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That you can only influence the world if you know it:
Every new determining factor that is recognized opens up a further scope of freedom.
Pierre Bourdieu
Die verborgenen Mechanismen der Macht. VSA 2005. S. 46
At the moment I have no other way of consoling you than to point out,
that you gain in complexity what you lose in naivety.
Peter Fuchs
Liebe, Sex und solche Sachen. UVK 1999. S. 57
Here are reviews of some of the books read for personal or professional interest
Topic
In her book What is Liberalism?, Elif Özmen presents an analysis of the multi-layered liberal tradition. She addresses the question of what constitutes liberalism as an idea and practice and how it has developed throughout history. Instead of providing a rigid definition, Özmen guides the reader through various facets of liberalism and shows how different thinkers and currents have shaped the understanding of freedom and justice. The text is particularly relevant in a contemporary context in which liberalism is seen as an enemy by both right-wing and left-wing groups. Özmen sheds light on why this is the case and how many of these critics themselves benefit from the values and principles of liberalism and could actually be supporters.
This review was published on Socialnet in 2024. Click here for the review (German).
Topic
The reviewed anthology deals with the concepts of habitus and taste according to Pierre Bourdieu in the context of social work. This is done from several perspectives and thus illuminates selected lifeworlds of the addressees of social work on the one hand, and social work students and, last but not least, the people working in social work on the other. The reviewed publication is also explicitly aimed at social work teaching and operationalizes the elements of habitus and taste in Bourdieu's theoretical conception for analyses in the field of social work.
Topic
The book Die Polizei - Helfer, Gegner, Staatsgewalt. Inspektion einer mächtigen Organisation by Benjamin Derin and Tobias Singelnstein offers a comprehensive analysis of the German police as an ambivalent organization(s). It sheds light on the structural, social and legal aspects of police work and deals with central problems such as violence, racism, right-wing extremism and a lack of error culture. The book calls for a fundamental examination of the question of what kind of police a democratic society needs and provides perspectives for reforms and alternative models, such as restorative and transformative justice. The book thus makes a contribution to the academic and public debate on the future of the police.
Topic
Claire Marin's Being in one's place. How we inhabit our lives and bodies explores the tensions between rootedness and movement, identity and change, places and their symbolic meaning. The book examines how physical, social and inner spaces shape our identity, what expectations and limitations are associated with them and how we can position ourselves in these dynamic contexts. In doing so, Marin questions traditional dichotomies, for example between nomads and sedentary people, and instead emphasizes the fluidity and provisional nature of human existence. With her philosophical reflection, she contributes to the debate on the relationship between identity, freedom and social location, incorporating both sociological and psychological as well as psychoanalytical and literary perspectives.
This review was published on Socialnet in 2024. Click here for the review (German).
Topic
The book Zuhause. Die Suche nach dem Ort, an dem wir leben wollen (Home. The search for the place where we want to live) by Daniel Schreiber deals with the question of what home means in an increasingly globalized and fragmented world. Schreiber views home as a multi-layered concept that encompasses physical as well as emotional, social and cultural dimensions. In doing so, he draws on philosophical, psychoanalytical and sociological theories as well as personal experiences. His work is part of a tradition that critically examines concepts such as home, identity and belonging. The modern discussion about home is increasingly shaped by issues such as migration, urbanization and identity politics. Schreiber's book offers a personal and at the same time analytical contribution by reflecting on the ambivalences and transformation processes of the term.
Topic
The book The Subtlety of Emotions by Aaron Ben-Ze'ev examines the fundamental role of emotions in human life. Although emotions are increasingly being addressed in research, their complex nature often remains elusive. Ben-Ze'ev analyzes both general structures of emotions and specific feelings such as love, jealousy or shame. The work offers a critical perspective on popular notions of emotional intelligence and shows how emotions can not only be regulated, but also morally and socially situated. By combining everyday examples with philosophical and other scientific analyses, Ben-Ze'ev makes a significant contribution to understanding emotions as culturally and socially embedded phenomena.
Topic
In his book, Michael Ebmeyer argues for overcoming binary thought patterns and recognizing the non-binary. He views the gender debate as a model for a general critique of either-or thinking and encourages subversive thinking and anti-authoritarian action. Ebmeyer reconstructs the deconstruction of dichotomies in the sense of Jacques Derrida and refers to anarchist traditions that question domination. He emphasizes the need for an open, systemic view of the world and calls for the complexity of the world to be acknowledged and integrated.
This review was published on Socialnet in 2024. Click here for the review (German).
