Pure Grundmann

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Reiner Grundmann (born September 29, 1955 at Freudenstadt ) is a German sociologist and professor at the University of Nottingham . His books and publications on Marxist positions on environmental issues, on transnational environmental policy and also on the role of expertise and experts in politics have generated worldwide interest. Grundmann has published new writings by Werner Sombart in the English-speaking world. In the controversy about global warming, he is one of the authors of the Hartwell paper , which calls for a reorientation of climate policy after 2009.

life and work

Grundmann graduated from the Schelztor-Gymnasium in Esslingen and studied at the Free University of Berlin . He completed his doctorate in 1989 at the European University Institute in Florence . In his habilitation, which he completed with Peter Weingart at Bielefeld University , he compared the transnational environmental policies on the ozone hole with that on climate change. Grundmann worked at the Berlin Science Center , the University of Bremen and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Society in Cologne. He has lived and worked in Great Britain since 1997, first at Aston University and since 2012 at the University of Nottingham.

His doctoral thesis, published in 1991, dealt with the Marxist view of environmental issues and what should be applied to the Marxist approaches to current problems. To the surprise of contemporaries and Marxist thinkers such as Ted Benton , Grundmann saw Marx's concept of the mastery of nature as still powerful. The work is received up to the present day and is of current interest in China and South Korea, among others.

Together with Nico Stehr , he made Werner Sombart's writings accessible in the English-speaking area and worked on sustainability in urban space, on the cross-border public and the future of the automobile. His monographs on the role of experts and expertise in public space also became known. He is one of the authors of the Hartwell paper on the global warming controversy .

STS research topics

Grundmann contributed to the Science, Technology and Society Studies ( STS ) with some books and studies. STS deals with the relationship between scientific experts, technologies and politics and society. He identifies himself with Roger A. Pielke juniors model of the honest broker (Honest Broker) and has published with Pielke like Hans von Storch 2011 suggestions and experience reports on its practical implementation in the case of climate change on a regional level.

Like other STS specialists, he rejects the so-called linear model of a direct connection between research and political action (according to the motto, the more secure the state of science, the better the political regulation of a problem). On the contrary, in the case of forest dieback, tobacco regulation such as genetic food or the ozone hole, cultural, economic and political preferences are more important than the current state of scientific knowledge. In the case of climate change, Grundmann also emphasizes the failure of the linear model, a scientific consensus is not automatically translated into politics. He does not see research as small networks of individual researchers as important actors. But science is able to give subjects in political disputes a subjective framework for interpretation . He rated Naomi Oreske's bestseller Merchants of Doubt as scientistic: Neither industrial interests nor a scientific consensus would have enabled or prevented the successful solution of the ozone problem. In 2015, Grundmann concluded from current projects that criticism from the STS environment had already led governments to align the management of risk assessments more closely with public expectations.

Experts and power of knowledge

In experts, Grundmann and Stehr see less the specialist knowledge of scientists than their ability to mediate between knowledge production and knowledge application as a central competence. Reviews highlighted the innovative nature of the research approach.

The volume The Power of Knowledge compiles three case studies on the role of scientific knowledge in modern times. Grundmann and Stehr compare Keynesianism , the eugenics movement and the way we deal with climate change . They contrast Keynes' success in politics and society with the obvious political failure of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has a much larger participation of entire research groups . He draws a parallel between the strong belief in the power or meaningfulness of science-based politics in climate change and in the eugenic movement. The successful regulation of the ozone problem was owed to efficient transnational networks of researchers who were successfully active both in presenting the problem (the connection between CFCs and damage to the ozone layer) and in formulating and communicating workable solutions. In this context, NGOs appeared more like free riders. With regard to the discussion of climate change, he attests a long dominant role of the natural sciences, which would have linked relatively soft scientific findings with hard political objectives. For historical reasons, sociology has dealt little with environmental problems.

Grundmann still sees Karl Marx 's idea of ​​a dialectic of nature and society, such as the social-scientific actor-network theory, as a suitable basis for a sociology of environmental issues.

