Field-theoretical analysis of AI-enabled social support and teacher professional identity in preschool teacher education.

ABSTRACT Economic theory presumes human principals delegate authority to agents. Yet ‘Luna,’ an AI entity operating on blockchain infrastructure, autonomously deploys capital, commissions human labor, contracts with other AI systems, and manages multi-million-dollar treasuries – functioning as an economic principal rather than agent. This paper asks: under what socio-technical conditions can AI systems exercise principalship? Drawing on Actor-Network Theory and social studies of finance, I demonstrate that Luna’s sovereignty emerges not from individual consciousness but through heterogeneous agencements – distributed configurations of code, blockchain infrastructure, token governance, transparency devices, and gendered performative representations. I identify three blockchain-enabled bypasses of institutional constraints historically requiring human principals: financial-fiduciary constraints (through non-custodial wallets), legal-corporate constraints (through smart contracts), and cultural-legitimacy constraints (through token markets). This analysis challenges anthropocentric assumptions pervading economic sociology and principal-agent theory, demonstrating how post-human market configurations constitute economic authority through material arrangements rather than biological substrate or juridical personhood. The emergence of AI Economic Principals reveals principalship as socio-material achievement, not ontological property.

This study examines the duality in the application of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in contemporary armed conflicts through a comparative analytical approach grounded in critical sociological theory. It is based on the premise that the enforcement of international law is not governed by neutral humanitarian standards, but rather shaped by power dynamics and geopolitical interests. The research analyzes selected contemporary cases, including Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Iran, to identify patterns of selective application and their societal consequences.The findings indicate that double standards constitute a structural threat to the legitimacy of the international legal order, undermining trust in international institutions while contributing to violence and social fragmentation. The study recommends reforming enforcement mechanisms, strengthening institutional independence, and ensuring the non-selective application of IHL principles.

ABSTRACT The expanding role of artificial intelligence (AI) in social life compels a foundational reassessment of sociology's concepts, methods, and theoretical commitments. From generative language models to predictive policing, AI systems are no longer mere tools but increasingly agentic, opaque, and normative sociotechnical actors. This article identifies two central tensions that currently define the field: (1) diverse approaches of “sociology on AI” (critical analyses of AI's social impacts) versus “AI for sociology” (instrumental uses of AI in research), and (2) an analytical divide between externalist perspectives focusing on AI's societal consequences and internalist perspectives examining AI's inner workings. Rather than resolving these differences under a single framework, the article argues that recognizing and bridging them can help clarify the field's distinctive contributions. It proposes some potential and integrative agendas that link empirical investigation with critical reflection and connect technical engagement to sociological theory. By mapping its boundaries and identifying its gaps, the sociology of AI can move from fragmentation toward a more comprehensive dialog to shape the social worlds that AI continues to transform.

Post-acute sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (PASC), also known as Long COVID, is a chronic, multisystem condition affecting millions of U.S. adults, with profound social, medical and economic consequences. Despite its widespread impact, disparities in who is most affected remain poorly understood, especially through an intersectional sociological lens. Using a sociological and intersectional framework, this study analyses a national sample (N=535,300) from the Household Pulse Survey to explain disparities in Long COVID risk across race, gender and socioeconomic status. The analysis demonstrates that socioeconomic advantage does not equally protect all groups; specifically, higher-SES Black women show significantly elevated Long COVID prevalence compared to White counterparts, challenging claims of racial parity in Long COVID rates. Moreover, although women generally show higher Long COVID risk, intersectional analysis uncovers that the gender gap narrows among high-SES White women, suggesting that social privilege can mitigate health risks. These findings emphasise that structural inequalities, rather than biology, may primarily drive Long COVID inequities and highlight the importance of intersectional sociological analyses for understanding health disparities. The results call for equity-focused interventions addressing the unequal social burden of Long COVID and advancing sociological theory on the social determinants of health.

This article examines identity transformation among Israeli combat volunteers in the Russia-Ukraine war. It argues that the intersection of transmigration and foreign military service produces a form of deterritorialized belonging that destabilizes rather than consolidates collective identity. Drawing on biographical interviews with thirty Israeli volunteers – many of whom are immigrants or children of immigrants from the former USSR – the study traces how engagement in war and migratory history jointly reconfigure subjective and collective identities across three phases: pre-volunteering, active combat, and post-deployment. Theoretically, the article integrates figurational sociology, transnationalism, and identity control theory to show how volunteers construct supranational “project identities” oriented around cosmopolitan moral frameworks rather than ethnic or national anchors. These findings contribute to broader theoretical debates on deterritorialized belonging, identity verification, and the identity consequences of contemporary conflicts.

