6.10. - Vortrag an der Uni Tübingen

Am 6.10.2025 hält Andrea Ploder einen Vortrag zum Thema "Situating Liminality – On the Theoretical, Epistemological, and Didactic Power of Thinking In-Between" auf der internationalen Konferenz "Situating Transitions: New Horizons in Research of Life Course Transitions" an der Uni Tübingen.

Abstract: In this paper, I explore the theoretical, epistemological, and didactic potential of liminality. I introduce it as a concept from early 20th century ritual theory that travelled through numerous disciplines ever since. I argue that contemporary social theories (like practice or discourse theories) are good for analyzing routine, but struggle with theorizing crisis. In this light, the motive of liminality becomes a vital complement for analyzing change and instability – both theoretically and empirically: It allows to focus on the affective, creative, and disruptive experience of in-between-states, no matter if they are temporal, spatial, or connected to identities. Combined with the concept of communitas (spontaneous groups that sometimes form in liminal periods or spaces), it allows us to analyze the political and epistemic power of disruption – both individually and collective, the political agency of the in-between, epistemically powerful moments in social research, and collective knowledge creation in academic classrooms.