Social problems such as violence, drug use, excessive media consumption, behavioral issues, bullying, or radicalization are generally viewed as parenting issues among children and adolescents and are referred to educational institutions. One of the tasks of education is to address violations of social norms and counter them through social and educational interventions. To what extent, then, can education be regarded as a central agent of social control? And how exactly does education function as an institution for problem-solving and social control?
The conference is dedicated to the relationship between education and social control and focuses on a practice-theoretical perspective that, among other things, can reveal how social control is actually enacted in social and educational contexts and how unexpected consequences and constellations may arise in the process. Together with selected researchers in the field, we will discuss key questions, methodological challenges, and related research perspectives.
Everything at a Glance
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Event Dates
June 25, 2026 & June 26, 2026 -
Event Location
University of Siegen
Building NA, Senate Hall
(Room: AR-NA 016)
Adolf-Reichwein-Straße Campus -
Event Format
Conference
Further Information
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Speakers
Karin Amos, Georg Breidenstein, Bernd Dollinger, Stefan Hirschauer, Nadia Kutscher, Heinz Messmer, Christian Meyer, Franka Schäfer, Nina Thieme, Anne Waldschmidt -
Organizers
Prof. Dr. Bernd Dollinger
Center for Interdisciplinary Crime Studies (CiCS)
Research Context: KoPraks
Program | Information | Registration
| Thursday, June 25, 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Starting at 1:30 p.m. | Arrival & Coffee |
| 2:00–2:15 p.m. | Introduction |
| 2:15–3:00 | Stefan Hirschauer: “Un/doing differences” as a research heuristic |
| 3:00–3:45 | Anne Waldschmidt: Dis/ability as a dispositif. Practices of social control in the context of non-/disability viewed through a dispositif-analytic lens |
| 3:45–4:15 | Coffee break |
| 4:15–5:00 | Franka Schäfer: Educational Events as Forms of Social Control? Methodological Reflections on Social Control in an Educational Context from the Perspective of Practice Theories Grounded in the Concept of the Event |
| 5:00–5:45 | Bernd Dollinger: Social/Educational Control as a Practice of Differentiation |
| 7:30 | Dinner at the Brasserie, Unteres Schloss 1, 57072 Siegen |
| Friday, June 26, 2026 | |
|---|---|
| 8:30–9:00 | Arrival & Coffee |
| 9:00–9:45 | Christian Meyer: From Norms to Practice: Social Control as a Subject of the Interpretive Paradigm in Sociology |
| 9:45–10:30 | Nadia Kutscher: Algorithms, Datafication, and AI as Means of Social Control in Welfare State Contexts |
| 10:30–11:00 | Coffee break |
| 11:00–11:45 | Georg Breidenstein: School asa “Disciplinary Institution”? A Plea for Recognizing the Internal Logic of Teaching as a Social Practice |
| 11:45–12:30 | Nina Thieme: Categorization and Control in the Context of Social Work. An Attempt to Systematically Define Their Relationship |
| 12:30–1:30 | Lunch break | Cafeteria |
| 1:30–2:15 | Heinz Messmer: Practices of Establishing Institutional Certainties in the Tension Between Resistance and Client Commitments |
| 2:15–3:00 | Karin Amos: The “Troubled Teen Industry” Revisited: Forms and Prevalence |
| 3:00–3:30 p.m. | Coffee & Closing Remarks |
Conference Venue
University of Siegen
Adolf-Reichwein-Straße Campus
Room: AR-NA 016 (Senate Hall)
Free parking is available in the immediate vicinity; see the map.
We have reserved a block of rooms for you at several hotels. Please book early and use the following code: Conference on Practices of Social Control.
Please note that booking, payment, and any cancellations must be handled directly with the hotel. We cannot guarantee room availability or cover the costs. However, we recommend using the following reserved room allocations (Adapt Hotel until June 11, Concorde Hotel until June 21, 2026). We would like to point out that some of these are special rates that apply only when booking directly with the hotel, not when booking through other portals! Therefore, it is best to use the email address provided.
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Adapt Apartments Siegen |
Concorde Hotel Siegen
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Here you’ll find more accommodation options in the Siegen area.
Contact
Dr. Anna Merle Baldsiefen
School II, Education
Institute for Social Pedagogy
Adolf-Reichwein-Straße 2 a
57076 Siegen
Participation in the conference “Practices of Social Control in Social and Educational Contexts” is free of charge, but we ask that you register.
Registration deadline: June 10, 2026
Thank you for your interest. The conference is already fully booked!