Media public

In connection with the Yugoslav Wars, Grundmann conducted a comparative study of leading media in Germany, France and Great Britain and postulated the existence of a European public that was still nationally fragmented. The result was confirmed in 2006 in a meta-study based on 17 similar studies. A European public is only just emerging, corresponding research is still little available and coordinated, but of great interest. Such studies have since become more systematic, particularly on issues affecting Europe as a whole, such as genetic food and BSE.

Grundmann sees the increasingly cross-border synchronization of the media public as an important prerequisite for a future European identity that is more effective than corresponding approaches in education or in the legal system. He is now applying similar approaches to comparing the public debate to the topic of climate change. Country-specific differences are still relevant there, for example when dealing with climate change differently in the USA and Germany.

Works (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ STS: STS Priority Group Weblink. Retrieved August 29, 2014 .
  2. ^ Reiner Grundmann - The University of Nottingham. nottingham.ac.uk, accessed May 9, 2015 .
  3. ^ New Left Review - Ted Benton: Ecology, Socialism and the Mastery of Nature: A Reply to Reiner Grundmann. newleftreview.org, pp. 62-64 , accessed May 9, 2015 .
  4. ^ Jae-Yong Chung, Richard J. Kirkby, The Political Economy of Development and Environment in Korea, A new framework for environmental analysis. Routledge, 2005, p. 10
  5. ↑ Lixin Han: 'Realization of Purpose' and 'Domination of Nature' What is 'Domination of Nature' . In: Q. Huan (Ed.): Eco-socialism as Politics: Rebuilding the Basis of Our Modern Civilization . Springer Science + Business Media, 2010, p. 18ff. doi : 10.1007 / 978-90-481-3745-9_2
  6. ↑ 知识 搜索. search.cnki.com.cn, accessed May 11, 2015 .
  7. ↑ 国外 社会 科学 杂志 - 2010 年 06 期 - 中国 知网 Marx defended anthropocentrism - On Reiner Grundmann's Ecological Marxist Theory CNKI entry about a 国外 社会 科学 (Social Sciences abroad journal) 2010 06. mall.cnki.net, accessed on 11. May 2015 .
  8. ^ Book Review: Sombart, Economic Life in the Modern Age. (No longer available online.) Cjsonline.ca, archived from the original on May 12, 2015 ; accessed on May 9, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cjsonline.ca
  9. ^ Leverhulme Project: Sustaining Urban Habitats - an interdisciplinary approach Program Grant 2014–2019. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 18, 2015 ; accessed on May 14, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nottingham.ac.uk
  10. ^ Walter Rösch: Reiner Grundmann: Transnational environmental policy to protect the ozone layer. USA and Germany in comparison. Review. pw-portal.de, accessed on May 9, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Reiner Grundmann (Ed.): Communication and technical infrastructure: on rails, roads, sand and pearls . (= Berlin Science Center for Social Research: Papers. 93,501). Berlin 1993, urn : nbn: de: 0168-ssoar-30922
  12. ^ Mark B. Brown: Review of Roger S. Pielke, Jr., The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics . In: Minerva . No. 4 , 2008, p. 485-489 , doi : 10.1007 / s11024-008-9106-y .
  13. ^ Marc Brown: Review of Knowledge and Democracy: A 21st Century Perspective, edited by Nico Stehr . In: Contemporary Sociology . No. 5 , 2009, p. 452-453 .
  14. ↑ H. von Storch, I. Meinke, N. Stehr, B. Ratter, W. Krauß, R. Pielke, R. Grundmann, M. Reckermann, R. Weisse: Regional Climate Services illustrated with experiences from Northern Europe . (PDF) In: Journal for Environmental Policy and Environmental Law . 1, 2010, pp. 1-15
