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press review

From the courtroom to the For You feed – Gisèle Pelicot as a feminist role model: Margreth Lünenborg in the DLF's Corso podcast

“The pillory is definitely an extremely rigid social instrument, where one must be extremely careful that public shaming does not take the place of legal proceedings.”

In this interview, communication scientist Margreth Lünenborg reflects on the media and cultural dynamics surrounding the globally acclaimed case of Gisèle Pelicot. Based on a systematic analysis of thousands of social media posts—especially on TikTok—she shows how Pelicot's public appearance in the courtroom triggered a process of “iconization” in which her image became a powerful symbol of resistance against gender-based violence.

Errors in the trial

Theater scholar Theresa Schütz attended Milo Rau's production of “The Trial Against Germany” in Hamburg—and published a critical review in nachtkritik magazine.

Shame – An Uncomfortable Feeling that Holds Society Together. Christian von Scheve in Zeitfragen.Feature: Podcast from Deutschlandfunk Kultur, 10.11.2025

Sociologist Christian von Scheve explains why shame is more than just personal discomfort: it acts as an invisible bond of social order—and at the same time as an instrument of political power.

Why do we need the Social Sciences and Humanities - just now?

This question id posed in an Berliner Zeitung articel by Torsten Hamsen (17.07.2025). Our colleague Prof. Dr. Hansjörg Dilger provides answers to this question in an interview.

Revenge as a Blind Spot of Modernity. Interview with Fabian Bernhardt in the Swiss magazine "bref"

In a recent interview with the Swiss magazine "bref", our colleague Fabian Bernhardt, philosopher at the CRC “Affective Societies”, explores the cultural logic and moral ambiguities of revenge in modern societies.

"The Left and their Feelings" - Gesa Jessen and Aletta Diefenbach on practice of love and the end of hetero-nucelar families - a text in nd aktuell

Sociologist Aletta Diefenbach and literary scholar Gesa Jessen anaylze Constance Debrés autofictional novels - Play Boy, Love Me Tender, and Name - as a radical refusal of conventional tales of love. A new contribution for nd aktuell.

Margreth Lünenborg in an interview on emotions in media coverage on migration

In this interview, Margreth Lünenborg explains the role that the emotions of different population groups play in everyday editorial work when it comes to the topic of migration.

Sociologist Aletta Diefenbach in the Tagesspiegel: "Liberalism also has an 'emotional world'"

Sociologist Aletta Diefenbach was interviewed by Tagesspiegel to talk about Emotions in political debates.

Fabian Bernhardt about revenge - "Ist die Rache zurück?" in Philosophie Magazin

“Various sides are currently vowing revenge. So are we witnessing a return of vengeance? That would be too simplistic, says Fabian Bernhardt. Because in truth, modernity has never overcome it. A blind spot with devastating consequences.”

Sociologist Christian von Scheve in an interview with Spiegel: Why has it become so difficult to talk about Israel and Palestine? Why do ibg emotions prevail in the debate?

Sociologist Christian von Scheve talks about healthy debates and the emotional state of the cultural sector - interview with "der Spiegel".

"Unsettling Encounters" - Maren Wirth on affects in collaborative research

In a blog post for the German Centre for Cultural Loss (Deutsches Zentrum für Kulturverlust), Maren Wirth reports on affects in collaborative research on colonial collections.

Henrike Kohpeiß on "Bürgerliche Kälte" in the FAZ

An interview with philosopher Henrike Kohpeiß about her book and how "Bürgerliche Kälte" holds european societies together: by keeping their distance to others.

Fabian Bernhardt on literature and trauma in "Süddeutsche Zeitung"

The novelist Katharina Döbler and the philosopher Fabian Bernhardt discuss the lasting impact of colonial entanglements at the Literarische Colloquium Berlin.

Deutschlandfunk interview with Maximilian Müller

Berlin Buddhists fear for their pagoda due to a missing building permit: Maximilian Müller in an interview with Deutschlandfunk about the possible closure of the Buddhist pagoda in Berlin-Lichtenberg.

Elgen Sauerborn talks about the "Era of Emotions" in "Deutschlandfunk Kultur"

Anyone surfing the internet today can hardly avoid a new language of emotionality and its terms: toxic, aromatic, gaslighting, mental load, trauma bonding, trigger warning, imposter syndrome. But how is the increasing differentiation of our emotional vocabulary related to the singularization of society? Are we living in a new "era of emotions"? Emotion sociologist Elgen Sauerborn comments on these questions in Deutschlandfunk Kultur's "Echtzeit" program.

Interview with the philosopher Fabian Bernhardt in "Der Standard"

Revenge is a word that is often used to explain violent conflicts. But are we using the term correctly? In an interview with Stefan Weiss from "Der Standard," Fabian Bernhardt explains how revenge was defined in history and how the term is used today - for example, in connection with the Ukraine war.

Interview with Débora Medeiros: From „we can do it" to baiting

"Being neutral and detached - this self-image of many journalists is an illusion," says Débora Medeiros (TP B02) in an interview with Der Tagesspiegel.

