Contemporary societies are marked by overlapping and enduring transformations that reconfigure social structures, institutional arrangements, and everyday life. The prolonged armed conflicts in Europe and neighbouring regions and their persistent social repercussions, alongside forced migration, economic instability, demographic change, and the long-term consequences of the pandemic, have intensified structural inequalities and exposed new forms of vulnerability. These dynamics unfold in contexts shaped by political polarization, contested solidarities, and growing tensions around social justice, responsibility, and institutional trust.
At the same time, rapid technological developments, particularly the expansion of artificial intelligence and data-driven systems, are reshaping research practices, communication environments, organizational governance, and the delivery of social services. AI tools increasingly influence knowledge production, from data collection and analysis to automated content generation and predictive modelling. This raises important questions about transparency, bias, accountability, and epistemic responsibility. In welfare and organizational settings, algorithmic decision-making, digital platforms, and AI-assisted management systems transform administrative routines, professional roles, and access to services. These processes call for critical reflection on datafication, digital inequalities, power asymmetries embedded in technological infrastructures, and the ethical boundaries of automation in human-centred professions.
Understanding these transformations requires attention not only to structural change, but also to how social problems are constructed, mediated, and addressed. Sociological inquiry examines shifting configurations of stratification, power, and social cohesion. Meanwhile, social work engages directly with the lived realities of individuals, families, and communities affected by exclusion, poverty, displacement, and institutional fragility. At the same time, communication processes and journalistic practices play a decisive role in shaping public representations of vulnerability, legitimizing policy responses, and influencing civic engagement and institutional trust. Social issues today are not only experienced and managed but also framed, debated, and contested within complex digital and media ecosystems.
Against this background, the conference seeks to bring together scholars, researchers, and practitioners in sociology, social work, communication sciences, and other connected fields to critically examine contemporary social transformations at the intersection of structural change, professional intervention, and mediated public discourse. We welcome theoretical and empirical contributions that explore emerging risks, institutional responses, methodological innovation, and ethical challenges, while advancing rigorous and socially responsible scholarship.
Suggested Topics (including but not limited to)
I. Power, Inequality, and Intimacy
• Gender, power, and emotional labour in relationships
• Intimate lives / intimate partner violence and social structures
• Disease, disability, care, and relational autonomy
II. Structural Shifts & Social Vulnerabilities • Social inequalities, stratification, and social mobility
• Identity, social values, and solidarity
• Migration, displacement, and integration
• Poverty, precarity, and welfare state transformations
• Demographic change, ageing, and care systems
III. Individuals, Organizations, and the Evolving Nature of Work
• Work and individual values
• Successful ageing, late careers, and age diversity at work
• Individual–organization relations: identity, motivation, engagement and ethics
• Well-being and occupational health in contemporary workplaces
• Work–life integration in transitioning societies
• Organizational change, HR practices and labour market transformations
• Organizational vulnerabilities and pathologies at work
IV. Professional Practice & Institutional Change
• Social work practice in crisis and institutional fragility
• Social policy design, implementation, and evaluation
• Community development and local resilience
• Organizational transformation in public services
V. Media, Communication & Public Discourse
• Journalism, media framing, and representations of vulnerability
• Communication, polarization, and institutional (mis)trust
• Misinformation and social cohesion in digital ecosystems
VI. The Digital Frontier & AI
• Digitalization, platformization, and datafication
• AI in social research: methodological and epistemological challenges
• Algorithmic governance and AI-assisted decision-making
• Human–AI interactions in organizational and work contexts
Submissions of workshops and panels
We encourage submissions of workshops (collaborative and interactive sessions) and panels (at least four presentations on a specific topic). Interested participants are invited to submit their session titles, descriptions (maximum 500 words), and the names and affiliations of speakers via email to conf.asjrps@ulbsibiu.ro by 1 September 2026. Abstracts for papers within the proposed panels should be submitted according to the guidelines outlined in the Submissions of Papers section under the Individual Paper for a Proposed Panel category.
Submissions of papers
The submitted papers can be based on complete or in-progress research. Interested participants are invited to submit their titles and abstracts (maximum 300 words) by 30 September 2026 by filling out the attached form.
Important dates
● Deadline for submitting workshops/panels/sections: 1 September 2026
● Deadline for submitting papers: 15 September 2026
● Notification of acceptance: 15 October 2026
● Registration: 30 October 2026
Conference language:
Primarily English, with certain panels conducted in Romanian (details will be provided in the program).
Publication
Subject to their research topics and academic interests, participants may submit complete papers to one of the LBUS scientific journals after the conference. Their submissions will undergo peer review. Please check the submission guidelines for each journal, depending on your interest: