Professional orientation

Sociologist, who after studies of sociology, philosophy and German literature in Mannheim, Potsdam and Berlin earned his PhD in 2012 at the University of Konstanz. Focus on meaning-centered sociology, and cultural sociology in particular; theoretically informed and methodically controlled interpretation of social phenomena.

Research interests

Everything concerning the public sphere and mass media as "collective consciousness" (Durkheim) of modern society. Among his more specific research interests are violence, morality, modern forms of life, collective memory, hermeneutics, structuralism as well as social theory, particularly in the borderlands of philosophy and sociology. 

Personal interests

Reading big books, playing the Asian board game Go, having good conversations.

Selected publications

Books

• Giesen, Bernhard, Werner Binder, Kim-Claude Meyer and Marco Gerster (2014). Ungefähres. Mythos, Moral, Gewalt [Approximations. Myth, morality, violence]. Weilerswist: Velbrück, 288 pages.
• Binder, Werner (2013). Abu Ghraib und die Folgen. Ein Skandal als ikonische Wende im Krieg gegen den Terror [Abu Ghraib and its consequences. A scandal as iconic turn in the War on Terror]. Bielefeld: transcript, 548 pages.

Articles

• Binder, Werner (2016): “Shifting Imaginaries in the War on Terror: The Rise and Fall of the Ticking Bomb Torturer”. In: Social Imaginaries 2(1): 219-250.
  
• Binder, Werner (2011): “Les formes élémentaire d’agir performatif. Un essai de typologie sociologique” [The elementary forms of performative action. Toward a sociological typology]. In: Cahier de recherche sociologique 51: Théâtralité et société. Positions de la sociologie, pp. 75-96.

 Book chapters

• Binder, Werner (2015): “Tales of Abuse and Torture. The Narrative Framing of the Abu Ghraib Photographs”. In: Ziegler, Daniel, Marco Gerster and Steffen Krämer (eds.). Framing Excessive Violence. Discourse and Dynamics. New York; Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 197-223.
• Binder, Werner (2014): “Interpretation and Explanation in Cultural Sociology. A Three-Step Model of Interpretation and Its Empirical Application”. In: Е. Ясин (oтв. ред.).XIV Апрельская международная научная конференция по проблемам развития экономики и общества. Книгах 3. Москва: Издательский дом Высшей школы экономики. [Proceedings of the XIV April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development. Volume 3. Moscow: Higher School of Economics Publishing House], pp. 103-110.
  
• Binder, Werner (2014): „Die Robinsonade“ [The robinsonade]. In: Laux, Henning and Sina Farzin (eds.). Gründungsszenen soziologischer Theorie, Wiesbaden: VS, pp. 139-154.
• Binder, Werner (2012): “The Emergence of Iconic Depth. Secular Icons in a Comparative Perspective”. In: Jeffrey C. Alexander, Dominik Bartmanski und Bernhard Giesen (eds.): Iconic Power. Materiality and Meaning in Social Life. New York; Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 101-116.
• Binder, Werner, Tom F. Driver und Barry Stephenson (2011): “What’s at Stake in Torture?” In: Ronald Grimes, Ute Hüsken, Udo Simon and Eric Venbrux (eds.). Ritual, Media, and Conflict. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 223-253.
  
• Binder, Werner (2010). „Violence, Communication and Imagination. Pre-Modern, Totalitarian and Liberal-Democratic Torture”. In: Kirill Postoutenko (ed.). Totalitarian Communication. Hierarchies, Codes and Messages. Bielefeld: transcript, pp. 217-247.