HUGARIAN SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING: Boundaries: Social Constructions of Space, Identity, and Power

Date: 28.10.2026 - 30.10.2026
Conference / symposium
Keywords: sociology, boundaries, digitality
Format: onsite
Language(s): English & Hungarian
Location: Szeged, Hungary
Event Fee: Free

Organizer(s):
HUGARIAN SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

Boundaries primarily function as mechanisms of separation—whether spatial, political, social, or mental. They are social and political constructs that evolve over time and across cultures, often contested and subject to reinforcement or loosening. Boundaries are key instruments of differentiation, exclusion, and domination, helping to reproduce social order through categories such as “us” and “them.” They arise from discursive and institutional practices that control access to resources, define social and spatial belonging, and regulate mobility. Simultaneously, boundaries also form contact zones where diverse social positions, ethnic and cultural identities, and power relations intersect. These contact zones, or borderlands, function as areas of both resistance and hybridisation, where interaction and conflict are fundamental, not incidental. Today, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructures forge new boundary definitions that are frequently depoliticised. Algorithmic governance and data-driven surveillance create hidden yet structural boundaries that contribute to the reproduction of social inequalities. The conference aims to critically explore how boundaries shape Hungarian and East-Central European societies, focusing on the economic, political, symbolic, and mental mechanisms that perpetuate social differences.

https://szociologia.hu/en/2026-annual-meeting

Post created by: Virginia Signorini