Hijacked - A Critical Treatment of the Public Rhetoric of Good and Bad Religion - Leslie Dorrough Smith
16. The Campus as a ‘Safe Space’? A Sociology of Knowledge Perspective on the New Student Protests
Hijacked - A Critical Treatment of the Public Rhetoric of Good and Bad Religion - Leslie Dorrough Smith
David Kaldewey [+]
University of Bonn
David Kaldewey is professor for science studies and science policy at the University of Bonn. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Bielefeld University. His research interests lie in the fields of science studies and in sociological theory. Recent publications deal with the changing relationship of science and politics, particularly with the contemporary pluralization of science policy discourses and how they transform the identity work of scholars, scientists and policy makers.
Description
This essay provides elements of a sociology of knowledge perspective on the contemporary student protests examined in Hermann and Priester’ essay. The author argues that a new ideal of the university as a ‘safe space’ becomes apparent in the protest discourse. In pointing to some research desiderata, the essay addresses the theoretical foundations of the protesters and suggests that what is needed is a Historical Encyclopaedia dealing with the new vocabularies and the traveling of the concepts employed by students.