A total of 4,000 social researchers from around the world will gather in Warsaw for the 17th Conference of the European Sociological Association. Thirteen researchers affiliated with Kozminski University will participate in 12 academic sessions addressing work, migration, artificial intelligence, digital communities, health and sustainable development.
The conference will take place from 25 to 28 August 2026 under the theme Strengthening Democracies: Social Action, Solidarity, and Sustainable Futures. It will be one of Europe’s largest gatherings devoted to sociology and the social sciences.
Thousands of papers and 42 research networks
The scale of the event is reflected in its academic programme. More than 3,800 submissions were received for the Warsaw conference, and thousands of papers will be presented across 42 ESA Research Networks, research streams, joint sessions and other academic formats.
More than 40 invited speakers from Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East will contribute to two plenary and twelve semi-plenary sessions. The programme covers a broad spectrum of social issues, including democracy and political participation, war, migration, climate change, work and care, education, health, religion, inequality, ageing, urban life, technology and artificial intelligence.
Kozminski University will be represented by 13 researchers.
Work and precarisation
Dr Miłosz Miszczyński and Dr Aneta Pieczka will participate in two sessions concerning work in Poland’s warehousing sector.
The first addresses global networks of precarisation shaped by subcontracting chains. The second focuses on an intersectional analysis of work organisation in warehouses. Both perspectives explore how contemporary logistics infrastructure, inter-company relations and employment intermediation affect workers’ circumstances.
CRASH: migration, mobility and artificial intelligence
Researchers affiliated with the Center for Research on Social Change and Human Mobility (CRASH), based at Kozminski University, will participate in four sessions devoted to migration, mobility and artificial intelligence.
Professor Izabela Grabowska, who founded and leads the centre, Dr Ivanna Kyliushyk, Emil Chról, Nurlan Rahimli, and Professor Agnieszka Bezat will address topics including:
- the return migration of Ukrainian women during the war, including their motivations, reintegration and social remittances;
- the situation of non-EU migrants undertaking occupational mobility in response to developments in AI;
- post-migration mobility practices among recently arrived and established groups of skilled migrants in Poland;
- the impact of artificial intelligence, automation and data infrastructure on labour migration governance.
CRASH conducts interdisciplinary research into how globalisation, migration, economic transformations and emerging technologies affect human mobility, job quality, and the functioning of organisations and communities. The participation of five researchers affiliated with the centre reflects the broad scope of its work — from individual migration biographies to institutions’ use of data and AI.
Digital Communities, Networks and Social Cohesion
Professor Dariusz Jemielniak and Maria Lipińska, co-authored an analysis of Polish imageboards as digital spaces in which particular models of masculinity and social relationships are shaped.
Dr Michał Bojanowski is involved in two topics presented as part of the Network Models of Social Life session. The first concerns the role of social cognition in estimating social capital, while the second explores the potential application of network science methods to research on social cohesion.
Health, Innovation and Sustainable Development
Sessions featuring researchers from Kozminski University will also address three topics related to health, innovation and sustainable development.
Dr Marta Makowska will examine relationships between pharmaceutical companies and patient organisations in Poland, including the voluntary disclosure of funding and the actual influence of companies on organisations representing patients.
Dr Agata Stasik will explore dual-use social innovation and its importance in building a sustainable and secure future.
Dr Agata Dembek will focus on the emotional practices involved in creating sustainable organisations. The topic will be discussed during a joint session on human–environment relations and emotions in times of crisis.
Sessions featuring researchers affiliated with Kozminski University will take place from 26 to 28 August at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences and the University of Warsaw.
Further information is available on the 17th ESA Conference website.
