XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology

 

Situated in Tokyo Bay, Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan which played host to the XVIII World Congress of Sociology between the 13^th and 19^th July 2014 titled ‘Facing an Unequal World – Challenges for Global Sociology’. The International Sociological Association (ISA) emphasised the prominent issue of inequality by bringing together over 6,000 delegates from varying fields of social knowledge. The academic timetable of the congress incorporated Research Committees, Working Groups and Thematic Group sessions all with the common goal of debating and discussing issues of global inequality. 

 The Visual Sociology Working Group (WG03) and the Sociology of Ageing Research Committee (RC11) held a joint session that focused on ‘Visual Methods in Ageing Research Methodological Issues’. I presented a paper in this joint session titled ‘Methodological complexities involved when using visual methods in dementia research’.  The presentation was well received and enabled a discussion surrounding some of the ethical issues of using visual methods in research, specifically when involving participants that are considered vulnerable.

The experience of presenting at this congress was invaluable and I met many researchers both new and established from all over the world as well as some familiar names from the UK. The end of congress farewell party then enabled all delegates to come together socially and share their experiences of presenting at or being part of this prestigious event that focussed on such important global issues. The opportunity to present my research to an international audience at the World Congress of Sociology would not have been possible without obtaining a Postgraduate International Conference Travel Grant from the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness (SHI) to whom I am very grateful.

 

Written by Sarah Kate Smith 04.08.14