Theory & Methodology

In a mutual approach of (Social / Natural) Sciences and Humanities, research on the different aspects of Anxiety Culture has to be carried out in a combination of methodological traditions and innovations, referring to data-sets and empirical findings in each area of investigation.

Members – Theory & Methodology

Prof. Dr. Dirk Nabers

Kiel University, Political Science and Sociology

Anxiety, crisis and social change.

Abstract: How do we define a crisis? The semantic expansion and multifaceted contents of the term to depict all kinds of catastrophe, emergency and predicament highlights a persisting conundrum within both scientific and public debates: It is far from evident what exactly the concept circumscribes apart from its sloppy everyday usage and how it is to be analysed beyond what has been proposed by theories of crisis management and decision-making. …  read full abstract

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hoinkes

Kiel University, Linguistics

Anxiety Culture as a Global Paradigm Shift: Discursive Traditions Aware of In-security and Powerlessness, and their Potential for a New Social Dynamic. Diaspora and fears, with special reference to the case of Armenia.

Prof. Dr. Karen Struve

Bremen University, Romance Philology (Literature and Cultural Studies)

Frightening fractures: Discourses of Fear in Contemporary French Cultural Philosophy and Novel Production.

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Prof. Dr. Paula Diehl

Kiel University, Political Science

Populism, Anxiety, and Identification. From Fear to Pleasure in Populism Dynamics and its Implications for Democracy.

Dr. Elena Dück

Kiel University, Political Science

Anxiety, Identity and Otherness  

 

Abstract: The rise of authoritarianism is accompanied by memory politics that promise the return to former greatness and alleged ‘true’ national identity. However, as identity constructions are necessarily instable discursive processes of re-construction and boundary drawing, no ‘true’ or stable identity can ever be achieved… read full abstract

PD Dr. Veith Selk

Technical University Darmstadt, Political Science

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Prof. Dr. Natalia Filatkina

University of Hamburg, Germanic Linguistics / Digital Historical Linguistics

Constructing Anxiety and Fear through Language Use: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Abstract: As basic human emotions, fear and anxiety have been anchored in an interdisciplinary (neuroscientific, psychological and biological) scholarly context since the beginning of the research in these fields. However, humanities and cultural studies have shown that manifestations of fear and anxiety in verbal and visual artefacts should be considered not only a basic human emotion but also cultural and social phenomena and thus products of human construction and specific language use… read full abstract

 

Michael J. Schapira, PhD

Columbia University, New York