Sociology

This series is intended as a forum for a form of literary studies whose cultural studies expansion has been consolidated since the ›turns‹ in recent decades. The monographs and anthologies it publishes address the ›textures‹ which literature (and culture in general) is composed of: the literal materials and the media and cultural contexts that are inserted and interwoven into texts. These works and analyses are characterised by their openness towards incisive theoretical discussions in literary, media and cultural studies as well as their demands for innovative approaches.

This series publishes works that open up a social pedagogical perspective on democracy education in different fields of social work. With reference to Oskar Negt's (2016) insight that democracy is the only politically constituted social order that needs to be learned, there is a need to reflect on the forms of democracy education and democracy practice. The focus is therefore on theoretical and conceptual reflections on participatory democracy, political democratic education, and participatory research that discusses sustainable social inclusion.

According to Johannes C. Hoekendijk, the foundation of the technical civilization came without religion. Even before theology started to reflect on technology as a relevant cultural achievement, technology itself raised the question of truth and meaning. Today, discourses on the cultural shape of the post-industrial, bio-technical, and digital reality are part of our daily life. In this series, ethical questions are related to the motives and beliefs that influence the development and application of technology. Interpretations of meaning in techno-societies and the reconstruction of theological positions come into play. As does the intercultural perspective, for technology and religion are widespread throughout the world as common approaches to crises and solutions.

This series of publications is dedicated to the processes of change and challenges arising from the digitisation of the economy and society. It focuses primarily on the question of how the fundamental rights to privacy and informational self-determination can be guaranteed and provides a forum for interdisciplinary academic exchange. It presents theoretical, empirical, basic and application-oriented work and contributes to the foundation and objectification of the public discourse on these topics. In particular, results from the ‘Forum Privatheit’, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), appear in the series.

Resocialisation, victim protection and atonement as well as aspects of a sustainable and victim-centred approach to criminal proceedings embedded in the concept of restorative justice need developing continuously and adapting to new findings from related fields. At the same time, it must be emphasised that any research findings resulting from this can only be partially integrated into practical investigative procedures, criminal proceedings, the implementation of criminal sentencing and committed discharge management. On the one hand, this series of publications is aimed at experts and managers from all German-speaking countries working in the fields of criminal, justice and social policy, professional associations, the media and civil society. On the other, its publications will also be relevant to researchers and lecturers from the fields of law and the social sciences, particularly criminal law, criminology, social work and social pedagogy. We welcome submissions of monographs from various disciplines, dissertations, habilitation theses, edited anthologies and conference proceedings for publication in the series.

"Short Cuts" close the gap between the classical essay in a journal and the monograph. They provide a forum for short, stimulating opinions that may well be at odds with prevailing opinion. The focus will be on the foundations of law.

Textbook series for sociology students at universities and colleges The volumes in this series introduce the central research areas, theories and methods of sociology in an academically sound manner and in understandable language, and convey the field’s basic study contents for prospective sociologists. The consistent focus on problems and the didactic preparation of the volumes’ individual chapters facilitate access to their specialist content. The series is ideally suited to exam preparation, e.g. through summaries, knowledge and comprehension questions as well as diagrams and thematic cross-references.