Despite its fundamental geophysical, geopolitical, cultural, and structural significance, the sea remains, to this day, a sociological unknown. The sociology of the sea challenges the ontological terracentrism of sociological analysis and explores socio-marine interdependencies between sea and society with a focus on heterogeneous socio-marine collaborations that transcend value-based orientations. To this end, the internationally established fields of Marine Social Sciences and Blue Humanities are incorporated, while interdisciplinary collaboration with the marine natural and engineering sciences is intensified. The starting point is a sociologically grounded integration of interdisciplinary marine research and pragmatist studies on democratic cohesion in a European comparative context. Scientific reflection in the Anthropocene thus entails a collaboration between the marine natural sciences, social sciences, and engineering disciplines that is both fundamental and solution-oriented, in order to collaboratively resolve conflicting goals between marine and coastal protection on the one hand and resource-oriented marine use on the other.

Selected Publications

Bogusz, T. 2028. Soziologie des Meeres. Zur Untersuchung gesellschaftlicher Meeresverhältnisse. Berlin: Suhrkamp.

Bogusz, T. 2026. Soziologie des Meeres. Zur Untersuchung gesellschaftlicher Meeresverhältnisse im Anthropozän. Zeitschrift für Soziologie 4/26 (accepted for publication).

New edited Book series starting in 2026 (co-edited with N. Pelke, U. Heine, A. Levain & R. Ziriwardane-de Zoysa ): Marine Social Sciences und Blue Humanities | Marine Social Sciences and Blue Humanities, Springer Nature.

Paper on socio-marine cohesion in the Anthropocene: Bogusz, T. 2025. Valuating Marine Knowledge: Heterogeneous Collaborations at the Concarneau Marine Station. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, HPLS 47, 37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40656-025-00683-5.

Future Forum Ocean, German Alliance for Sea Research / Deutsche Allianz für Meeresforschung (DAM): Thesis Paper on Marine Interdisciplinarity published, 3.10.2024. German version here.

Network and Activities

With Nane Pelke and Kurt Rachlitz: The Anthropocene ocean – Navigating towards a Sociology of the Sea, Ad-hoc-group at the Congress of the German Society for Sociology 28.09.-02.10.2026 at Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany.

Radioshow (in German): Mensch und Meer. Warum wir eine Soziologie des Meeres brauchen. Deutschlandfunk Kultur “Essay und Diskurs”, 29.3.2024.

Webpage Marine Social and Cultural Sciences, German Alliance for Sea Research / Deutsche Allianz Meeresforschung (DAM).

Webpage Future Ocean Forum (DAM).

Webpage Marine Science and Technology Studies (Marine Stsing e.V.).