Dr. Nicole Sommer

Social Categorization and Human Differentiation I Cultural Sociology I Global Sociology I Race and Ethnicit

My research lies at the intersection of cultural sociology, political sociology, and global sociology. It focuses on processes of social categorization and human differentiation, particularly on how social distinctions emerge, become institutionalized, and are negotiated across different social and geographical contexts. I am especially interested in the construction of social similarities and differences and the associated processes of boundary-making and belonging. A central focus of my research is the global construction and transformation of ethnic and racialized categories. I examine how social categories emerge in global and transnational contexts, how their meanings vary across different settings, and how they are stabilized or transformed through institutional practices and social interactions. Empirically, my work focuses primarily on international organizations, particularly the United Nations, and global human rights politics. Theoretically, I draw on the sociology of human differentiation, world society theory, and approaches to categorization and boundary-making. Another area of interest concerns the relationship between global and local understandings of social difference and the processes of negotiation through which social distinctions are constructed and transformed across national and cultural boundaries.

Müller, M., & Sommer, N. (2026). People of African descent: The emergence of a new global category in international politics. International Journal of Sociology, 56 (5), 341-365.  

Sommer, N. (2026). The politics of categorizing African descent: Global frameworks, political meanings, and shifting boundaries of belonging. Comparative Migration Studies, 14, 1-19.  

Sommer, N. (2026). Reconstructing narratives: Exploring the significance of descent and ancestry for people of African descent. In N. Ellebrecht, T. Plümecke, I. Bartram, V. Lipphardt, J. Reardon, & A. zur Nieden (Eds.), The order of people: Contesting bio-scientific human classifications (pp. 151–166). transcript Verlag.

• The Politics of Categorizing African Descent: Global Frameworks, Political Meanings, and Shifting Boundaries of Belonging, Special Issue Workshop „Categorizing People on the Move in Africa“, Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institut, Freiburg, 29. Juli 2025.
• The Body as a Blind Spot in Global NGO Discourse on Disability and African Descent (gemeinsam mit Annelen Fritz), Workshop „Limitations as Lenses: New Pathways for the Study of World Politics“, DFG-Graduiertenkolleg „World Politics“, Universität Bielefeld, 22.–23. Mai 2025.
• Who Is Black, White or Mixed? On the Meaning of Racial Narratives for the Global Category ‘African Descent’ at the UN, Workshop „Menschen verorten. Differenzkategorien in interdisziplinärer Perspektive“, SFB 1288 „Praktiken des Vergleichens“, Universität Bielefeld, 21.–22. März 2025.
• Linking Past and Present: People of African Descent – From Pan-Africanism to a Global Human Rights Framework, Workshop „Pan-Africanism in the Contemporary World: Policy, Politics, and Practice, SOAS Centre for Pan-African Studies, Addis Abeba, Äthiopien, 5.–7. Januar 2025.
• NGOs as Potential Reinforcement or Challenge to Existing Power Dynamics in World Politics (gemeinsam mit Annelen Fritz), Workshop Reflecting World Politics: Taking Stock, Looking Back and to the Future, DFG-Graduiertenkolleg „World Politics“, Universität Bielefeld, 29.–30. November 2024.
• Dynamics of Categorization: People of African Descent in Global Discourse, Jahrestagung Reconfigurations in Africa – and in African Studies, Vereinigung für Afrikawissenschaften in Deutschland, Universität Bayreuth, 30. September–2. Oktober 2024.
• The Making and Un-Making of Global (Racial) Identities, 16th Conference of the European Sociological Association, Porto, Portugal, 27.–30. August 2024.
• International Politics and Historical Memory: Perspectives on People of African Descent, Memories, 8th Annual Conference of the Memory Studies Association, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru, 18.–20. Juli 2024.
• Reconstructing Narratives: Exploring the Significance of Descent and Ancestry for People of African Descent, Workshop Mere Labels, Racial Concepts, or Scientific Methods? Politics, Epistemologies, and Ethics of Naming Populations in Life Sciences and Beyond, Institut für Soziologie, Universität Freiburg, 30.–31. Juli 2023.
• People of African Descent: On the Global Expansion of Categories of Persons (gemeinsam mit Marion Müller), Eröffnungskonferenz des Sonderforschungsbereichs „Humandifferenzierungen“, Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 1. Juli 2022.
• Persons with Disabilities, LGBTI People, and People of African Descent: On the Establishment of Global Person Categories in International Politics (gemeinsam mit Hannah Bennani, Annelen Fritz und Marion Müller), Tagung der Sektion Politische Soziologie, Universität Bielefeld, 2. Juni 2022.
• Germany and the Construction of the African Diaspora: National Identities and Global Perspectives, 53rd Annual Convention of the Northeast Modern Language Association, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA, 10.–13. März 2022.

Bartelt, I., Sommer, N., Trastiova, N., & Zschiechang, C. (Eds.). (2027, forthcoming). Studying limitations in world politics. Routledge. (Routledge Interventions Series).