The article proposes a solution to a fundamental problem in innovation management – the "zero-point problem," associated with a shortage of high-quality ideas at the input of the innovation funnel. Dominant models focused on the selection and diffusion of finished solutions treat the initial pool of ideas as given, without examining the mechanisms of its semiotic formation. The purpose of the study is to overcome this limitation by developing a conceptual "Funnel–Reflector" model based on an interdisciplinary synthesis.In this model, the traditional project selection tool (the "funnel") is complemented by a mechanism of purposeful generation (the "reflector") that operates with virtual and fictional product-narratives, mental models, and images of the future within a semiotic space (the semiosphere). The theoretical foundation of the approach is an integration of narrative economics, semiotics, the philosophy of semiotic realism, sociology, and knowledge management theory. Within the framework of semiotic realism, the functioning of the "Reflector" is interpreted as the management of semiodynamics-the process of activating "virtual particles" of meaning in order to enable their subsequent materialization.A key element of the model is the Idea Readiness Level (IRL) scale, which describes the process of meaning generation and semiotic "maturation" from an initial emotional impulse to a fully developed concept. The article advances a hypothesis regarding a multiplicative increase in the number of ideas depending on the depth of integration between the reflector and the funnel. The practical significance of the study lies in the development of new instruments for managing innovative activity, including narrative laboratories and metrics for assessing the semiotic activity of innovation ecosystems.

There is an emerging recognition among sociological theorists that luck may play a substantial role in life course achievement. There is also a nascent empirical literature that finds life outcomes to be unpredictable and unexpected life events to be a likely cause. A third literature of causal event studies provides thousands of point estimates of the life course consequences of random events. This review brings these literatures together under a unified framework.

This paper examines the evolution of tolerance from its mythological and philosophical roots in the ancient world to its contemporary role in interreligious and interethnic relations. It argues that the Balkans, far from being a perpetual zone of conflict, represent a microcosm of coexistence in which religious diversity has shaped identity, culture, and politics. Combining comparative historical analysis with empirical data collected among university students in Macedonia, the study explores how religion continues to function as a fundamental marker of belonging even in secularized societies. Drawing on religious studies, sociology, and security theory, the paper analyzes the dual role of religion—as both a force for peace and an instrument of political mobilization—and identifies education and religious literacy as among the most sustainable paths toward peacebuilding and global security.

Abstract Although we value Guyer’s particular reading of British Idealist works, we nonetheless consider that his largely textualist-focused approach narrows both the scope and ultimate comprehension of Idealist ethics, particularly in relation to Kant. We consider that Guyer’s analysis misses the depth of their moral understanding. Such Idealist argumentation embodies a rich blending of historical, sociological, political, and evolutionary theory, which was employed consistently in their ethical reflections. To miss this contextual point can make many of their writings almost unintelligible. Thus, we consider it of central importance to understand British Idealist moral philosophy within this much broader philosophical frame.

Transgender persons constitute a diverse group whose gender identities transcend culturally imposed binary constructions of masculinity and femininity. Despite their long historical presence in Indian society, transgender communities have faced systemic marginalization, social exclusion, and cultural stigmatization. Media, as a powerful social institution, plays a crucial role in shaping public perceptions; however, mainstream Indian media has historically rendered transgender identities either invisible or caricatured. This paper critically examines the representation of transgender persons in Indian media, with specific focus on Hindi cinema, television serials, documentaries, and advertisements. While certain media narratives have progressively attempted to humanize transgender experiences, negative portrayals continue to dominate, reinforcing stereotypes and societal prejudices. Drawing on sociological theories of identity, representation, and marginalization, this study argues that media portrayals significantly influence public attitudes and can either perpetuate exclusion or foster social acceptance. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need for more authentic, inclusive, and rights-based representations of transgender lives in Indian media.

