Franziska Söll

"Church and Diversity." An Empirical Study of the Discourse on Diversity in the Protestant Regional Church in Württemberg (working title)

As part of this doctoral project, sociological research methods will be used to examine the discourse on the topic of “diversity” as it has recently manifested itself in the Evangelical Regional Church in Württemberg. The term “diversity” is not defined conclusively in advance, so as not to prematurely overlook the breadth of the field’s “understanding of diversity.” Furthermore, “diversity” is not viewed as a multitude of given human characteristics, but rather, drawing on practice-theoretical considerations, as a social action carried out by actors in the discourse and one that can be examined as a process of human differentiation (see Hirschauer 2021). 

Particular attention will be paid to potential theological and biblical lines of argument and to the question of how and for what purposes these are invoked. Drawing on contributions from reflexive diversity research (see Bührmann 2020), both the researchers’ own work and the potential theoretical foundations of discourse participants will be critically analyzed. In addition, the study will examine the extent to which current structural organizational dynamics influence the discourse (the church as an organization, drawing on Luhmann 1972).

The aim of this study is to better understand current discourses on diversity within the church and, where appropriate, to provide points of reference that lead to a deeper discourse, followed by further action.

Research questions:

1)    How is diversity—or which dimensions of diversity—"perceived" or "created" by whom, and in what ways? What goals are being pursued in this process?

2)    How do which actors frame their arguments theologically? What understanding of diversity underlies these arguments? What implications does this theological reasoning have for how diversity is "addressed" or "discussed"?

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding this dissertation topic, please feel free to contact me at franziska.soellspam prevention@student.uni-tuebingen.de . Thank you.