Marek Winkel
Dr. phil.
Lecturer
Department of Social Work, Social Policy and Global Development
Rte Bonnesfontaines 11
1700 Fribourg
Lecturer
Department of Social Work, Social Policy and Global Development
Rte Bonnesfontaines 11
1700 Fribourg
Postdoc
Department of Social Work, Social Policy and Global Development
Rte Bonnesfontaines 11
1700 Fribourg
Biography
Reserach Interests
I serve as a postdoctoral lecturer and researcher at the department. My research focuses on the role of media and technology in society. I do this, on the one hand, through social-theoretical analyses. On the other hand, I also examine, on an empirical basis, the corresponding processes of social change at the level of discourses and institutions. Drawing on my background in sociology and philosophy, I adopt an integrated approach that constructively combines theoretical and empirical methods. Using qualitative methods – in particular, sociological and political discourse analysis – I examine the media’s construction of processes of change, the transformation of the functions of media and technology in society, and the associated shift in values and norms. I embed this empirical work within theoretical concepts of political sociology, in particular structuration theory, poststructuralism and psychoanalysis.
In terms of content, I am currently focusing on social change in relation to digitality and artificial intelligence, the role of the media in asylum policy, and the changing role of normativity in society as such. My teaching covers qualitative research methods, research ethics and – in line with the department’s focus – critical theories of social work.
Academic career
08/2023 – present: Postdoctoral scholar, University of Fribourg
02/2023 – 08/2023: Lecturer, University of Fribourg
02/2019 – 05/2022: Research Assistant, University of Lüneburg
Teaching
Critical Theories of Social Work
Qualitative Research Methods
Research Ethics
Research and publications
-
Publications
12 publications
Responsibility, constraint, ambiguity. Discursive legitimizations of the European asylum reform in the German and Austrian news media
Marek Winkel, Journalism (2026) | Journal article