Relationale Sozialtheorie und die Materialität des Sozialen 'Kontaktmedien' als Vermittlungsinstanz zwischen Infrastruktur und Lebenswelt

Relational social theory can contribute the contemporary debate on materialities, by providing an understanding of the stratifications and structures they afford in contemporary societies. However, relationality must be linked to materiality more clearly. In the paper, shortcomings of the new materialisms in sociology such as actor network theory will be discussed prior to presenting the alternative frame of reference of relational social theory: the interweaving of infrastructure and lifeworld. On the backdrop of this theoretical framework, a concept of “contact media” will be proposed to grasp the relation between infrastructure and lifeworld analytically. In the discussion, I specify the value of this proposition for social theory and sketch a research field it opens up.