Media Practices of Contradicting: New DFG Research Unit investigates the role of contradicting in democratic societies, with a subproject at the IfK
(22 September 2026) The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding a new Research Unit investigating the role of contradicting in democratic societies and the conditions under which it enables or constrains participation. The Research Unit “Media Practices of Contradicting in Networked Publics” (FOR 6017) comprises seven subprojects. As part of the Research Unit, Prof Dr Sigrid Kannengießer will lead the subproject “Media Practices of Contradicting in Platform Capitalism: Discursive Critique and Alternative Infrastructures” at the Department of Communication.
The possibility of contradicting is an essential element of democratic societies. Practices of contradicting allow previously unheard voices to be heard and authorities to be challenged. Such practices are by no means a new phenomenon, but the emergence of online media has made the possibilities and forms of contradicting more diverse, more visible and faster. The Research Unit examines different practices of contradicting. Its researchers explore who is heard in public debates, who is able to contradict and whose voices are restricted or silenced. The Research Unit brings together seven principal investigators from communication and media studies. Alongside the University of Münster, researchers from Freie Universität Berlin, the University of Tübingen, the University of Augsburg and Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF are involved. Together, they will investigate both contemporary digital and historical forms of contradicting with and through media.
Together with two research associates at the IfK, Prof Dr Sigrid Kannengießer will investigate the discursive practices through which different actors contradict platform capitalism, its underlying logics and its key actors. The project will also focus on “materially shaping media practices of contradicting”, through which individuals and collectives create digital infrastructures designed as more democratic “alternatives” to platform capitalism. One key example is the Fediverse, a network of alternative online platforms such as Mastodon, which will be co-designed using transformative methods.
The subproject will receive approximately €580,000 in funding over four years.
Contact person public relations:
Dr. Stephan Völlmicke
Telefon: +49 251 83-23006
Telefax: +49 251 83-21310 (Geschäftszimmer IfK)