Associations are an important feature of human societies. The digitalisation of such societies appears to be altering the associations found there. But how? This talk explores the kinds of changes that associations are undergoing as societies digitalise. It examines how the dissemination of screens and growing presence of computation are adding new mechanisms of association and altering the mix of kinds of change that emerging associations represent. The talk will also discuss the need to augment the familiar social theoretical typology of communities, groups, and organisations with new kinds of association such as scatters and swarms.

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Please note: This lecture will be available online and in person. A link to join the lecture online will be circulated in early May.

About the speaker

Leverhulme Visiting Professor Theodore Schatzki is Professor of Philosophy and Geography at the University of Kentucky. He earned a BA in applied mathematics from Harvard University (1977) and graduate degrees in philosophy from Oxford University (1979) and UC Berkeley (1986).

His research interests lie in theorising social life, and he is widely recognised for his contributions to the stream of thought called practice theory. Schatzki is the author of five single-authored monographs, the co-editor of six collected volumes, and responsible for ninety articles on a wide range of topics in philosophy and social theory.

Recent work concerns the digitalisation of societies and examines spaces, associations, agency, and crypto-blockchains. Schatzki was the 2023-24 Distinguished Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky and the 13^th most cited philosopher in the world in 2020.

Professor Theodore Schatzki's visit to the University of Bristol is made possible thanks to the Leverhulme Trust. Whilst at Bristol, he will be collaborating with colleagues from the ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures (CenSoF).