Theorizing from Lived Experience: A Roundtable on Phenomenological Approaches
A BSA Theory Study Group Event
27 February 2026 (3.30-5.00pm GMT)
Online
About the Event
Many social theorists and sociologists worry that relying too heavily on the first-person vantage point for theorizing can lead to an uncritical subjectivism that mistakes specific experiences for generalizable ones. Such concerns should certainly give social theorists pause. Abstractions that misrepresent or misunderstand what is shared about an experience can function ideologically in the sense that they conceal more than they disclose. And yet feminists, antiracist scholars, ethnographers, and scholar activists remind us that theorizing from lived experience remains a vital source of knowledge, especially when it comes to challenging the “inert violence in the order of things” (Bourdieu 1999, 64) and revealing emergent sites of injustice, oppression, and unfreedom.
This online roundtable explores what phenomenology contributes to social theorizing. Join us on Friday, 27 February from 3.30-5.00pm UK time to explore the methodological advantages and limits of working from lived experience to advance social critique.
Speakers
- Alexis Gros (Jena)
- Lucy Osler (Exeter)
- Sebastian Raza (Cambridge)
This is the first in a series of three roundtables that explore how lived experience informs and contributes to social theorizing. The second and third roundtables will explore feminist praxis and activist scholarship, respectively, and will run later this spring.
Registration
This event is free to attend but registration is required.