Research

The research unit Sociology of Emotion analyzes emotion and affect in the context of politics, culture, and social structure. Our current research focuses on social cohesion, political populism and polarisation, along with literature, politics, the public sphere, and civil society dynamics. We investigate these topics together with researchers from other disciplines, for instance in the CRC Affective Societies and the Berlin University Alliance: Grand Challenges project Interaction in Civil Society.

Contentious emotions? How emotion repertoires are negotiated and established in Germany’s literary and political public sphere

The project explores to what extent emotions become a matter of dispute in current conflicts about social coexistence. We investigate how emotion repertoires are negotiated and established at the intersection of literary and political activist public spheres. Our aim is to make a contribution informed by both sociological and literary studies perspectives to the analysis of an increased valorization of emotions in Germany’s current political culture.