It is now well-established that digital devices, techniques and new forms of data are deeply implicated in the re-working of social life, and this has only just begun. At the same time, these devices, techniques and data are shaping what we know about social life, fuelling stark questions about the value of the established academic disciplines. Most famously, it has been claimed that only mathematics and computer science will be necessary in this Brave New World. Such disciplinary troubles are not new. Tracing their roots undermines both the imperialist tendencies of data evangelists and any temptation to insist on stabilising the recognised academic disciplines of the pre-digital era. Instead, this talk argues that we must stay with the disciplinary troubles that have been provoked by the digital era. Moving beyond simple calls for interdisciplinary collaboration, the talk investigates the similarities and differences between computational and sociological thinking and argues that both hold possibilities for something better. This line of thinking not only explains the current positioning of sociologists as guardians of ‘ethical, legal and social implications’ in digital research and innovation but shows where this should be radically extended. Far from marginal, sociology is central if we are craft meaningful, valuable and effective response-abilities in the digital era.

About the presenter:

Susan Halford is President of the British Sociological Association 2018-20. Originally trained as a Geographer, Susan has a long-standing commitment to interdisciplinary education and research, for the past decade in particular across the social and computational sciences. She is well-known for her work as an organizational sociologist, in which she has explored the dynamics of organizational change with particular reference to gender identities and power relations, also to ageing and - linking both - to the sociotechnical practices and effects of digital innovation in the workplace. Since 2008 she has played a central role in the development of interdisciplinary ‘Web Science’, as a space where new forms of collaborative knowledge about digital data, methods and architectures may be pioneered. On a broader landscape, her work explores the politics of digital data, artifacts and expertise, with a focus on the place of Sociology in these new knowledge assemblages. She has recently been awarded an Economic and Social Research Council grant to explore if and how semantic linked data might be used for social research. In the UK, Susan sits on the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Programme Advisory Board, on the Cabinet Office Digital Government Partnership, and is a member of the Advisory Board for the International Social Media and Society conference.