Research Comparative institutional and organisational analysis

Sociological analysis of organisations and institutions builds on Weber’s research programme and examines the structures and rules that stabilise, shape or transform social order in modern societies. The focus is not only on normative aspects, but also on the mechanisms through which social spheres are organised.

Particular attention is paid to the economy, the state and civil society. Current processes of transformation are analysed from an international comparative and intersectional perspective, including trends towards polarisation in political public spheres, the dynamics of migration societies, conflicts over climate policy, and changes in work, career paths and knowledge production. The research examines which institutional and organisational frameworks enable or hinder social processes, and how social change is steered or slowed down. Current projects focus, among other things, on the use of AI in healthcare and the economy, education and science policy in a European comparison, participatory forms of governance, sustainability standards in industry and the economy, and the analysis of misconduct and spirals of silence in organisations such as hospitals.