Interview about the Ukraine war with Zeit-Online

It is often said, the war is Putin's revenge. Could it be that this is projected onto him? The philosopher Fabian Bernhardt (B05) says that revenge always tells a story.

Putin's Revenge? Fabian Bernhardt's comment on philomag.de

Behind Putin's war of aggression, we read again and again, is an archaic motive: revenge. But this justification actually reveals more about us than about Putin. An impulse by Fabian Bernhardt (B05).

"The Invisibles": Birgitt Röttger-Rössler in an Interview with the Berliner Zeitung

Social and cultural anthropologist Birgitt Röttger-Rössler (SP A01) talks to BZ about the lives of Vietnamese in Berlin and the conflicts between the generations.

Aletta Diefenbach: Between purpose of life, mockery and nostalgia. How Christianity unties and divides right-wing adherents

Aletta Diefenbach's (SP C04) new article is published in the Journal of Religion, Society, and Politics and explores the role of Christianity as an identity marker for the New Right.

Fabian Bernhardt: "The Philosophy of Revenge" on Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Tit for tat? Revenge has no place in the modern self-image - but feelings of revenge are by no means foreign to us, says philosopher Fabian Bernhardt (SP B05). A conversation for "Sein und Streit" from Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

Article "Nachbarschaft" about Max Müller's research

Max Müller, religious scholar and research assistant in sub-project A02, is researching Vietnamese life in Berlin. In the article "Nachbarschaft" (Neighbourhood), the Tagesspiegel gives an insight into the life of the Vietnamese community in Lichtenberg and the work of Max Müller.

Nach Corona: Ein Medizinethnologe erklärt, dass wir lernen müssen, mit Krisen zu leben

In an interview with DIE WELT, Hansjörg Dilger from the subproject C03 pleads for a serious discussion about how we want to live in a crisis-ridden world with Corona - instead of pretending that it all will stop at some point.

Diversität im Journalismus - Journalismus im Dialog

What about the diversity in German editorial offices? Do black / migrant / muslim lives really matter? Journalist Ferda Ataman from the New German Media Makers and Prof. Dr. Margreth Lünenborg from TP B02 in the third edition of "Journalism in Dialog" by mbb.

Der Zorn in uns

Fabian Bernhardt (project B05) published an article on fantasies of vegeance in the Philosophie Magazin, in which he discusses the difference between the self-image and the image of the other when it comes to longing for revenge.

Ein Richtungsstreit unter Sezessionisten

An article by Aletta Diefenbach and Tim Lörke (both project C04), published by FAZ, describes the struggle for interpretational sovereignity within the right-wing scene and the wrestle of the intellectual New Right with the loss of importance during the "Anti Corona measures"-demonstrations.

Begrüßungen während Corona - Im Handumdrehen angesteckt

In this article by Edit Magazine, Thomas Stodulka talks about emerging greeting rituals in times of Corona and explains which impacts these could have on our future understand of culture.

Pflanzen berühren und verstehen - Forschungsprojekt zum Anthropozän

In the new sub-project of SFB1171, Sandra Calkins and Albert-Dieter Stevens examine the everyday encounters between people and plants in the botanical garden for their affective potential and thereby question our anthropocentric relationship with the environment and nature.

Zwischen Leichtsinn und Vorsicht Hamburg ist gespalten – in zwei Corona-Lager

Sighard Neckel, head of TP B06 and professor at the University of Hamburg in conversation with the Hamburger Morgenpost about the generation issue in dealing with corona measures and the new normal.

Solidarität in der Krise: Warum die Suche nach Sündenböcken so schädlich ist

When an earthquake shatters a city, people tend to show solidarity. When an epidemic is going round, it seems that fear is swallowing people's empathy. Sighard Neckel, head of project B06, explains why in an interview with GEO.

"Natürlich löst das Ängste aus"

Hansjörg Dilger, head of project C03, gave Zeit Online an interview on the dealings of different cultures with diseases in general and the Coronavirus specifically.

Moralischer Universalismus in Zeiten politischer Regression

Aletta Diefenbach, research assistant at project C04, together with Claudia Czingon and Victor Kempf, conducted an interview with Jürgen Habermas, which was publushed in the Leviathan.

Trapattoni, Özdemir und jetzt Greta Thunberg: Wutreden - Gefühlsausbruch oder Rhetorik?

Jonas Bens, project A06, gave Radio Bremen an interview.

Der Siegeszug des Heimatbegriffs gefährdet die europäische Demokratie - ein Beitrag von Bilgin Ayata im Tagesspiegel

Everyone is talking about 'Heimat'. This plays into the hands of dictators like Erdogan - and obscures the real problem. Bilgin Ayata, Mercator-Fellow at the CRC, delivers the opening speech at the scientific conference of this years Herbstsalon at the Gorki Theater in Berlin. It was printed in the Tagesspiegel.

Participatory theater today? The role of immersion

Theresa Schütz, research assistant at at B03: Reenacting Emotions, talked with Deutschlandradio Kultur about particapory theater and the role of immersion.

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