autoethnographic approach with respect to the narration of traumatic experiences - especially in survivors of violence - and to offer some possible solutions.

ABSTRACT. The arts have gained prominence in the methodology of social sciences, challenging standard research through creative and participatory method to engage - in a symbolic alternative space - subaltern voices within an 'ethics of care' framework (Moralli 2024). In relation to the issue of migration, the arts have emerged as a practice capable of generating new intercultural perspectives and counter-narratives (Colombo et al. 2011), thus changing structures of power and domination. Linked to this trend, and also considering the relevance of arts in educational contexts, our paper aims to present the results collected within the research project "The Cultural Literacies' Value in Europe" (Horizon-Clivie), which aims to understand the role of arts in educational settings to promote inclusion, especially in contexts of structural inequalities. The target group are young people (10-18 years old) who experience multiple disadvantages in terms of migrant background and socio-economic status. In particular, we present results from two cases of non-formal educational settings - Spazio Pontano 43/Tempo per l'Infanzia and FormatArt - located in peripheral and multiculturally conflicted districts of Milan (Corvetto and via Padova), which promote arts-based activities targeted at young people. Adopting a multicultural lens (Camozzi 2019), through participant observation and interviews, the research team investigated how two selected arts-based educational projects developed by these organisations promote the emergence of emotions, representations and conflictual values among young people experiencing social injustice in everyday life. Furthermore, participants were involved in constructing an emotional collective mapping in the form of the emotional cartography (Mekdjian 2015) in a relational and participatory space (Nunn 2022) to explore issues of inequality related to the multicultural context in which they live. Finally, ethical issues related to the involvement of minors are addressed, along with a reflection on the role of the researchers in constructing an inclusive community for the participants.

ABSTRACT. Carnival can be seen as a powerful learning tool, where art serves as a methodology for building knowledge. By bringing together music, dance, theater, history and cultural identity, it becomes a dynamic space for teaching and social transformation. Samba school parades are real lessons in Brazilian history and political formation, because they tell rich narratives about historical events, important figures, social struggles and aspects of national culture. From the creation of the samba-enredo to the performance on the avenue, these performances function as a form of popular education, teaching and raising awareness among millions of people. In this sense, carnival is also an educational process, originating from the popular classes, a process that involves issues such as research and historical memory - samba schools build plots based on historical, cultural and social themes, identity and belonging - carnival values popular knowledge, promoting the recognition of African, indigenous and European heritages, and political education and social criticism - many plots denounce inequalities and social problems, such as racism, poverty and corruption.Art in Carnival enables teaching in a playful and accessible way. Teachers and educational institutions can use Carnival as an interdisciplinary theme, connecting art, history, literature and sociology, promoting learning in an engaging way. Samba schools go far beyond Carnival: they are true educational and transformative institutions, playing an essential role in the cultural, social and political formation of their communities. Through art, teaching and the valorization of national identity, these schools create learning spaces. The parades are also political manifestations that recover forgotten histories, denounce injustices and celebrate popular resistance.

ABSTRACT. Foreign Information Manipulation and Suppression (FIMI) refers to a pattern of actions, often not illegal, that can undermine or negatively influence political values and processes. It is a strategy employed by various governments and has become increasingly common in global emergencies and conflicts. For example, Russia has used FIMI to manipulate public opinion and justify its aggression during the invasion of Ukraine, while China deployed similar tactics during the COVID-19 pandemic (EEAS, 2023). As part of a recent wave of transdisciplinary research, the Horizon RESONANT project – which includes the Department of Sociology and Business Law at the University of Bologna as a partner – seeks to examine the information manipulation and interference carried out by non-European state and non-state actors, focusing on the impacts these actions have on specific target groups, such as diaspora communities in Europe. In this context, interviews with members of the diaspora from authoritarian states have immediately highlighted the potential physical or psychological risks for the participants or their families, should the authoritarian governments become aware of their participation in the project and/or the views expressed during the interviews. Simultaneously, similar risks and consequent precautions should also be considered for researchers. Therefore, how to address the risks for both researcher and social units involved in research while preserving anonymity and safety online or offline, in the fieldwork and during research? To balance scientific rigor and flexibility, the project has implemented measures such as confidentiality declarations, interviews conducted by experts adhering to data minimization principles to prevent incidental findings, transparency regarding research benefits, clear communication of participants' right to withdraw, and the avoidance of involving participants dependent on project partners, all as part of informed consent procedures to ensure participant safety. Accordingly, with the aim of investigating the complex dynamics between individual behavior, European democracies, and autocratic regimes, as well as navigating, anticipating, and mitigating risks to both research participants and the processing of personal data, the talk aims to collectively discuss the detailed set of ethical recommendations adopted to evaluate its effectiveness and/or possible implementation.

ABSTRACT. What is the role of academic communication and dissemination in sociological research on migration? What challenges arise when researching sensitive topics, vulnerable populations, and media narratives? The PRIN-PNRR Project, "We Propose. Processes, Policies, and Networks in Support of Women’s Returnees to Tunisia and Morocco," explores the journeys of female returnees, examining the underlying success and failure factors behind their desire to return, with a focus on migrant women’s agency. The project includes artistic communication and dissemination activities as an integral part, providing an opportunity to reflect, both ethically and methodologically, on contemporary ways of highlighting the thoughts and perspectives of the women involved in the research, through interviews and focus groups. Ongoing exchange and collaboration among the three Research Units involved (LUMSA, UNICT, UNIBO) has allowed the research findings to be complemented by communication outcomes from the project’s social media platforms. These outputs are further integrated into a co-created artistic dissemination tool and co-produced guidelines on women migrant entrepreneurship, informed by a postcolonial and feminist approach. The process involves continuous mediation between the limitations and opportunities of public communication in social research on gender migration, raising questions about how academia can contribute to co-creating more fair and accurate narratives. It also seeks to improve understanding of the impact of public policy on migration and its effects on the subjects of the research.

