Political ontology(ies). Varieties - Applications - Critique

The Political Sociology Section of the German Sociological Association (DGS) is organizing a conference on 26-27 February 2026 entitled Political Ontology(ies). Varieties - Applications - Critiques. The conference is dedicated to the currently increasing interest in political ontology. At the center of the event is the question of how the relationship between being and politics can be theoretically grasped and empirically investigated. The starting point is the observation that heterogeneous approaches - from actor-network theory and new materialisms to postcolonial theories and radical democratic theory - are increasingly developing ontological perspectives on social orders, their transformations and conflicts. This raises fundamental questions that are also of interest to political theory: What understanding of reality, constitution and difference underlies the different conceptualizations? What theoretical premises and epistemological consequences are associated with talk of "political ontology"? And what productive and problematic effects does it have in political-sociological research? The conference aims to open up a systematic discussion of these questions and, accordingly, also asks about social and political theoretical perspectives as well as empirical research that works with the concept of political ontology.

Both students and researchers are welcome. The conference is free of charge; all that is required is an informal registration with Dr Conrad Lluis.

Responsible unit: Macrosociology

Contact: Dr. Conrad Lluis

Further information can be found here.