The Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse: Foundations, Concepts and Tools for a Research Programme

After completing his PhD in 1997 at the Technical University of Munich (a comparative study on waste debates in Germany and France) and later his professorial thesis (Habilitation) at the University of Augsburg on the ＂Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse＂, Reiner Keller is now Chair of Sociology at the University of Augsburg. His work is primarily focused on sociology of knowledge and Foucauldian traditions of discourse research, mostly on risk discourse issues. During the 2000s, he was a member of the Munich Research Center of Reflexive Modernisation (directed by Ulrich Beck). Since the late 1990s Reiner Keller has written extensively on discourse theory, discourse analysis and methodologies of research, the interpretative paradigm, Foucault etc. Keller has published several monographs (empirical work. textbooks and others) and edited a few volumes and handbooks on discourse theory and research (considered state of the art in the German-speaking research landscape). Considered as the leading German sociologist in discourse research, he is co-editor of the Journal for Discourse Research and editor of two book series on discourse research (by Springer VS, Wiesbaden). Reiner Keller is a member of several sociological associations, and Chair of the Section on Sociology of Knowledge of the German Sociological Association (DGS). His publications include one book in English (Sage Methods Books) as well as articles in English, French, and Spanish.