Sensing Change: A Sensory Sociology Framework for Understanding Social Transformation

Dominant sociological theories of social change, from modernization to institutional analysis, primarily address cognitive, economic, and structural factors, often overlooking the bodily, sensory dimension of transformation. This creates a conceptual gap in understanding how macro-social shifts permeate the level of personhood and vice versa. This article proposes to bridge this gap by developing a comprehensive conceptual framework based on sensory sociology. It argues that social change is not merely a structural or ideological process but a profound sensory reconfiguration. The article begins by tracing the intellectual roots of sensory sociology and its critique of Cartesian dualism. It then sequentially articulates and elaborates four key generative mechanisms that link sensory experience and social change: sensory socialization (the inculcation of norms through the senses), sensory control (the materialization of power in sensory environments), technological transformation of the sensory landscape (the restructuring of perception by new tools), and collective sensory action (the forging of solidarity through shared sensation). Each mechanism is illustrated with historical and contemporary case studies, ranging from the disciplinary regimes of industrial modernity to the digital sensorium of social media and the embodied politics of contemporary social movements. Furthermore, the article addresses methodological innovations required for such an analysis, including a new set of empirical indicators for each mechanism, and responds to potential criticisms. By synthesizing a wide array of interdisciplinary research, the framework demonstrates that integrating the sensory dimension yields a more holistic, dynamic, and materially grounded model of social change. In this model, society shapes the senses through history, technology, and power, and collectively altered sensory experience, in turn, becomes an engine for reshaping society. The proposed framework offers not only a theoretical advancement but also a concrete analytical toolkit for researching contemporary transformational processes, urging sociologists to take the sensuous, embodied fabric of social life seriously.