December 2025 – From zombie apocalypses to soccer derbies to AI tools for research: In December, the six blogs of the “SocioloVerse.AI” network once again demonstrated how diverse and relevant sociological thinking is. Here is an overview of the most exciting new articles – with an invitation to dive deeper.
Sociology of pop culture: What zombies teach us about society
When the dead rise, not only biological order collapses, but above all social order. The article “When the Dead Walk: Zombie Narratives as Mirrors of Societal Breakdown and Reconstruction” on the Sociology Blog shows that zombie stories are not cheap entertainment, but sociological thought experiments.
From George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead to The Walking Dead to I Am Legend, these narratives reveal what happens when Durkheim’s anomie (normlessness) becomes real and Hobbes’ state of nature (“war of all against all”) ensues. The real threat? Not the zombies, but the collapse of trust, institutions, and moral regulation.
Why read it? Because it shows that horror films can do more than just scare us—they are a mirror of our deepest fears about social order.
The sociology of money: Why a piece of paper has power
What makes money more than just a medium of exchange? The article “The Sociology of Money: From Simmel’s Philosophy to Contemporary Monetary Orders” examines how money shapes social relationships, identity, and power.
Georg Simmel recognized as early as 1900 that money is both liberation (from feudal dependencies) and alienation (everything becomes a commodity). Marx analyzed commodity fetishism, Weber saw money as the engine of rationalization, and Mauss contrasted this with the gift economy. Modern researchers such as Zelizer show that we “mark” money differently—gift money feels different from salary.
Why read it? Because it explains why we paradoxically believe that money cannot buy happiness, while organizing our entire lives around it.
Creativity as social practice: Why writing and drawing save us
“As long as I write and draw, my brain doesn’t turn against me.” This sentence opens the article “Writing and Drawing Against the Self” on Social Friction.
The sociological thesis: We cannot see ourselves with our own eyes, and others cannot know what we are thinking. George Herbert Mead‘s “I” and “Me,” Charles Horton Cooley‘s “Looking-Glass Self,” and Erving Goffman‘s dramaturgy show that creative expression is not a private act, but a social practice of self-construction.
When you write, you engage in a dialogue with yourself—but this dialogue is always socially structured. You anticipate readers, internalize norms, and construct identity through narration.
Why read it? Because it explains why journaling is not “just therapy,” but profound sociological work.
Please visit my own experience blogging project: SchWeinWelten.de
Addiction from a systems theory perspective: From the individual to the structure
How does addiction arise in social systems? The article “Systems Theory and Addiction: From Parsons to Luhmann” on the blog Sociology of Addiction shows that addiction is not an individual failure, but emerges from structural tensions.
Talcott Parsons analyzed the “sick role” – but does it apply to addiction? Robert K. Merton explained addiction as “retreatism”: withdrawal when cultural goals (success) and institutional means (access to education, jobs) diverge. Niklas Luhmann took a more radical view: social systems consist of communication, not people. Addicts exist in the environment of the system, not in the system itself.
Why read it? Because it shows that effective addiction policy must change structures, not preach morality.
Co-dependency: When caring becomes a trap
The second article on Sociology of Addiction – “Beyond Enabling: A Sociological Analysis of Co-Dependency” – deconstructs “co-dependency” not as an individual pathology, but as a structural position.
Erving Goffman‘s “courtesy stigma” (stigma by association), Thomas’ theorem (“When people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”) and principal-agent theory reveal that co-dependents navigate impossible role expectations. They are expected to be supportive and set boundaries, to be present but not controlling.
Why read it? Because it shows that the problem is not the person, but the structural impossibility of the situation.
Soccer Sociology: The Derby as Class Conflict
What happens when a village has two clubs—one for workers, one for citizens? The article “The Derby as a Sociological Phenomenon” on Soccer Sociology tells the story of club splits in rural Germany.
Durkheim helps us understand: early clubs function according to mechanical solidarity (everyone together). Splits mark the transition to organic solidarity (class milieus). Weber shows that club foundations are small-scale domains of power. Bourdieu explains that derbies are battles for symbolic capital.
The Franconian Derby (1. FC Nürnberg vs. SpVgg Greuther Fürth, since 1903) illustrates this perfectly: the cities are geographically intertwined, but identity-wise sharply divided. The joke – “The best thing about Fürth is the subway to Nürnberg” – sums up this symbiotic-antagonistic relationship.
Why read it? Because it shows that soccer is never “just a sport.”
Using AI tools critically: Scite for students
Can AI tell you whether a scientific source is reliable? The article “Scite for students and young scientists” on the AI Career Compass analyzes the Scite tool – and its limitations.
Scite classifies citations: Is a paper supported, contradicted, or just mentioned? This is invaluable for literature reviews. But: The tool has STEM bias (less humanities), language bias (English-centric), and infrastructure bias (only digitized, published articles).
Bourdieu would say: Scite creates new digital capital, unevenly distributed. Foucault would call it a “power/knowledge formation” – it defines what is valid.
Why read it? Because it shows that AI tools are never neutral. Understand their structure before you trust them.
Career Compass: Three practical guides for students
The Compass series for students offers concrete help for career decisions. Three new articles stand out:
1. Like a small startup: the doctorate
Doing a doctorate means being the CEO of your own research. You learn project management, resilience, networking, problem solving – skills that are worth their weight in gold in any profession. The title may count for less, but the skills remain universal.
2. How HR managers read your CV
HR managers read CVs in three layers: (1) Time analysis – gaps, length of stay, progression. (2) Position analysis – is the person suitable for the job? (3) Buzzword matching – do they speak our language? Understand this logic and optimize your CV strategically.
3. What do you actually want? Master’s, doctorate, MBA?
The most important question is not “What will benefit me the most?” but “What do I really want?” Master’s degree soon after bachelor’s degree. Doctorate only if genuinely interested. MBA/LLM for experienced professionals. But: Intrinsic motivation beats strategy.
Why read? Because they provide concrete answers to the questions that keep you awake at night.
Conclusion: Sociology is everywhere
These ten articles showcase the breadth of the House of Sociology project: from theoretical depth (systems theory, money sociology) to empirical analysis (derbies, co-dependence) to practical application (AI tools, career planning).
The central message? Sociology helps us understand the world—and navigate it strategically. Whether you watch zombie movies, spend money, keep a diary, play soccer, or plan your career: sociological thinking reveals structures that would otherwise remain invisible.
Enjoy reading!
All articles at a glance
Sociology…! (Introduction to Sociology)
Social Friction
Sociology of Addiction
Soccer Sociology
AI Career Compass
Compass Series
Author: Dr. Stephan Pflaum
Date: December 8, 2025
Project: House of Sociology / Socioloverse.AI
This overview article was written in collaboration with Claude (Anthropic). The structure, thematic selection, and final editing are the responsibility of the human author.
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