Arbeitsbereich 7: Mediensoziologie
How do media as infrastructures of communication and networking influence the social structures of a society? How are these structures challenged, changed or stabilised in the context of media upheavals? How do media as carriers of symbolically mediated communication characterise the possibilities of perception and cultural interpretation of reality? What ideas and experiences of socio-structural order and what world views and culturally specific experiences of reality manifest themselves in the development and social use of media technologies?
These are fundamental questions that the Media Sociology department deals with(about the department's self-image). Click here to find out about current research foci. You can find out more about the teaching profile of the department here.
Workshop: Research and application of autoethnographic position analysis
18-19 September 2025, Bielefeld University, Room: X-B2-103
Whether you are just beginning to engage in autoethnographic research or would like to deepen your understanding of autoethnographic positioning analysis (APA), this workshop will provide a space for shared learning and methodological reflection. The atmosphere will be collaborative and open to encourage exchange, experimentation and joint enquiry. We will begin with a brief introduction to APA, outlining its conceptual roots and analytical potential. Building on this, the core of the workshop will consist of five interactive sessions, each focussing on a different research project. In these sessions, five invited participants will present their work and explain how they relate their data and questions to the APA. Together we will work directly with the materials, explore positional analytic perspectives and reflect on the role of self, narrative and social dynamics in ethnographic research.
Organised by:
Prof. Dr. Heike Greschke (Chair of Media Sociology, Bielefeld)
Prof. Dr. Tobias Boll (Chair of Body Sociology, Mainz)
Mei-Chen Spiegelberg, M.A. (Research Associate, Bielefeld)
Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology
Participation is free of charge and places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Please register by e-mail to Viola Pappada(sekretariat.greschke@uni-bielefeld.de) by Monday, 18 August at the latest.
- Self-image
Based on a broad concept of media, which in principle includes all carriers of symbolically mediated communication, we analyse the interactions between technological and social development from a long-term perspective. Our research and teaching activities concentrate on the empirical analysis of media-related transformation processes of culture and society, their methodological reflection, as well as the empirically based theory development for the description of techno-socialities and media cultures in world society. Bielefeld media sociology is therefore not a specialised sociology in the sense that it deals with media as a special segment or functional area of society. Rather, it sees itself as a "hyphenated sociology" in the sense that it seeks an insight-promoting connection with other specialised sociologies when examining social phenomena and their cultural interpretation. At the same time, it is general sociology insofar as it is not limited to a specific subject area, but rather understands media as the constitutive conditions of society.
The social situation, which, following Erving Goffman, is understood as a micro-unit of socialisation, offers a central starting point for the empirical research in this area. The social situation is not only interesting in its own right, but also in its interfaces and transfer services between orders of interaction and social macrostructures in terms of media sociology. For example, one can ask how media structure, modify or even create social situations. It is also worth investigating how media link locally situated interactions translocally or intersituatively and make them available supra-situatively and how the relationship between presence and representation is affected in the process. The mediatisation of social situations and its consequences for social order can be analysed in a wide range of social areas, from intimate relationships to global politics. With regard to digital media, the differentiation of situationally appropriate modes of presence and the adaptation of presence norms and routines could be analysed in the family, at school or at work. Who has which obligations or opportunities to be (not) present in which situations and in what form? Following on from this, it would also be interesting to ask how opportunities for participation are linked to expectations and possibilities of being present. Do (digital) media and the reconfigured presence orders they create help to reduce existing social inequalities? Or do they tend to reinforce or even strengthen them?
- Research profile
The research area is currently focussing on the following topics:
Media and communication technologies in the context of migration and transnationalisation processes.
This focus area centres on the interactions between migration and media practices in the context of changing mobility infrastructures. Specifically, we ask how migration as a practice and the social forms, lifestyles and practices of reciprocity generated by migration change with the development and differentiation of information and communication technologies. How do the interactions of mediatisation and globalisation processes change the organisation of social coexistence or the (de)legitimation of orders of belonging? And what consequences do any social changes have for the formation of sociological concepts?
Migration is understood here as an interplay between physical, media and social mobility, which is embedded in a globally stratified order structure to which it reacts and modifies at the same time. Empirical research into the interactions between these forms of mobility is currently focussing firstly on the so-called 'transnational family'. In this social form, the transfer services of the social situation between interaction orders and social macrostructures can be observed in a particularly impressive way. This is because elementary characteristics and dynamics of global social orders of inequality are articulated as microstructures in the transnational family. This is where globalised lifestyles and reciprocity cultures based on mobility emerge, which must be understood in their own logic and dynamics and ultimately taken into account in their implications for the conceptualisation and methodological development of sociology.
