Cultures of the Political

Mission Statement

This section pools the research interests of young researchers at the interface of political sociology and social theory, political culture research and political philosophy, the analysis of political communication processes and symbolic-expressive dimensions of the political. The name “Cultures of the Political” is intended to underscore the research premise that modern societies are characterized by political (decision-making) processes being dispersed into social arenas and fields of discourse which are not adequately described by concepts of e.g. the public sphere or civil society. We are particularly interested in the dynamics, responses, and reciprocal effects which exist between culture, aesthetics, law, economics, the mass media and the political. For the analysis of political dynamics and processes, this may lead to a broad range of research subjects which may well have been neglected under the traditional understanding of politics. By this token, architecture, art and aesthetics, fashion, audio-visual media and popular cultural semantics must be drawn into the analysis of political interpretive culture. By return, it is essential to look into the social micro-processes of “classical” political fields which impact upon the political practice of protest movements, social movements, police work and criminal justice. In summary, the section is interested in the whole spectrum of political communication, and thus in an investigative horizon which combines both the material and the symbolic effects of political practices, without regarding the production of the political from only one angle. Supported by the theoretical and methodological plurality of the disciplines represented at the GGS, the working group aims to make a productive and innovative contribution to analyzing the cultural relevance of political processes in (modern) society.

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