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The 10th Institute of Sociology Postdoctoral Forum explores the intersections of democracy, technology, culture, and social change through sociology’s enduring commitments to justice, democratic engagement, and marginalised experiences. Drawing on diverse methodological approaches, the papers examine how individuals and communities encounter, negotiate, and resist structures of power, exclusion, and inequality.
Across three panels, the Forum addresses the historical formation of authoritarianism in Taiwan and South Korea and contemporary recall politics in Taiwan; sociotechnical imaginaries of geothermal energy, digital management and workers’ tacit knowledge, and the transformation of Fish Fry Counting Songs from labour practices into cultural heritage; and the changing politics of cross-strait marriages and queer worldmaking among young Muslim K-pop fans in Jakarta. Together, these studies connect lived experience with broader historical and structural transformations while highlighting culture, meaning, and human agency. In the spirit of Michael Burawoy, the Forum affirms a publicly engaged sociology that contributes to democratic debate and places justice, power, and collective futures at the centre of sociological inquiry.