Secondly, the interactions between social, physical and media mobility in the global organisation of humanitarian support are examined. The focus here is on the question of how "displacement" orders and stratifies society: how the perception of someone or something as "out of place" mobilises and orders human and non-human resources in a particular way.
In the future, we also want to increasingly investigate the role of the media in dealing with risks of public shaming or humiliation . This new research focus builds on earlier research in the Collaborative Research Centres (SFB) 1285 "Invectivity. Constellations and Dynamics of Disparagement" and focuses on the "Power of the Metainvective". We start from the assumption that the productive (i.e. order-creating, maintaining or dynamising to destructive) power of the invective lies not only in the disparagement itself, but - in a contemporary society that is committed to inclusion and the appreciation of diversity - especially in the "metainvective" scandalisation of the experience of disparagement.
Our interest in the further development of methods of qualitative media research runs counter to the research topics mentioned above. These include, in particular, ethnographic and technographic methods of researching global phenomena and processes of techno-social hybridisation, methods of field research in hybrid environments and media-supported collaborative research in geographically dispersed teams.
- Research projects
Many Moving Parts: Continuity, Disruption and Change in Global Humanitarian Aid Relations (HumGlobal)
Focusing on the flows and ordering of things - goods, people, money and ideas - HumGlobal explores how humanitarian supply chains influence the definition of social problems and the moral expectations associated with contemporary humanitarian support. At the centre of the project is the ambiguity of the term 'humanitarian logistics': what it entails, who defines it, and how it functions in different political and institutional contexts.
The project considers this ambiguity as a classification struggle between state, non-state and increasingly private sector actors over the definition of the value and scope of what 'humanitarian support' means, and how it can be mobilised as a form of power accordingly. The project also explores the extent to which this ambiguity is indicative of broader shifts in power within the humanitarian field itself - particularly as non-Western actors and infrastructures from the Global South play an increasingly important, but as yet unexamined, role.
Empirically, HumGlobal draws particular attention to overlooked humanitarian relationships in the Gulf region and the wider Global South. For example, Dubai is home to the world's largest centre for humanitarian warehousing and logistics, yet such hubs remain largely overlooked in mainstream accounts of support. By foregrounding these relationships, HumGlobal aims to shake up prevailing North-South narratives and provide new insights into the interplay between humanitarian support, mobility and global infrastructure.
The project is led by Dr Patricia Ward and runs until May 2026.
Pilot Project: Rescaling Conflict, Reskilling Humanitarianism? Exploring The Role of Humanitarian Logisticians in Contemporary Aid (RESKILL)
The RESKILL project, funded by the German Foundation for Peace Research, examines humanitarian supply chains not from the perspective of aid recipients or abstract systems, but from the ground up - through the daily work and experiences of the employees who transport aid across borders. While most research on humanitarian aid focuses on who receives the aid and where it arrives, RESKILL shifts the focus to the logisticians whose job it is to make aid deliveries possible in the first place. It examines how their role shapes and is shaped by the broader dynamics of conflict, inequality and the conceptualisation of 'skill'.
What we know about jobs in the aid sector comes largely from the study of programme staff, but not the logisticians who make up a growing and essential part of humanitarian operations. This gap is significant: supply chains account for more than two-thirds of annual aid spending, and humanitarian logisticians play a critical role in getting support to where it is needed. As logistics is increasingly promoted as a solution to long-term crises, this project explores exactly what this type of work involves, how skills are defined, learnt and assessed, and what this says about the changing nature of humanitarian support. Who is seen as the "ideal" humanitarian aid worker? What kind of work makes support possible? And how do these everyday roles shape not only the lives of aid workers, but also the way in which support is provided and understood?
Using qualitative methods - such as interviews with logistics workers and ethnographic observations of their workplaces - RESKILL explores how logistics work is shaped by and contributes to racialised, gendered and classed hierarchies within the aid sector. It examines how labour processes in these areas reflect wider colonial and imperial power structures, including those outside conventional 'conflict zones'.
As a pilot study, RESKILL aims to lay the groundwork for a larger project on labour, logistics and inequality in global humanitarian support, while contributing to interdisciplinary debates in labour studies, peace and conflict studies and humanitarian practice.
This project will be led by Dr Patricia Ward in collaboration with Dr Muath Abudalu until February 2026.
