Sustainability of local community under scrutiny of global sociology in the XXI Century

The conference theme addresses current issues and challenges in microsociology and “middle-range” theories related to community problems in various countries worldwide. Topics such as sustainable development and community self-organization will be presented and discussed. For the first time, RC26 will reflect on its history and dedicate a session to honoring the founders and distinguished members of the committee.
Public policies are facing significant challenges regarding local democratic participation. Over the past few decades, the nonprofit sector and local civil society organizations, as social economy organizations, have been directly involved in the politics of local and endogenous development. The crisis of representational democracy has also spurred local innovations, where combined and uneven development has become a new autarky issue, reflecting the power of place (topos) and its people.

Participative democracy has become almost mainstream in public discourse and practice, while issues of empowerment are also present to complement these participative trends.

We are interested in relating participation to a socio-technical process in which local community cohesion issues emerge as dominant forms shaped by globalization on one hand, and by new knowledge forms, such as information technology, on the other. These developments require symmetries and holistic approaches to be established at the local level.

We are seeking papers whereby different forms of participation, inclusion/exclusion issues, empowerment, cooperation, define forms of social and rural development at local level in order to bridge “separate” and often conflictual political communities of interest. The problems of fragile and rural communities are of interest here.

The RC26 ISA International Conference 2026, “Sustainability of Local Community under Scrutiny of Global Sociology in the XXI Century”, will take place in Kalamata, Greece, from 23 to 26 October 2026.

The conference focuses on the sustainability of local communities under the conditions of global social, economic, technological and cultural transformations. It invites discussion on the ways in which local communities respond to contemporary challenges, including governance, participation, inequality, social change and sociotechnical dynamics.

Within the framework of RC26, the conference aims to promote theoretical reflection, empirical research and interdisciplinary dialogue on the relationship between local community sustainability and global sociological analysis.