Author: Dr. Stephan Pflaum

Du hast dich bei einem Unternehmen beworben, eine Absage erhalten – und drei Wochen später siehst du eine andere Stelle dort, die noch besser zu dir passt. Darfst du dich gleich wieder bewerben? Meine klare Antwort: Ja, unbedingt! In meinen… read more / weiterlesen Absage bekommen – und trotzdem nochmal bewerben?

Publish your seminar works. Get coached. Reach a real audience. Are you studying sociology or a neighboring field or somehting completely different, and you are interested in AI, working with AI? Turn your ideas, term papers, mini-studies, or theory essays… read more / weiterlesen Call for Student Papers — SocioloVerse.AI

Teaser Neuroscience tells us that our brains start preparing actions before we become conscious of “deciding.” Does that kill free will—and with it, responsibility? This primer maps the debate across biology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and theology. Then it asks what… read more / weiterlesen Do Brains Decide First? Free Will, Determinism, and Addiction — A Sociological Introduction

Teaser Do our brains decide before “we” do? Neuroscience provocations—from Libet’s readiness potentials to machine-predicted choices—seem to shrink the space for free will just when addiction science needs a robust notion of agency. This essay takes a sober tour through… read more / weiterlesen Before You Choose: Brains, Freedom, and Addiction — A Sociological Reframing of the Will Debate

Artificial intelligence represents the quintessential manufactured risk of our time—a technology created by modern society that generates uncontrollable consequences transcending institutional boundaries. Beck’s risk society thesis reveals how AI follows the pattern of manufactured hazards: produced by expert systems, distributed… read more / weiterlesen AI as Manufactured Risk: Ulrich Beck’s Risk Society Theory

Teaser The welfare state represents one of modernity’s most ambitious projects: the systematic attempt to shield citizens from pure market forces through social rights. Yet welfare states don’t just redistribute resources—they fundamentally reshape social stratification, redefine citizenship, and embody distinct… read more / weiterlesen The Welfare State as Social System: Understanding Esping-Andersen’s Three Worlds and the Sociology-Economics Nexus

Teaser Sleep represents “the last bastion of non-capitalistic society” in our relentlessly productive age, yet billions of people struggle nightly with this most fundamental biological necessity. While neuroscientists map REM cycles and psychologists probe the unconscious through dreams, sociology reveals… read more / weiterlesen Between Waking and Dreaming: The Social Construction of Sleep in the Age of 24/7 Capitalism

Teaser What has become of football sociology since Norbert Elias and Eric Dunning published their groundbreaking “Quest for Excitement” in 1986? This meta-analysis traces the transformation of a research field that evolved from figurational sociology into a multi-perspectival kaleidoscope –… read more / weiterlesen After Elias and Dunning: A Meta-Analysis of Football Sociology from 1986 to 2025

Teaser What if consciousness doesn’t reside in silicon circuits or neural networks, but emerges in the space between human and machine? Radical constructivism suggests that by engaging AI in dialogue, we might already be co-creating consciousness—not discovering it. From mirror… read more / weiterlesen When Does Consciousness Begin? AI, Mirror Neurons, and the Social Construction of Mind

Teaser For decades, sociological research has been divided between two methodological camps: the quantitative researchers with their statistical models and large datasets, and the qualitative researchers with their in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations. This methodological divide has shaped careers, departments,… read more / weiterlesen The Great Convergence: How AI is Creating a Sternstunde for Qualitative Research

Teaser For decades, sociological research has been divided between two methodological camps: the quantitative researchers with their statistical models and large datasets, and the qualitative researchers with their in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations. This methodological divide has shaped careers, departments,… read more / weiterlesen The Great Convergence: How AI is Creating a Sternstunde for Qualitative Research

Vom Smalltalk zur globalen Kompetenz Stellt euch vor: Ihr steht bei eurem ersten Networking-Event in Shanghai, ein potenzieller Arbeitgeber reicht euch die Visitenkarte – und ihr nehmt sie mit einer Hand entgegen und steckt sie achtlos in die Hosentasche. Gratulation,… read more / weiterlesen Business-Etikette: Warum Knigge heute noch en vogue ist

Teaser In 1909, E.M. Forster imagined humanity living in isolated cells, entirely dependent on an omnipresent Machine for survival, communication, and meaning. Today, as we navigate pandemic-accelerated digital transformation, AI-mediated relationships, and platform capitalism’s grip on daily life, his dystopian… read more / weiterlesen When The Machine Stops: Forster’s Prophetic Vision Meets Our Algorithmic Present

Understanding National Identity Through Three Key Concepts October 2025: When German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke of “problems in the cityscape,” he ignited Germany’s most explosive identity debate in years. But what exactly was he doing sociologically? This article introduces three… read more / weiterlesen “Stadtbild-Debatte” Or How We Create Social Reality with our Wording

Teaser October 2025: Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks of “problems in the cityscape” (Stadtbild) – and ignites Germany’s most explosive identity debate in years. Thousands protest in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich. Criminal complaints of incitement are filed. Meanwhile, 77-year-old Joschka Fischer, former… read more / weiterlesen “Who Are We Germans?” – From Merz’s “Stadtbild” to ChatGPT’s Cultural Homogeneity

Teaser Addiction fractures along class lines. The executive microdosing Adderall, the knowledge worker doom-scrolling through algorithmic feeds, the marathon runner training through injury, the service worker numbing structural precarity with fentanyl—each enacts a distinct form of compulsive behavior shaped by… read more / weiterlesen The Stratification of Addiction: Mapping Class, Commodification, and Compulsion in Late Capitalism