Allgemeine Soziologie und Soziologische Theorie: Forschung
Forschungsprojekte
Sicherheit und Privatheit im öffentlichen Raum
Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Joost van Loon, Prof. Dr. Stefanie Eifler
Mitarbeiterinnen: Edda Mack, M.A.; Hannah Schwarzbach, M.A.
Das Projekt wurde in Zusammenarbeit der Lehrstühle „Soziologie I“ (Allgemeine Soziologie und soziologische Theorie) und „Soziologie II“ (Soziologie und empirische Sozialforschung) der KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt entwickelt. Im Rahmen des Projekts wird eine methodische Weiterentwicklung des „Factorial Survey Approach“ angestrebt. Hierzu werden experimentelle Elemente in das Forschungsdesign integriert. Seitens der soziologischen Theoriebildung wird eine methodologische Erneuerung ermöglicht, in dem durch den verstärkten Fokus auf materielle und situative Bedingtheit eine erweiterte Grundlage für die Betrachtung der Zusammenhänge zwischen Fremdheit und Unsicherheit im öffentlichen Raum geschaffen wird. Untersucht werden Prozesse der Verortung von materiell-semiotischen Assoziationen im öffentlichen Raum. Es geht dabei vor allem um eine Erfassung der räumlichen Struktur und ihrer Zusammenhänge mit dem sozialen Leben an bestimmten öffentlichen Orten. Der Schwerpunkt liegt hierbei vor allem darauf, die materielle Bezogenheit von Unsicherheit herauszuarbeiten.
Pilot-Projekt: „Sicherheit im Stadtviertel“
Bei dem Pilot-Projekt handelt es sich um eine erste Testphase des entwickelten Forschungsinstruments im Rahmen einer Vorstudie.
Aktueller Fortschritt: Datenanalyse
Ansprechpartnerin: Prof. Dr. Stefanie Eifler
Research Profile
From Tarde to Latour: An invitation to a different Sociology
This is a philosophically oriented project that is based on the question of what might happen if sociology were to follow Tarde rather than Durkheim, or at least, if sociology were to take Tarde's critique of Durkheim seriously. We try to show that it would acquire a different kind of 'ontology' (in want of a better word) and it would be able to side step a number of problematic dilemmas that are the legacy of over 200 year of modernist philosophy, most notably the double act of epistemology and ideology critique, identity thinking as well as a number of dualities such as that of subject/object, words/things, structure/practice and matter/event.
Convergence
The specific approach to developing empirically informed sociological theory is recognizably inspired by Actor Network Theory. This particular approach to social sciences has become extremely popular with emergent generations of scholars, but has been somewhat prematurely dismissed by some established academics, primarily on the basis of a lack of informed knowledge about what it is. We hope to achieve a greater recognition and acceptance of this style of thinking by focusing on developing a 'Sociology of Mediation'. The basis will be a range of empirical projects, primarily focusing on technology, and more specifically media technology. The main current empirical project that we are doing within this strand concerns news-work and digitalization: the impact of 'convergence' on news gathering and news production. The work is based on ethnographic research in news rooms, primarily in the United Kingdom, and has started in the summer of 2009. The research is conducted in collaboration with Emma Hemmingway (Nottingham Trent University) and it is currently feeding into two journal articles and a co-authored book, which is under contract with Berghahn publishers.
The Mediation of Religion
A second empirical project as part of a sociology of mediation, aims to develop an account of the role of different media in enabling (and disabling) religious experiences. The starting point will be media 'in' religious practices, comparing media-rich versus media-poor forms of religiosity. This strand will provide an empirical and phenomenological deepening of Ulrich Beck's (2007) Der eigene Gott and revisit some of the themes that were left out of my latest book Media Technology (Van Loon, 2008). The aim is to show what a Sociology of Mediation could add to this version of the individualization thesis.
In addition, we will be focusing on the (perceived) role of media in evangelization and what kind of agency is associated with different types of media throughout the ages. This will build on the work of Carsten Winter (2006), i.e. Die Medienkulturgeschichte des christlichen Predigers von de Anfängen bis Heute. Again, the aim is to show how a Sociology of Mediation can help us explain why different media can be associated with different forms and modalities of 'the good news' (including its proclamation).
Risk
Because of the aforementioned focus on developing a Sociology of Mediation, it is also possible to think of the opening of a new chapter in risk research. This would focus on bridging the gap between the more abstract notions of risk that have evolved into 'a cosmopolitan Sociology' (Beck, 2007) and the more empirical notions of risk assessment, risk perception and risk management that have dominated funded research in Germany and elsewhere. Using the lessons learnt from the Sociology of Mediation, we could start to unravel both the abstractions of risk as driving the apocalyptic imaginations of ecopolitics but also the highly mechanical and unreflective notions of 'risk-calculations' that dominate the micro-engineering of everyday life. Specific problematics we will focus on might include health communication and nano-technology.
Individuelle Forschung
Forschungsschwerpunkte
Joost van Loon: Monadologie: Untersuchung der Grundlagen einer alternativen Soziologie; Raum, Ort, Zeit und das Virtuelle; Vermittlung; Die Politisierung der Gemeinnützigkeit im Ausnahmezustand
Sandra Balbierz: Unbestimmtheitsspielräume des Digitalen
Rémy Bocquillon: Sound Formation
Edda Mack: Ausnahmezustand und Compassion fatigue
Qualification Work
PhDs and Habilitations
The following PhD projects are currently taking place at the unit:
- Kevin Altmann
- Sandra Balbierz
- Ludwig Hanisch
As part of projects registered elsewhere:
- Siti Othman (Registered at Nottingham Trent University)
- Jim Morrow (Registered at Nottingham Trent University)
- Nevsal Tiryakioglu (Registered at Nottingham Trent University.
- Judy Manda (Registered at Nottingham Trent University)
In addition, the unit supports the supervision panel of a Habilitation at the KU Eichstätt:
Sandra Siebenhüter: www.sandra-siebenhueter.de