Ecological, geopolitical and democratic crises are challenging the social sciences: How critical can research be without being labelled as activism? Three experts discuss what it means to combine science and engagement - especially in times when academic freedom is under pressure.
HOW MUCH ACTIVISM CAN SOCIOLOGY AFFORD?
The current ecological, geopolitical and democratic crises are putting the relationship between social science, critique and action to the test. While research funding policies urge researchers to have an impact on society, if they take a stand in the public debate, they can be labelled as inappropriately critical or even activist. Are there different ways of being critical that are more or less compatible with scientific work? Should scientists be considered activists if they use scientific knowledge to challenge conventional wisdom and misconceptions, for example in relation to the climate crisis and biodiversity? And what exactly do criticism and activism mean in contexts where academic freedom of expression is under threat? To answer these questions, three experts on migration, inequality and public policy will share their perspectives.
CLAUDIA DIEHL
Claudia Diehl, Fellow 2022/2023, is Professor of Microsociology at the University of Konstanz.
NAIKA FOROUTAN
Naika Foroutan is Professor of Integration Research and Social Policy at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Director of the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM), Berlin.
STEPHAN LESSENICH
Stephan Lessenich is Professor of Sociology at Goethe University Frankfurt and Director of the Institute for Social Research, Frankfurt.
Moderator: Bénédicte Zimmermann, Professor of Sociology, École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris, former Permanent Fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg.
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