Topic
In The Consumption of Romanticism, sociologist Eva Illouz analyzes how romantic love unfolds in the context of modern consumer culture. She examines how love and romance, originally conceived as private spheres independent of economic utility, have become increasingly linked to consumer practices. The book is a well-founded sociological investigation that builds on theories by Marx, Bourdieu and Critical Theory to shed light on the dynamics between romantic love and capitalist consumer culture. Illouz shows how consumption, rituals and material symbols increasingly function as indispensable components of romantic relationships. She thus offers an analysis that follows on from the Frankfurt School and takes it further. Love, which according to the cultural narrative should actually lie beyond the market, is inconceivable without it and was only constituted by it - an aporia that characterizes the modern understanding of romance and at the same time leads to an acid test.
Topic
Eva Illouz's book Why Love Hurts examines romantic love as a culturally and socially constructed phenomenon that is deeply rooted in social frameworks. Illouz shows that love relationships in the modern age are not just individually experienced emotions, but are shaped by social, economic and cultural structures. She argues that the emotional suffering that often accompanies romantic love is not a universal or natural phenomenon, but results from specific conditions of modernity. In doing so, she takes up central themes of current discourses on love, intimacy and individualization, such as the rationalization of feelings, the commercialization of sexuality and the effects of gender inequality.
Topic
In Love, sex and things like that: On the Construction of Modern Intimate Systems, Peter Fuchs examines how love and intimacy are socially constructed and experienced in modern societies. Building on Niklas Luhmann's systems theory, Fuchs views love not as an immutable essence, but as a complex, culturally shaped phenomenon. In the “polycontexturality” of modernity, which is characterized by contradictory frames of reference, Fuchs describes love as a social experiment that is linked to the claim to “wholeness” of the other. However, this ideal often leads to tensions and strains. Fuchs analyzes how cultural norms and social expectations shape the way in which people perceive and express intimacy and love. His book provides a nuanced, systems-theoretical perspective on modern intimate relationships and offers profound insights into the communicative challenges of modern love.
Thema
In her book Nonmonogamy and Happiness, Carrie Jenkins addresses the question of how non-monogamous love relationships are linked to personal happiness and social acceptance. She questions the dominant Western romantic ideology that closely links the pursuit of happiness to a monogamous, lifelong relationship and thus marginalizes alternative forms of relationships such as polyamory. Jenkins' work critically examines the social norms that present monogamous relationships as the only possibility for fulfillment and happiness. She argues that this “amatonormativity” - a term coined by Elizabeth Brake - restricts the thinking and life models of many people by elevating the “Happily Ever After” of romantic monogamy to the standard: “happiness is what you're supposed to want out of life, and conventional, monogamous, romantic love is how you're supposed to go about getting it.” (p. 2f.).
This review was published on Socialnet in 2024. Click here for the review (German).
Topic
In Loving Friends, Ole Liebl explores the transformative power of friendship in modern societies, where traditional relationship models are increasingly being questioned. Liebl views friendships not as sideshows to romantic relationships, but as profound connections in their own right that could even revolutionize the social and emotional structure of our relationships. His focus on friendships as a form of “revolt” against capitalist and patriarchal values gives the topic a particular depth that ties in with current debates about queer and non-binary lifestyles. According to Liebl, friendships are not bound by social expectations such as exclusivity or romantic commitments compared to conventional partnerships, which gives them a special freedom and authenticity. The book is aimed at readers who are not only interested in friendships in the traditional sense, but also in the fusion of friendships and intimate relationships that tend to be characterized as romantic. Liebl draws on sociological, psychological and philosophical discourses in the book.
This review was published on Socialnet in 2024. Click here for the review (German).
Topic
Performance art is more than a cultural-industrial spectacle, because it aims to have an existential impact on those involved. Hanna Heinrich develops analytical categories that philosophically explore the communication modes of this art form as well as its socially transformative aspirations. To this end, she draws on the aesthetic positions of G.W.F. Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Alain Badiou and Michel Foucault, who attribute great emancipatory and socio-political power to art, as well as political philosophies and ethics, thus demonstrating that “successful” performances are exemplary spaces of action with utopian potential to counter contemporary alienation and point to the (co-)responsibility and freedom of each individual.
This review was published on Portal Kunstgeschichte in 2021. Click here for the review (German).
Topic
The reviewed work sheds light on queer identities - i.e. those that do not conform to the heteronormative consensus. It deals with the historical development of how society deals with queer identities. Furthermore, the field of tension between current and historically evolved emancipation and discrimination will be addressed. This theoretical-historical section is supplemented by a similarly extensive empirical section in the form of a qualitative study and comparative quantitative and qualitative studies, particularly on the coming-out process.
This review was published on Socialnet in 2019. Click here for the review (German).
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