...what we feel is fully as important to the outcome of social affairs as what we think or do

Arlie Hochschild (1990, p.117)

Sociologists have long understood that the social world it not a solely rational place: it is messy, it is interactional and it is felt. Emotion management has a key role in supporting both work done to nonhuman animals (e.g. animal testing, fHarming, slaughter), and for nonhuman animals (e.g. activism, caretaking, critical animal research).

Increasing acknowledgement of the emotional and sensory experiences of nonhuman animals opens up exciting new avenues through which to better understand and challenge their exploitation. Here, methodological and theoretical innovation provides key resources for vegan sociologists to expand their toolkit.

In the 2025 meeting of the International Association of Vegan Sociologists we invite participants to consider how emotions and sensory experiences are integral to understanding and challenging nonhuman animal exploitation.

Potential topics include (but are not limited to):

Nonhuman animals as minded, feeling beings: how are animals' emotions or sensory experiences minimised or acknowledged in society and/or vegan sociology research?
Veganism, activism and emotional labour: How do activists navigate the emotions involved in advocating for other animals? What role does emotional labour play in vegan activism?
Socialisation of emotions & animal exploitation: How are emotional norms or 'rules' around nonhuman animals socialised in ways that challenge or support vegan ways of being?
Sensory experiences and the Body: how can vegan sociology help us to explore human and nonhuman animals' felt experiences of the social world?
Vegan Sociological perspectives on particular emotions: e.g. how might explorations of disgust, desire, grief, joy, sadness further our work for nonhuman animals
Innovative research methods for exploring sensory elements of the multispecies social world: e.g. Emotional/Sensory mapping, visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory methods
Representations of nonhuman animal emotions: 'happy' exploited animals, suicide food, attempts to build empathy
Digital emotions and online vegan communities
Intersections of species, race, gender, and emotional politics

Submission Guidelines

The 2025 IAVS annual meeting will showcase research related to veganism, animal rights, and sociological theories of emotions/senses. We welcome submissions for individual presentations (15 minutes and an additional 5 for questions) or panels (45 minutes with 15 for questions) to be delivered in an online format.

Please note that all submissions should fall within the guidelines of the International Association of Vegan Sociologists. We are only accepting sociological submissions; submissions that lack a clear sociological focus will not be included. To that end, all submissions must include a one or two sentence rationale clarifying how the submission aligns with sociological theory or practice.

This online conference, organised by the International Association of Vegan Sociologists will be held online and strives to accommodate a wide range of time zones, however please note that due to the complexities of international scheduling many presentations occur outside of regular business hours (before 9am or after 5pm). Please get in touch if this may be an issue for you. Proposals and queries should be sent to info@vegansociology.com by 31st May 2025. It is expected that all potential presenters have familiarised themselves with the principles of IAVS and plan their presentations with these in mind.

Proposal Checklist:

· Name

· Affiliation (if any)

· Preferred email

· Title of talk

· Abstract (50-300 words)

· Sociological relevance (1-2 sentences)

References

Hochschild AR (1990) Ideology and emotion management: A perspective and path for future research. In: Kemper TD (ed.) Research Agendas in the Sociology of Emotions. Albany, NY: State University NY Press, pp. 117–142.

Contact the host of IAVS 2025 Emotions and Senses