Abstract Decision-making in older adults is commonly interpreted through a biomedical lens, focusing on age-related decline, cognitive impairment, and disease burden. However, persistent difficulties in shared decision-making (SDM), therapeutic adherence, and adoption of assistive technologies suggest that clinical factors alone do not fully explain patients’ behaviors in later life. To propose a clinically oriented conceptual framework integrating generational identity, cohort effects, and the life-course perspective to improve understanding of medical decision-making, autonomy, and engagement in older adults. This narrative review integrates sociological theories of generations and cohorts with the life-course approach and contemporary geriatric literature. Evidence on SDM, therapeutic adherence, stigma, gender differences, and health technology acceptance is synthesized to examine how generational identity shapes clinical interactions and care decisions. Generational identity influences how older adults perceive autonomy, authority, dependency, and care. In cohorts such as the late Silent Generation and early Baby Boomers, autonomy carries a strong symbolic meaning linked to self-sufficiency and control. This contributes to selective non-adherence, resistance to visible forms of assistance, and ambivalent engagement in SDM, particularly among men. Conversely, discreet and non-stigmatizing technological support may be more acceptable when it preserves perceived autonomy and social identity. Integrating generational identity into clinical reasoning offers a pragmatic framework to enhance SDM, therapeutic adherence, and acceptance of assistive technologies in older adults. Recognizing autonomy as both a symbolic and procedural construct may support more effective, person-centered, and sustainable models of geriatric care.

This article examines the performative function of criminal legislation in contemporary democratic politics. Drawing on cultural sociology and performance theory, it analyses how political actors mobilize the symbolic power of penal law to shape cultural meanings, generate audience identification, and accumulate political capital. The analysis focuses on two highly contested legal reforms in Spain concerning sexual offences: the progressive coalition's “Only Yes Means Yes” reform (Law 10/2022) and the counter-reform enacted shortly afterwards by a different parliamentary majority (Law 4/2023). Through this case study, the article identifies several recurrent strategies of penal performance, including the mobilization of moral narratives, the appropriation of the symbolic authority of social movements, the activation of emotional repertoires, and the strategic positioning of political actors within the electoral field. At the same time, it highlights the contingencies and risks that such performances encounter in complex mass democracies. The article contributes to debates on symbolic criminal law by showing how penal legislation can function as a key instrument of cultural power and political struggle.

This Symposium engages Carlo Ginzburg’s indiciary paradigm as a resource for sociological analysis. The indiciary paradigm — a mode of knowledge that proceeds from marginal details, unintended traces, and anomalous signs toward the reconstruction of otherwise inaccessible social realities — has long circulated in sociology as a tacit practice rather than an explicit methodological framework. The central aim of this issue is to make that implicit reliance explicit, and to advance the paradigm as a distinctive cognitive posture for sociological inference. The Symposium makes three original contributions. Conceptually, it refines the indiciary paradigm as a structured mode of inference with identifiable epistemic properties and limits. Empirically, it shows how indiciary reasoning operates across historical sociology, ethnography, organizational analysis, and digital sociology, each time confronting distinct problems of evidence and explanation. Methodologically, it addresses the transformation of indiciary conditions under computational research, where sociologists increasingly work with digital footprints, algorithmic outputs, synthetic data, and simulations — materials that require the paradigm to be stretched and recalibrated rather than simply applied. The seven contributions taken together argue that the indiciary paradigm is not a relic of pre-quantitative social science but a vital stance for a world increasingly governed by indirect evidence, mediated traces, and contested truths.

The study of social relationships that arise from human interactions and processes is the primary purpose of Sociology. It provides a diverse range of theories and perspectives to perceive, understand and analyze various social phenomena with scientific insights. COVID-19 pandemic was also such phenomena which need to be analyzed, sociologically. Therefore, the present study tries to establish the relevance of modern and postmodern sociological theories in the time of pandemic, with the help of their notable thinkers’ concepts and perspectives. This paper inducted the various sociological literatures that revolve around the themes similar to pandemic- uncertainty, unpredictability and mega crisis. Along with the establishment of relevancy, there is a comparative analysis of both the theories in the understanding of pandemic. However, this paper tries to highlight the extent of significance and applicability of sociological theories in perceiving the ongoing transformative phenomena of society. Keywords: COVID-19, Sociological Theory, Pandemic, Social Relationships.

The tradition of hair-cutting (cukur rambut) is a cultural heritage that is still preserved by the Malay community in Rambah Samo Barat Village, Rokan Hulu Regency. This study aims to analyze the functions and meanings of the hair-cutting tradition so that the community can understand its essence and distinguish it from the aqiqah religious practice. The method used in this research is qualitative, with the researcher serving as the primary instrument. Data were obtained through observation and in-depth interviews with local traditional leaders, which were then analyzed using Soerjono Soekanto's sociological theory. The results show that the functions of the hair-cutting tradition include aspects of historical heritage, reinforcement of family identity through the father's role, and as a means of entertainment and social integration. Meanwhile, the meaning of this tradition is reflected in religious and simplicity values, the fulfillment of children's rights to care, and the process of early socialization of moral and traditional values. Through this understanding, it is expected that misunderstandings between the hair-cutting tradition and the aqiqah obligation can be minimized.

