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„Politische Soziologie transnationaler Felder“

DFG-gefördertes wissenschaftliches Netzwerk (Laufzeit: 2017 - 2022)

How can transnational processes of sociation and accompanying new forms of governing people be understood and explained from a political sociology perspective? The network does not share the popular diagnosis of politics in decline. Instead we focus on agents engaging in those political processes that lead to the establishment of transnational forms of order. Such political processes are to be found in politics proper as well as other social fields in nation state contexts and beyond. These processes of sociation result in a wide range of governance forms rooted in transnational fields.

The network comprises young researchers from different organizational contexts that research transnational phenomena from a field-analytical perspective. The network is supposed to provide an intellectual space for discussions of theoretical and methodological questions arising from different research projects. We hope to contribute to the development of a relational and reflexive political sociology of transnationalisation. In order to pursue this goal, the network will focus on three goals:

1. Charting the range of politic-related transnational processes;

2. Systematization of the methodological discoveries that were achieved in different research contexts;

3. Identification of basic mechanisms of transnationalisation that work in several transnational fields.

Field-analytical research on transnationalism concentrates in French, US-American and German scientific contexts. Building on existing contacts to representatives of the French field-theoretical European studies and the US-American field-centered neo-institutionalism the network tries to establish a transnational community.


Wie lassen sich transnationale Vergesellschaftungsprozesse und damit einhergehende neue Formen des Regierens der Menschen aus der Perspektive einer Politischen Soziologie verstehen und erklären? Entgegen der verbreiteten Vorstellung von einem Bedeutungsverlust des Politischen geht das Netzwerk davon aus, dass interessierte Akteure sowohl im klassischen Feld der Politik als auch in anderen sozialen Feldern dies- und jenseits des Nationalstaates politische Prozesse vorantreiben, die auf die Etablierung transnationaler Ordnungen zielen. Das Ergebnis dieser Vergesellschaftungsprozesse ist ein breites Spektrum an Regierungsformen in transnationalen Feldern.

Das beantragte wissenschaftliche Netzwerk ermöglicht eine Zusammenarbeit von jungen Forschenden jenseits ihrer primären institutionellen Einbindungen. Es schafft Raum für projektübergreifende Fragestellungen, die in der gemeinsamen Arbeit auf drei Ziele hin gebündelt werden sollen:

1. Erfassen des Spektrums politikbezogener Transnationalisierungsprozesse;

2. Systematisierung der methodologischen Einsichten, die in unterschiedlichen Forschungskontexten gewonnen wurden;

3. Identifizierung von Basismechanismen der Transnationalisierung, die in verschiedenen transnationalen Feldern wirken.

Feldanalytische Forschungen zur Transnationalisierung finden derzeit vor allem im französischen, US-amerikanischen und deutschen Wissenschaftskontext statt. Das wissenschaftliche Netzwerk knüpft an bestehende Kontakte zu Vertretern der französischen Schule der feldtheoretischen Europaforschung und der US-amerikanischen Schule des feldzentrierten Neoinstitutionalismus an und möchte diese intensivieren. Es ist beabsichtigt, einen transnationalen Forschungszusammenhang zu etablieren, in dem die Beiträge der deutschen Politischen Soziologie eine angemessene Berücksichtigung finden.

How can transnational processes of sociation and accompanying new forms of governing people be understood and explained from a political sociology perspective? The network does not share the popular diagnosis of politics in decline. Instead we focus on agents engaging in those political processes that lead to the establishment of transnational forms of order. Such political processes are to be found in politics proper as well as other social fields in nation state contexts and beyond. These processes of sociation result in a wide range of governance forms rooted in transnational fields.

The network comprises young researchers from different organizational contexts that research transnational phenomena from a field-analytical perspective. The network is supposed to provide an intellectual space for discussions of theoretical and methodological questions arising from different research projects. We hope to contribute to the development of a relational and reflexive political sociology of transnationalisation. In order to pursue this goal, the network will focus on three goals:

1. Charting the range of politic-related transnational processes;

2. Systematization of the methodological discoveries that were achieved in different research contexts;

3. Identification of basic mechanisms of transnationalisation that work in several transnational fields.

Field-analytical research on transnationalism concentrates in French, US-American and German scientific contexts. Building on existing contacts to representatives of the French field-theoretical European studies and the US-American field-centered neo-institutionalism the network tries to establish a transnational community.