
Dr. Martin Repohl
Sociologist | Postdoctoral Researcher
Sociology of Planetary Transformation
I am a sociologist specializing in sociological and social theory, materiality, the Anthropocene, and qualitative methods. My work investigates how the material world we inhabit—and continuously reshape—transforms the conditions of our relationship to the world. I approach global environmental change as a comprehensive transformation that fundamentally reconfigures the basic patterns of societal integration and the very possibility of meaningful world relations. From this perspective, sociology plays a critical role in understanding how society remains viable under conditions of profound material transformation, and what new forms of the social are required to respond adequately.
My research develops a relational framework that moves beyond established approaches such as Actor–Network Theory and New Materialisms by focusing on the differentiation and empirical identification of specific qualities and types of relations. I place these relational qualities at the very center of analyzing materiality, human–nature relations, and collaborative practices. I see my work as a contribution to the material foundation of social theory under the dynamic conditions of the Anthropocene.
My work is situated within an intercultural dialogue between Germany and Japan and is grounded in ethnographic research. I conduct in-depth case studies to capture the broad diversity of relational qualities across divers contexts—fieldwork that has also taken me to visit the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by myself.
Currently, I am conceptualizing and analyzing collaborative human–nature relations in a German–Japanese context, with a particular focus on the japanese concept of Fūdo. My aim is to bring this perspective into broader debates on planetary habitability and to initiate an intercultural dialogue on the volatile conditions of a changing world.
Current Positions
04/2026 - today
JSPS-Fellow: Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University (Japan)
Project: Fūdo and Nature Alliance – Interdisciplinary Perspectives on a Sociology of Collaborative Nature Relations in German-Japanese Dialogue
04/2026 - today
Guest Researcher: Institute of Sustainability Governance, Leuphana University Lüneburg (Germany)
10/2025 - 09/2029
Fellow: Postdoc-Network "Junges ZiF", Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), University Bielefeld (Germany)
CV & Awards
2025
Award: Young Talent Award of the Theory Section of the German Sociological Association
2024
Award: Max Weber Prize for Early Career Researchers
10/2024 - 02/2026
Project Coordinator: UNESCO-Chair for Global Understanding on Sustainability, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena
04/2019 - 06/2023
Doctoral Researcher: Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt (Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hartmut Rosa) & Environmental Science Center, University Augsburg (Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Jens Soentgen)
10/2018 - 03/2019
Pre-Doc: Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt
10/2016 - 09/2018)
Master of Arts: Social Theory, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena
10/2013 - 09/2015
Master of Arts: Politicial Sciences, University Leipzig
10/2010 - 09/2013
Bachelor of Arts: Sociology & Political Science, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena
Recent Publications
An overview of my monographs and collected volumes:

Repohl, Martin. Die Beziehungsqualität der materiellen Welt: Perspektiven einer weltbeziehungssoziologischen Analyse von Materialität, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2024. (Link) (Dissertational Project)

Repohl, Martin. Tschernobyl als Weltkatastrophe: Weltbeziehung in einer kontaminierten Welt: Ein Beitrag zur materiellen Fundierung der Resonanztheorie, Baden-Baden: Tectum, 2019. (Link)

Schuppert, Gunnar Folke & Repohl, Martin. Resilienz: Beiträge zu einem Schlüsselbegriff postmoderner Gesellschaften, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2023. (Link)