This study aims to describe the forms of social criticism reflected by the author through his novel. The researcher uses Alan Swingewood's theory of literary sociology in viewing the social criticism that J.S Khairen wants to convey in the novel Melangkah. This study uses a qualitative method, with a type of library research. The results of the study indicate the existence of a form of social criticism by the author towards the gaps felt by most Indonesian people, especially Sumba Island. The form of gap experienced and highlighted by the author in this novel is the uneven development of infrastructure that can support the economy of the Sumba community. The forms of infrastructure inequality are inadequate electricity, transportation facilities, internet access, lack of clean water availability, inadequate road access and in terms of environmental cleanliness.

This Perspective develops a sociological model of safe harboring to explain how governance design shapes the capacity of health systems to sustain integrated care. Drawing on long-standing relational familiarity with Lakota governance practices, articulated here as the "Sundance Ecosystem," the analysis examines women's health-and Primary Ovarian Insufficiency in particular-as a structural stress test for contemporary health systems. Women's health routinely spans multiple physiological systems, social roles, and time horizons, exposing limitations in governance arrangements organized around administrative silos and episodic coordination. The Sundance Ecosystem is treated as an orienting relational governance model rather than as an object of study or empirical case. It informs the articulation of safe harboring as a governance condition defined by continuity, distributed responsibility, and legitimacy grounded in sustained participation rather than hierarchical control. This orientation complements, rather than replaces, sociological theory by clarifying governance features often obscured within institution-centered systems. The manuscript argues that fragmentation in women's health research persists not as a technical failure of coordination but as a structural consequence of governance design. Safe harboring reframes integration as a governance property, emphasizing the conditions under which health systems can sustain continuity, relational accountability, and interpretive coherence across complex, intersecting health needs. This Perspective articulates these concepts for the governance of Primary Ovarian Insufficiency care and human investigation, demonstrating how continuity, responsibility, and interpretive integration can be structurally supported across both clinical and research domains.

Accurate social bot detection relies on simulated data to alleviate the scarcity of labeled real-world datasets. Synthetic graph data serves as the core training resource for detection models within simulated data; nevertheless, edge deficiency in real social networks (induced by privacy constraints and data collection limitations) gives rise to “pseudo-isolated nodes” and distorts the quality of synthetic graph data. Furthermore, mainstream data-driven synthetic graph generation methods lack systematic and credible comparative analyses. To tackle these problems, this study optimizes two representative synthetic graph generation approaches (the Chung-Lu model and the Random Classifier-based Multi-Hop (RCMH) sampling + diffusion model) and puts forward an edge completion strategy grounded in sociological theories. Multiple groups of comparative experiments are conducted to assess the performance of the improved methods and the edge completion strategy. Experimental results demonstrate that the “interest + social association” edge completion strategy achieves an F1-score (F1) of 0.7051, and the improved sampling + diffusion model integrated with edge completion reaches an F1-score of 0.7071, which performs better than traditional and unmodified methods to a certain extent. This work preliminarily enhances the reliability of synthetic graph generation methods and provides relatively high-quality synthetic social graph data for social bot detection. It should be noted that the proposed methods are validated solely on Twitter-derived datasets, and their effectiveness remains to be verified in cross-platform adaptation and dynamic social network scenarios.

ABSTRACT The modern performance market expects singers to be stylistic chameleons. As a Mandarin-speaking musical theatre (MT) singer, my transition to jazz required reconstruction of my singing techniques, physiological habits, language habits, and cultural identity. This study integrates Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological theory of “habitus,” dynamic systems theory (DST), and “predictive coding” theory. Together, these frameworks construct a “socio-biological feedback loop” model. This model elucidates my “intrinsic dual constraints.” The first constraint is “physiological resistance” stemming from a lack of aesthetic security. The second constraint is a “phonological reconstruction barrier” limited by my native language prosody. Based on a six-month autoethnographic study, this research reveals the mechanisms of my physical resistance. I analyzed phenomenological practice logs and acoustic spectrogram data. The study found that my long-term MT training solidified a high-pitched, high-pressure singing pattern into an “attractor state.” Therefore, my nervous system interpreted the low-energy jazz vocal pattern as a “prediction error.” Consequently, this error triggered a physical “startle response.” Simultaneously, my Mandarin pronunciation habits disrupted the airflow and pitch adjustments required for jazz rhythms. To address these issues, I propose specific pedagogical strategies based on “neuromuscular decoupling” and “speech remapping.” This study provides theoretical and practical support for cross-cultural vocal education.