ABSTRACT. The proliferation of digital communities centered on vulnerable and marginalized identities provides sociological research with unprecedented access to processes of identity construction, collective meaning-making, and experiences of stigma and recognition. However, applying computational text analysis to these contexts raises critical methodological and ethical challenges, requiring reflexive approaches that balance analytical scalability with respect for the agency and epistemic positioning of vulnerable populations. This contribution focuses on the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) as a strategic case study to evaluate the methodological and ethical risks associated with computational approaches, including Natural Language Processing (NLP), sentiment analysis, and topic modeling. A corpus of over 6,000 user-generated comments was processed through a multi-step sentiment and thematic analysis pipeline, with the goal of identifying recurring emotional patterns, thematic clusters, and shifts in discourse over time. These algorithmic outputs were triangulated with 16 semi-structured interviews conducted with AVEN members to assess the interpretative validity of computational findings and to capture new perspectives overlooked by automated tools. The AVEN case allows us to test the computational techniques performance in analyzing marginalized intersectional identities online and to highlight how algorithmic reductionism risks oversimplifying complex experiences. The paper advocates for a hybrid methodological framework, where computational scalability is combined with participatory validation, fostering a research process that preserves epistemic justice while enhancing analytical rigor when working with vulnerable populations.

ABSTRACT. This article examines the ethical challenges and risk management strategies employed during qualitative fieldwork conducted in Egypt in 2019 and 2025, amidst an increasingly oppressive political environment hostile to academic research. It presents a framework for implementing dynamic risk assessment and adaptive ethical practices in high-stakes field research settings. The study introduces the concept of the Field Research Risk Escalation Curve, illustrating how risks can increase over time due to expanding sample size, growing sense of security, and increasing data collection temptation. To mitigate these escalating risks, the article emphasises the importance of continuous situational awareness, periodic risk reassessment, and flexible adaptation of research strategies.Key ethical considerations addressed include obtaining informed consent without written documentation, protecting participant anonymity, and managing data securely in a volatile political context. The article argues for a comprehensive approach to risk assessment that considers potential harm not only to the researcher and participants, but also to their extended social networks.The article advocates for institutional support in the form of specialised training for researchers working in oppressive contexts, separate from formal ethics approval processes. This would allow for candid discussion of identified risks and mitigation strategies without jeopardising research access. By sharing strategies for navigating the complex ethical landscape of conducting research in oppressive environments, this article contributes to the ongoing dialogue on balancing academic rigour with participant safety in cross-cultural qualitative research. It underscores the need for continuous ethical reflection and adaptation throughout the research process, from pre-fieldwork planning to post-fieldwork data management and dissemination

ABSTRACT. This proposal presents the first results of the “Universitabile” doctoral thesis, which has as its target population students with disabilities and DSA enrolled in A.A. 2020-2021 at La Sapienza, Tor Vergata and Roma Tre. The research aims on the one hand to explore and describe the factors that affect inclusion/participation and university performance of young people with disabilities and SLDs, and on the other hand to analyze the role of study support services. Since the beginning of the 21st century, Italian universities are increasingly plural places (Bolt and Penketh, 2016) and have to deal with the diversity and ways of inclusion of students with disabilities or SLDs (Oliver and Barnes, 2010) who have become a non-negligible part of the Italian student population (Censis, 2017). Here we hypothesize that university policies may produce ambivalent effects. In fact, these may contain “in germ the cues for a reversal of perspective, which from the anti-discriminatory strategy and the egalitarian ideal risk opening the door to the most extreme differentialism” (Piccone Stella, 2003). With this in mind, the survey aims to assess how accessibility to facilities and quality of services contribute to physical and social inclusion, through the use of the mixed methods approach (Mauceri, 2017), involving the administration of questionnaires to students and in-depth interviews with service workers

ABSTRACT. The street dwellers of Philippines’ metropolis fit the criteria of what Wacquant in his book refers to as the “urban outcasts” of the advanced society. They are viewed by the outsiders and perhaps even by their own kind as lawless, problematic, to be feared, to be shunned, and for dissolution. However, what is not recognized is that they are the product of unequal wealth distribution, desocialized wage labor, and the dismal attempts of the social institutions to create durable solutions and safeguard measures for this sector. Further, their meaningful involvement in solutions creation is with challenges considering that they generally suffer from “culture of silence” and naïve consciousness making them disempowered agents of transformation and perpetuate their continued oppression. According to Freire,2 when the right to speak is compromised, a fissure or chasm should be created to break various forms of violence. It is only when the culture of silence is broken that people can practice their right to speak, right to be involved in the social transformation, introduce radical structural changes, and for the society to stop its oppressive acts. Thus, Freire pointed out the indispensability of the voices of the poor in the design and implementation of anti-poverty measures that concern them greatly and advocated for the dialogical approach with the marginalized. This exploratory qualitative study that utilized the dialogical approach attempted to answer the two questions: i) How do the street dwellers make sense of their current living situation and future in the metropolis’ public places as individuals and as a collective?; and ii) How do street dialogs at different levels be an effective approach in engendering voices, positionality, fears, aspirations, and consensus among the street dwellers that can altogether better inform relevant policies and interventions? The series of dialogs done in six feeding centers and with 200 plus street dwellers in Metro Manila reveal the push and pull factors in street dwelling along with their everyday life, struggles in the streets, and aspirations for the future. The study likewise shows how the dialogical approach shattered the “culture of silence” and facilitated exchange between the street dwellers within the feeding center, across feeding centers, and overcoming differences in experiences and demographics towards expression of solidarity for the resolution of their shelter and well-being concerns.