  15. ^ HM Collins, Robert Evans: The Third Wave of Science Studies Studies of Expertise and Experience . In: Social Studies of Science . tape 32 , no. 2 , January 2002, p. 235-296 , doi : 10.1177 / 0306312702032002003 .
  16. ↑ Reiner Grundmann: Ozone and Climate: Scientific consensus and leadership . In: Science, Technology, and Human Values . No. 1, 2005, pp. 73-101
  17. ↑ Judith A. Layzer: Book Review Essay: Science, Politics and International Environmental Policy . In: Global Environmental Politics . tape 2 , no. 3 , August 1, 2002, ISSN  1526-3800 , p. 118-123 , doi : 10.1162 / 152638002320310554 .
  18. ↑ a b Debunking skeptical propaganda . In: BioSocieties . tape 8 , no. 3 , September 2013, ISSN  1745-8552 , p. 370–374 , doi : 10.1057 / biosoc.2013.15 ( palgrave-journals.com [accessed May 18, 2015]).
  19. ^ Nathan Young: Book Review / Compte rendu: Nico Stehr and Reiner Grundmann. Experts: The Know-ledge and Power of Expertise. Key ideas. 148 pp. $ 110.00 hardcover . In: Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers Canadiens de Sociologie 36 (3) . Routledge, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-415-60803-9 .
  20. ↑ Reiner Grundmann, Nico Stehr :: Expert knowledge. The culture and power of experts, advisors and advisors. In: Pearl Divers . Retrieved May 9, 2015 .
  21. ^ Stehr, Grundmann: The Power of Scientific Knowledge. From Research to Public Policy. Cambridge . Cambridge University Press, 2012, ISBN 978-1-107-02272-0 .
  22. ↑ a b Reiner Grundmann: The sociological tradition and the natural environment . In: Negotiations of the 28th Congress of the German Society for Sociology in Dresden 1996 . Stefan Hradil (ed.); German Society for Sociology (DGS) (Hrsg.): Difference and integration: the future of modern societies. , 1997.
  23. ↑ Where is the sociology of risk? Who is afraid of F. Nietzsche? Reply to Klaus-Peter Japp , in: ZfS, vol. 28, issue 4 (1999)
  24. ^ Reiner Grundmann, Dennis Smith, Sue Wright: La guerre des Balkans: élites nationales et discours transnationaux dans la presse française, allemande et britannique . In: Questions de communication . No. 1 , March 1, 2002, ISSN  1633-5961 , doi : 10.4000 / questionsdecommunication.6487 (French, revues.org [accessed on May 9, 2015]).
  25. ^ A b Marcel Machill, Markus Beiler, Corinna Fischer: Europe-Topics in Europe's Media The Debate about the European Public Sphere: A Meta-Analysis of Media Content Analyzes . In: European Journal of Communication . tape 21 , no. 1 , January 2006, ISSN  0267-3231 , p. 57-88 , doi : 10.1177 / 0267323106060989 ( sagepub.com [accessed May 10, 2015]).
  26. ↑ Christoph Bärenreuter, Cornelia Brüll, Monika Mokre, Karin Wahl-Jorgensen: An Overview of Research on the European Public Sphere . 2008 ( repec.org [accessed May 10, 2015]).
  27. ^ Reiner Grundmann: The European public sphere and the deficit of democracy . In: The Sociological Review . 48, 2000, p. 125, doi: 10.1111 / j.1467-954X.2000.tb03509.x .
  28. ^ Ozone and Climate Scientific Consensus and Leadership . In: Science, Technology & Human Values . tape 31 , no. 1 , January 2006, ISSN  0162-2439 , p. 73-101 , doi : 10.1177 / 0162243905280024 ( sagepub.com [accessed May 13, 2015]).
  29. ↑ Disputed climate science in the media: Do countries matter? In: Public Understanding of Science . tape 23 , no. 2 , February 1, 2014, ISSN  0963-6625 , p. 220-235 , doi : 10.1177 / 0963662512467732 , PMID 23825269 .
personal data
SURNAME Grundmann, Reiner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sociologist and professor at the University of Nottingham
DATE OF BIRTH September 29, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH at Freudenstadt