Project

At the center of the research project „Disruptive Technologies: A Sociological Study on the Reconfiguration Society“ are technological innovations being developed to solve fundamental social problems. The project is led by Prof. Dr. Henning Laux and funded by the Fritz-Thyssen Foundation.

The project focuses on three case studies: The production of meat in laboratories (known also as „Clean Meat“, „Cultured Meat“ or „Cell-based Meat“), digital assistants using artifical intelligence (like Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant), as well as the conservation of female egg cells (so called Social Freezing).

In contrast to other studies, we are investigating these innovations not only from a technological or economic perspective, but within a broader social framework. That is to say, we are explicitly studying the interplay of social problems, processes of technological innovation, and general economic conditions. Furthermore, we are engaging in these issues not solely from an abstract theoretical or removed hypothetical point of view. Rather, we are focusing in our research design on already existing technologies including the main innovating actors, their motivations, as well as the concrete innovative work processes.

In doing so, we are aiming to better understand how technological innovations contribute to solving global as well as local, collective as well as individual problems, and, thus, possibly contribute to creating new social orders, for example regarding culture-nature-technology nexuses or (late) modern temporal relations.