Emotions and Social Change. Rethinking The Sociological Relevance of Emotions in Light of Recent Political Phenomena

I was invited as keynote speaker to open the annual conference of the Czech Sociological Association. The invitation also gave me the opportunity to advertise my last monograph published by Palgrave McMillan and entitled "Emotions and Social Change. Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives" (2026). Abstract of the conference paper: It is now ascertained that emotions are complex, motivational and driving systems which include neurophysiological, cultural, behavioural, relational, and cognitive components. As human beings we can only experience life emotionally and the emotions that we experience play a fundamental role (a key explanatory one) in all social phenomena. This expalins why sociology needs to incorporate emotions into its objects of study. But how can emotions help us interpret and understand contemporary sociological and political phenomena? How do emotions highlight the link between affective dynamics that unfold at the micro level and their broader implications that solidify at the macro level? How do emotions intersect new forms of communication and new types of public sphere? (Pratesi 2023). Starting from questions like these, I critically analyse the heuristic value of emotions to understand the nature and the multiple implications of emerging social phenomena. These questions are addressed by contextualising the sociological and political relevance of emotions in different empirical contexts and research areas (Pratesi 2018, 2026).