Inaugural lecture by Dr Agnes Blome and Prof Kerstin Botsch
Prof Dr Agnes Frauke Blome, Professor of Political Science, and Prof Dr Kerstin Botsch, Professor of Sociology in Social Professions, will hold their inaugural lectures on 17 November 2025 to mark their appointment as professors in the Department of Social and Educational Sciences.
The event will also be offered in hybrid form.
Use the Zoom link to the inaugural lecture to participate online.
17/11/2025, 6.30 pm – 8.00 pm
Prof Dr Kerstin Botsch - Sociology in social professions - Individual patterns of interpretation and social transformation
The starting point of the inaugural lecture is the "findings of contemporary society" (Reckwitz, 2024) and the observation that global challenges such as digitalisation, social inequality, ecological crises and the loss of communal relationships have an impact on everyday life and shape individual orientations and modes of action. Sociology is associated with a questioning attitude towards the social world and a specific perspective, which will be illustrated by the "sociological eye" (Everett Hughes) and the "sociological imagination" (C. Wright Mills). With the help of these two perspectives, interactions between personal experience and social structure can be visualised and everyday life can be critically reflected upon.
Using an empirical research project on the experience of nature and biodiversity as an example, two focal points of the professorship will be addressed: social transformation and conversational-hermeneutic or analytical work in qualitative research. Diary writing is used as an example to illustrate how changes in individual patterns of perception and interpretation (micro-transformations) can be traced. The everyday practices of reflection lead to a changed "framing" of the social world according to Goffman and open up new perspectives on the environment, nature and social responsibility.
The combination of theoretical reflection and empirical analysis shows how sociological perspectives can contribute to understanding social transformation processes at the level of individual meaning and experience formation.
17/11/2025, 6.30 pm – 8.00 pm
Prof Dr Agnes Blome - "Who Gets What - And Why? Responsiveness, Representation and the Social Services"
Based on the classic policy-defining question of "Who gets what, when, and how", Agnes Blome takes up the question of "why" in her lecture. The causes of the unequal consideration of interests in the welfare state are often seen in a lack of representation and a lack of responsiveness. In times of increasing inequalities, perceived polarisation and identity politics, are democracies no longer able to respond to changing needs and attitudes with political measures?
In her presentation, Agnes Blome uses empirical research findings to address the role of representation and responsiveness in developments in social and family policy. Using the example of childcare, she shows the significance of the concepts for analysing social services and discusses implications for the social professions.