- Teaching
The Department of Media Sociology offers teaching in the BA, MA and doctoral programmes of the Faculty of Sociology. It also participates in the MA degree programme Interdisciplinary Media Studies, which is jointly supported by the Faculties of Sociology, Linguistics and Literature, Educational Science and the Faculty of Engineering. The courses in the Media Sociology department are designed as an object-orientated examination of sociological theories and methods . In addition to traditional receptive forms of appropriation and discussion of texts, it is important to us to facilitate understanding through practice and experience. Where possible, small practical exercises, excursions, field research units and joint interpretative work on data material are therefore integrated into the courses. We also offer advanced students courses that are linked to ongoing research projects in the department, so that they not only gain insights into real research processes, but can also make their own research contributions . Equally important to us is the creation of learning contexts, such as research workshops or colloquia, in which students and doctoral candidates can experience professional guidance and mutual support in the realisation of their own research work.
The use of digital technologies in teaching is now standard at every university, which makes it all the more important to systematically reflect on the associated changes in educational processes and analyse them from a media-sociological perspective. In our courses, we therefore encourage students not only to use e-learning tools, but also to experiment with the possibilities of digital media and to reflect on their own learning processes in the context of their respective media constitution.
In line with the current research focus in the department, the following topics are currently covered in teaching: Media theories, interactions between media and social change, media and migration, intercultural communication, media and education, media construction of social reality, conspiracy theories in the digital world, mediatised cultures of presence, algorithm cultures, alternative platforms, datafication of work, qualitative methods of media research.
Courses
Courses organised by
Prof. Dr Heike Greschke (electronic course catalogue (ekVV))
Johannes Barth (electronic course catalogue (ekVV))
Mohammad Hassan Heidarian (electronic course catalogue (ekVV))
Dr Christina Laut-Berger (electronic course catalogue (ekVV))
Yasemin Ece Örmeci (electronic course catalogue (ekvv))
Mei-Chen Spiegelberg (electronic course catalogue (ekVV))
Dr Patricia Ward (electronic course catalogue (ekvv))
PD Dr Josef Wehner (electronic course catalogue (ekVV))
- AB7 Meme Machine
We want your memes!
The AB Media Sociology is looking for and collecting the best sociology memes. Memes can be sent to hk.greschke@uni-bielefeld.de for this purpose. The memes can then not only be viewed on the meme board opposite the tea kitchen X-B3-220, but will also be collected online here .
- WPS Young Scholar
In the case of outstanding media sociological term papers and theses, the department offers students the opportunity to publish their work in the WPS Young Scholar Working Paper Series. Especially for students who are aiming for a career in academia, the publication of their final thesis is a good idea, as it not only enables initial publication experience, but also provides visibility in academic discourse. Theses that have been supervised in other areas of the faculty can also be proposed on the recommendation of the supervisor.
For student submissions, the same instructions for authors and the same submission checklist apply as for the Working Paper Series of the AB Media Sociology.
- Publications
- Working Paper Series
The Working Paper Series of the Department of Media Sociology (WPS@AB MediaSoz) offers a platform for the pre-publication of as yet unpublished articles with a media sociological perspective in German or English. Papers in process are also welcome, provided they fulfil scientific requirements and have not yet been published by a specialist publisher or journal or have already been submitted.
Submission checklist:
- The contribution is an as yet unpublished article/the interim status of a research project.
- The article meets scientific standards.
- The article addresses current and/or relevant issues in media sociology. It can be theoretically or empirically orientated.
- The paper uses categorisation-sensitive language (e.g. with regard to gender categories).
A working paper can also be extended or modified and published elsewhere at a later date without the need for formal approval by the WPS.
Review process
Each submitted paper will be reviewed by the Media Sociology Department. Subsequently, a minor revision of the article may be necessary (e.g. with regard to linguistic aspects). The department reserves the right to reject contributions that do not meet the requirements or the thematic fit.
Notes for authors
Manuscripts must be submitted in either German or English. The citation should follow the guidelines of the APA (American Psychological Association).
Submissions should include the following information:
- A title page with the author's full name and contact information
- Institutional affiliation, if available
- A meaningful abstract in German and English
Please send your submission to: sekretariat.greschke@uni-bielefeld.de.
Other formats
We are also happy to offer a platform for other formats that reflect the research status of a project ending date (podcasts, posters, etc.). Please contact us with your proposal.
WPS Young Scholar
We offer the WPS Young Scholar format for outstanding student theses and dissertations in the field of media sociology. Especially for students who are aiming for a career in academia, the publication of their final thesis is a good way to gain not only initial publication experience, but also visibility in academic discourse.
Theses that have been supervised in other areas of the faculty can be proposed on the recommendation of the supervisor.
The above instructions for authors and the submission checklist also apply to WPS Young Scholar submissions.
- Team
- Contact us
Viola Pappada
Sekretariat für Prof. Dr. Heike Greschke
sekretariat.greschke@uni-bielefeld.de
- Telephone
- +49 521 106-6866
- Room
- Gebäude X B3-222
