academic bio
I am sociologist and Associate Professor at Berlin Humboldt-University currently working in the fields of cultural sociology and sociological theory. My other fields of interest include historical sociology, political sociology and participatory democracy. I hold a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute in Florence and received the “habilitation” for sociology in 2020 at Humboldt-University with a study on self-optimisation. It was published under the title “Soziologie der Selbstoptimierung” (“Sociology of Self-optimization”) by Suhrkamp in April 2021. The book combines a social theory perspective on self-optimization with an enquiry about its historical roots and provides an analysis of the ambivalences inherent in this phenomenon, which is crucial for late modern societies.
Based on the book, I started working on an empirical, comparative and transnational project on biohacking and neuro-enhancement. I am interested in the meanings and consequences of self-optimizing practices on peoples’ conduct of life and in the way they justify these practices. Moreover, the research deals with the question whether these practices articulate transnationally and globally shared ideas and self-technologies or whether they are rather rooted in specific national socio-cultural, political and economic contexts. Before working in my current field of research, I investigated innovative forms of citizen participation like randomly selected citizen juries and participatory budgeting. For further information, see my online profile at Humboldt University of Berlin. For a summary of my book, please click here. For media articles and interviews about the book, please click here. For a book review on Socialnet (in German, English summary), please click here. |
publications
Röcke, A. (2021): Soziologie der Selbstoptimierung, Berlin: Suhrkamp stw
Röcke, A. (2014): Framing Citizen Participation. Participatory Budgeting in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan
Chinese translation: A. Röcke, 公民參與的框架與擴散:法、德、英的參與式預算, Taipei: National Academy for Educational Research, 2017
Sintomer, Y. /Herzberg, C. /Röcke, A. (2008): Les budgets participatifs en Europe: des services publics au service du public? Paris: La Découvert
Translation of book into English, German, Italian, Spanish
Edited Volumes
Röcke, A./Sello, S. (2021): Lebensführung, Lebenskunst, Lebenssinn. Im Spannungsfeld von Autonomie und Heteronomie, Weinheim: Beltz Juventa
Röcke, A./Keil, M./Alleweldt, E. (2019): Soziale Ungleichheit der Lebensführung, Weinheim: Beltz Juventa
Alleweldt, E./Röcke, A./Steinbicker, J. (2016): Lebensführung heute: Klasse – Bildung – Individualität, Weinheim: Beltz Juventa
Edited Book Series
Müller, H.-P./Röcke, A.: Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft und Lebensführung, Beltz/Juventa
Journal Articles
(Selbst)Optimierung. Eine soziologische Bestandsaufnahme, Berliner Journal für Soziologie, 27 (2/2017), S. 319-335, DOI: 10.1007/s11609-017-0338-2
(with Y. Sintomer, C. Herzberg, G. Allegretti) Participatory Budgeting and its Diversity, The Municipality: Economy and Administration, 2013, 2 (5), 5-13
(with Y. Sintomer, C. Herzberg and G. Allegretti) Transnational Models of Citizen Participation: The Case of Participatory Budgeting, Journal for Public Deliberation, 8 (9), 2012, http://www.publicdeliberation.net/jpd/vol8/iss2/art9
(with Y. Sintomer and C. Herzberg) Participatory Budgeting in Europe: Potentials and Challenges, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 32 (1), 2008, 164-178, doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2008.00777.x
Représentation « miroir » et démocratie. Le tirage au sort dans les jurys citoyens berlinois, Politique et Sociétés, 25 (1), 2006, 13-30
(with Y. Sintomer) Il bilancio partecipativo dei licei del Poitou-Charentes: verso una democrazia partecipativa?, Democrazia e Diritto, 44 (4), 2006, 57-70