Profile of the Junior Professorship of Sociology with Specialization in Technology

A particular peculiarity of technology is that it often confronts us as a closed, running system. We observe and describe inputs and outputs of technical objects, but neglect the origin, the inner workings, the social embedding and the social consequences of (especially digital) technologies. Thus, although we are surrounded by more and more competent technology, it paradoxically becomes more and more opaque and confusing.

The team of the Junior Professorship of Sociology with a focus on technology is dedicated to opening this "black box" in research and teaching, and to analyzing the emergence, use, and consequences of technology. On the one hand, we deal with fundamental questions, such as the mutual influence of the Internet and society or the demarcation between man and machine. On the other hand, we are interested in the manifestations, causes and consequences of concrete current phenomena such as digital work, social robotics, smart home technologies, or the automation of communication through generative AI.

In our work on such phenomena, we collaborate closely with colleagues from the social sciences as well as the engineering sciences and jointly develop conceptual and methodological approaches. To this end, we primarily apply qualitative social research methods, design research methods, as well as transdisciplinary and participatory approaches, through which people can become co-researchers of current research questions.