Sociologists to address authoritarianism and conflict at SAI Conference

8 May 2025

• Sociological Association of Ireland conference to explore conflict, inequality, and sociology’s role in navigating global turbulence.

Rising authoritarianism, polarised political discourse, and the resurgence of people power and activism are among the topics which will be explored at the Sociological Association of Ireland (SAI) Annual Conference, hosted by University College Cork (UCC) on 8–9 May.

Amid global political turbulence, the conference will offer a critical forum for more than 150 sociologists to reflect, debate, and share how their work can address urgent contemporary challenges and drive meaningful change.

Dr John O’Brien, sociologist in UCC Department of Sociology and Criminology and head of the UCC organising committee said: “The conference will highlight some of the really important work being led by the Department of Sociology and Criminology at UCC, and by sociologists internationally to understand political conflict and rising antagonism, and associated questions of social justice and what better futures for our society might look like.”

"This conference is more crucial than ever. Sociology allows us to unpack these urgent global and local crises — from democracy under threat to climate catastrophe — and contribute to meaningful solutions. We look forward to rich debates and forging movements, narratives, and ways of being that address key concerns,” Dr Julius Cezar Macarie, member of the UCC organising committee and Lecturer in Sociology at UCC.

The conference will feature a keynote address by Dr Gema Kloppe-Santamaría, Lecturer in Sociology at UCC and a leading expert on violence, religion, and gender in Mexico and Central America. Her talk, ‘Violence, Politics, and the Sacred: A Decolonial Approach to Religious Conflict,’ will explore how the legacies of colonialism and neo-colonialism effect the level and character of violence in a society.

Dr Philomena Mullen, Assistant Professor Black Studies, Department of Sociology at TCD, will deliver a keynote address exploring ‘Trapped in the comments section of offline and online worlds: antiblackness and digital pogrom’. Dr Mullen will examine how antiblackness manifests in digital spaces and beyond, linking virtual and real-world experiences.

The conference is organised by the UCC Local Organising Committee — Dr John O’Brien, Brenda Mondragon Toledo, Dr Julius Cezar Macarie, Dr Myles Balfe, Professor Des Fitzgerald, Dr Tanya Watson, Dr Amin Sharifi Isaloo, and Billy Goodwin — with coordination by Dr Adepeju Olaide Oti, the Conference officer of the SAI. The event is kindly supported by ISS21, UCC Collective Social Futures, and the Radical Humanities Laboratory.

View the full programme here