This intense year unfolded in turbulent times, marked by strong geopolitical tensions, wars, and increasing attacks on academic freedom. In such a context, one of the main roles of a professional association of sociologists is to provide information from and on the affected countries and regions, as well as analyses that provide a deeper understanding of the situation and of the work conducted by sociologists and social scientists.
When war erupts, one might assume that the social sciences become a secondary concern and are forced into suspension until the end of the conflict. In different ways, the experience of our colleagues in Ukraine, Palestine, Lebanon and Iran tells us a very different story.
The war has profoundly disrupted personal and academic life. And yet, Ukrainian sociologists have continued to teach, organise national congresses and conduct research. As I show in this recent article ›What sociology can do in wartime. The resilience and dynamism of Ukrainian sociologists‹ (International Sociology, March 2026), Ukrainian sociology has not only persisted, but in several ways adapted and renewed itself. Sociologists document war crimes, but also daily life in a country at war, resilience and solidarity. They have adapted their methods, raised crucial epistemological questions, reoriented their research agendas, and strengthened institutional and international collaborations. The article also draws on insightful research conducted by sociologists in Palestine and during the Duterte regime in the Philippines.
On the first few days of the US and Israeli war against Iran, ISA magazine Global Dialogue published a series of six articles dedicated to sociology in Iran, a series coordinated by Nazanin Shahrokni and Reyhaneh Javadi. In their article, ›Between Repression and Relevance: Rethinking Sociology Through the Lens of Iran‹, they notably highlight the tensions between ›sociology in Iran‹ and ›sociology of Iran,‹ pointing to inequalities in visibility and knowledge production within global academia. Despite major challenges, Iranian sociologists develop innovative and resilient practices—across universities, informal networks, and the diaspora—showing how the discipline adapts and renews itself under constraint.
These issues will be at the core of the first session of the ISA webinar series ›Global Sociology in Turbulent Times‹: ›War and Resistance in the Middle East: What Sociology Can Teach Us. Perspectives from Lebanon, Iran, and Palestine‹ with Rima Majeb (American University of Beirut, Lebanon), Abeer Musleh (University of Bethlehem, Palestine) and Nazanin Shahrokni (Simon Fraser University, Canada/Iran).
Join online on Monday, May 4, 2026 at 16:00 GMT. This is 19:00 in Palestine & Lebanon; 19:30 in Iran; 18:00 CET. Check the schedule in your time zone here.
The webinar is open, but registration is required. Please register here: Meeting-Registrierung - Zoom