Sociological Theories and Cultural Sociology in Dresden

A peculiarity of the teaching and research of sociological theories at the Institute for Sociology in Dresden is the connection between the history of theory, theory formation and cultural sociological research. Karl-Siegbert Rehberg established this special profile as the first professor (1992-2015, since then senior research professor at the Institute of Sociology). With the appointment of a new chair by Dominik Schrage, this close connection between cultural sociology and sociological theory is maintained, even if new accents are in the research topics and perspectives are set.
Characteristic of this Dresden perspective of sociological theory and cultural sociology is the special consideration of the diversity and historical dimension of the theoretical approaches and their forerunners, which preceded the institutional foundation of sociology around 1900. Our understanding of cultural sociology is also based on a plurality and historical variability of cultural terms, which cannot be standardized into a "pure" theoretical term without loss of knowledge, and thus also on a heterogeneity of the empirical fields of cultural-sociological research. This is to be reflected in research and communicated in teaching, for example through theoretical comparisons and contextualization.
From this perspective, cultural sociology is also linked to sociological theories. There has been a long tradition since the founding of sociology, in which insights from Cultural Studies, Cultural Philosophy and the Anthropologies were seminal in sociological theory and interdisciplinary cultural theories.