The Self in the Social World

This conference explores how the self is shaped, experienced, and transformed within the social worlds we inhabit. Human selfhood does not arise in isolation; it unfolds within networks of interpersonal relations, cultural and institutional settings, technological infrastructures, and shifting ecological and political conditions. As these worlds evolve, so too do the experiential dynamics through which individuals make sense of themselves, others, and their place in a shared reality.  

A more specific yet central form of social sense-making consists in individuals’ striving to find a place in the social world that bestows a sense of belonging, meaning, and fulfilment. However, finding such a place is not something we can simply take for granted. Social environments must have certain features for individuals to be able to make them their home, just as bodily, affective, and cognitive aspects of individuals precondition  whether they may benefit from the interactions within the communities they navigate. The fit between various features of environments and individuals is notoriously precarious.  

A central aim of the conference is to investigate the lived experience of the self in its dynamic embeddedness in the social world. We invite contributions that examine how subjectivity is informed through concrete interactions, practices, and environments, as well as how changing societal and technological developments influence affective, cognitive, embodied, and existential dimensions of experience. A particular focus lies on how the study of psychopathology can help elucidate the central importance of interpersonal encounters and structural determinants of the lifeworld for the self. We welcome submissions that advance our understanding of the lived experience of the social world through a diversity of methodological approaches, including conceptual analysis, qualitative and experiential research, clinical observation, interdisciplinary case studies, and other ways of accessing and articulating first-person and relational dimensions of social life.  

We encourage contributions addressing questions such as:   

• How do individuals and groups participate in shaping the multiple social realities they inhabit? 
•  How are identities established, negotiated, or destabilized within a broad array of social contexts?   
•  In what ways is our sense of self mediated through shared practices, cultural norms, and material or digital environments?   
•  What do experiences of resistance, alienation, belonging, or fragmentation reveal about the social constitution of selfhood?
•  How do specific changes to social, institutional, or technological environments affect the development, maintenance, or recovery from challenging mental health conditions?    
•  How are opportunities for participation and self-realization distributed, restricted, or contested in contemporary societies?      
•  What forms of meaningfulness and connection or experiences of fulfillment become possible—or impossible under current social conditions? 
•  What are the different levels and types of normativity that underpin and shape our possibilities for self-realization and collective sense-making?  

Please send anonymized abstracts of no more than 300 words and suitable for a 30 minutes presentation slots (20 minutes for the talk, 10 minutes for the Q&A) to [email protected] by 28 February 2026. We will announce the selected presentations by 30 April 2026.  

A conference fee of approximately €120 will be charged (the exact amount will depend on career stage of the successful applicant and be communicated in due course).