This workshop breaks open the binary proposition of structure and agency and invites thinking in terms of their conceptual and real-world interconnectedness. Heeding the call to move beyond disciplinary boundaries (Lizardo 2013; Porpora 2015), we are assembling an interdisciplinary gathering of social scientists, to critically reflect on paradigmatic concepts that shape research methodologies, theorising, and outcomes. This undertaking necessitates epistemic reflexivity, and the intrepidity to challenge prevailing ontological presuppositions. It is here, within the enmeshment of transcendental theorization and concrete implications, that we contribute to the ISRF’s efforts to push beyond the conventional.

We will critically examine the role of the subject in social scientific research and assess its potential for emancipatory impact. The workshop's central theme revolves around the dialectical interrelationship between the subject and structure, as expounded by Freire (2017) and Akram (2013). We will subject this theoretical framework to rigorous examination through the prism of grounded empirical examples. Our examination will transcend analyzing this interrelation from either the subject's perspective or the standpoint of structures, refraining from limiting ourselves to the mutual influence of specific subjects and particular structures. Instead, we will expand our focus to encompass the intricate web of relationships between institutions, spaces, ideas, practices, and representations that constitute structures. These structures not only emerge (Newman 2019) from the agency of subjects but also profoundly influence them. This moves theorising beyond a dualistic vectoral proposition towards a webbed interrelation among multiple, evolving planes. While our contribution holds value across various contexts, we will place particular emphasis on how this advancement enhances our capacity to comprehend, investigate, and dissect the intricacies of confinement. Our aim is to establish synthesis between theoretical abstractions and concrete implications from diverse research domains, bridging the gap between conceptual understanding and tangible experience.