Conferences

From Classes to Classifications: 

How new (and old) systems of classification, scoring, segmentation, and matching shape social groups and markets

Interim Conference of the Swiss Sociological Association's Economic Sociology Network

in collaboration with the 

Swiss National Science Foundation project “Social Patterning of Economic Subjectivities and the Digital Transformation of Retail Finance in Switzerland”

September 4-5, 2025, | Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland

Location: Executive Centre, 2nd Floor, Main Building, Università della Svizzera italiana, Via Buffi 13, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland

Conference website: https://www.digital-transformation.usi.ch/en/dt/participate 

Organizers: Lena Pellandini-Simanyi (Università della Svizzera italiana), Philip Balsiger (University if Neuchatel) and Agata Lambrechts (Università della Svizzera italiana)

The conference is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

            PROGRAM 

Thursday, 4 September 2025

8:30 - 9:00 Registration, foyer of the Executive Centre

9:00-10:10 Welcome and Keynote by Karen Lai (University of Durham)

                     Welcome by Pro-Rector Gabriele Balbi and Lena Pellandini-Simanyi

10:10-10:40 Coffee Break

10:40 - 12:10 Panel 1 — Marketing Professionals and the Making of Categories

Chair: Philip Balsiger (University of Neuchatel, Switzerland)

• Riikka Murto (Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden) – Unpacking Sex/Gender Categorization in Consumer Behaviour Research.
• Marie-Emmanuelle Chessel and Kevin Mellet (Science Po, France) – ABCD: the use of social categories in market research. Dorset (1946-1970)
• Aron Darmody (Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, Canada) – Marketers in Practice: Honing Consumers and Categories
• Laura Bruschi (University of Milan, Italy) – AI-driven Classifications in Contemporary Market Research

12:20- 13:20 Lunch

13:30 - 14:30 Keynote by Markus Giesler (Schulich School of Business, York 

          University, Canada)

14:30- 15:00 Coffee Break

15:00 -16:30 Panel 2 — Matching Markets: Categories, Segmentation, and Connection

Chair: Luca Perrig (University of St. Gallen)

• Sidonie Naulin (Sciences Po Grenoble – UGA / Pacte, France) – Beyond the Algorithm: The Role of Manual Matching in Platforms for Qualified Domestic Services
• Robert Musil (Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland) – The Illusion of Choice: How Financial Technology Reproduces Social Class with or without Allowing for Agency
• Lorant Kiss (Makronom Institute, Hungary) – Making a Statement with Payments: Re-embeddedness of Money through Platforms
• Guillaume Yon (Aachen University, Germany) – Segmentation in Airline Pricing: A Material Political Economy Analysis

19:00 Conference Dinner at Ristorante Pane e Pomodoro 

Address: Quartiere Maghetti 10, 6900 Lugano

Friday, 5 September 2025

9:00 -10:00 Special Session: Donald MacKenzie (University of Edinburgh, UK)

10:00-10:30 Coffee Break

10:30 - 12:00 Panel 3 — Becoming Data-Driven: Intersections of Technology, Categorization, and Power

Chair: Philip Balsiger (University of Neuchatel, Switzerland)

• Manuel Baeriswyl & Jeanne Mengis (Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland; Warwick Business School, United Kingdom) – Evaluating Talent in Motion: The Emergent and Negotiated Nature of Categorization in Football Talent Selection
• Yeşim Akmeraner-Kökat & Léna Pellandini-Simányi (Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland)– Categories and customization in creative advertising: The role of devices
• Tanushree Kaushal (Graduate Institute, Geneva, Switzerland) – Vernacular Critiques of Finance: Contesting Capitalization of Social Reproduction
• Ishtiaq Mohammod Fakhruddin (East West University, Bangladesh) – Cultural Lag: Understanding Technological Advancements

12:10- 13:10 Lunch

13:20-15:00 Panel 4 — Everyday Financialization and Social Class and Closing Remarks

Chair: Luca Perrig (University of St. Gallen)

• Gael Curty (University of Fribourg, Switzerland) - Financialized Subjectivities among Young Swiss People
• Markus Lynum (Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway) – Pay to Win: Intergenerational Reproduction of Financial Position
• Hilje van der Horst (Wageningen University, Netherlands), Stefan Wahlen (Justus Liebig University, Germany) & Mikko Laamanen (Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway) – The FIRE Movement and Countercultural Financial Practices.
• Cristina Paradiso and Léna Pellandini-Simányi (Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland) – The making of class-based exclusion and inclusion in digital finance

15:30 Closing Aperitivo at Seven Alma 

Address: Via Chiarina Stauffacher-Vedani 1 CH - 6901 Lugano