CDK Members at the 16th ESA Conference

Members of our research center recently made significant contributions to the 16th Conference of the European Sociological Association, which took place in Porto from August 27-30, 2024. This year’s theme, Tension, Trust and Transformation, provided a rich framework for our researchers to share insights on pressing social issues in their presentations. 

Presentation Highlights

News Sources in the Sociology of the Media: A Political Economy of Communication Approach 
Presented by Jernej Amon Prodnik and Igor Vobič 

Jernej Amon Prodnik and Igor Vobič examined how journalists’ sourcing practices reflect broader social dynamics and power relations. While previous studies have emphasized journalists’ dependence on elite sources and the trend towards homogenization of news, Amon Prodnik and Vobič claim that such media-centric approaches overlook the broader socio-economic structures in which these practices are embedded. By incorporating the political economy of communication (PEC) framework, they argue for a broader perspective that highlights how external actors and economic forces shape journalistic decisions, emphasizing patterns of communication inequality and the influence of information subsidies in today’s media landscape. 

Sociology Meets Poststructuralism: Liquidity of the Late Modern (In)dividual and the Society of Control 
Presented by Neja Berger 

Neja Berger’s presentation examined how late modernity reshapes individual identities in response to structural changes. Using Foucault’s theories of power and Deleuze’s notion of societies of control, Berger introduced the concept of “dividualization” and suggested that late modernity promotes a more fragmented identity that is subtly directed by mechanisms of control linked to neoliberal capitalism. Her analysis challenges conventional sociological perspectives on individualization and offers a post-structuralist view to understand the forces shaping subjectivity in the digital age. 

Spectres of Marx in Critical Media and Communication Studies 
Presented by Sašo Slaček Brlek and Boris Mance 

Sašo Slaček Brlek and Boris Mance presented their latest research, which builds on their earlier work on mapping Marxist influences in media and communication studies. This study, which goes beyond citation patterns, uses a mixed methods approach to analyze how Marx’s ideas are taken up, interpreted or critiqued in the history of communication studies. Quantitative models and qualitative coding were used to identify conceptual clusters of related ideas that reveal the complex network of Marxist thought that shapes critical perspectives within the discipline. 

Additional Achievements 

We are also proud to announce that Jernej Amon Prodnik, Sašo Slaček Brlek and Igor Vobič have been appointed to the Board of the Research Network 18 – Sociology of Communications and Media Research. Another exciting update is that the Research Network has chosen Ljubljana as the venue for its 2025 mid-term conference, which will strengthen our Center’s ties to this dynamic international research community. 

cover photo by Sašo Slaček