“With the onset of catastrophes, […] social routines that were previously strenuously decelerated start to change.” In this quote from the book Krasser sozialer Wandel (1994), sociologist Lars Clausen (1935–2010) names two central focal points of his work: catastrophes and their social dynamics. With more than one hundred publications, Clausen’s works lend a specific humanist spirit to multidimensional societal analyses. His field of occupation was diverse: on the one hand, sociologies of societal transformation, consumer culture, and catastrophes; on the other, large-scale editorial projects on classics, interventions in university politics, and episodic forays into the sociology of literature.
Our editorial project thematically charts this diversity by offering an anthology of selections that will make Clausen’s work available to a wider public – beyond the disciplinary boundaries of sociology. In times of global emergencies shaped by climate change, migration, and war, our project constitutes a significant contribution to the establishment of crisis research.
Born in 1935, Clausen received his PhD in 1963, studying with Helmut Schelsky. After doing field work in Zambia (1964/65) and holding positions in Münster, Dortmund, Bielefeld, and The Hague, he became a professor in Kiel in 1970. He remained there for more than three decades, active as a researcher, teacher, and academic organizer. In the late 1980s, he founded the Disaster Research Unit (KFS), which is today part of the Freie Universität Berlin. The editorial project thus opens access to Clausen’s complex work while also contributing to the history of German sociology since the 1960s.
Contact: Alexander Wierzock