Thomas Lemke

Principal Investigator

Thomas Lemke studied Political Science, Sociology and Law in Frankfurt am Main, Southampton and Paris. He is Professor of Sociology with a focus on “Biotechnology, Nature and Society” at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and Honorary Professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. His research interests include social and political theory, studies of governmentality, new materialisms, science and technology studies. Lemke has published extensively on the social implications of the life sciences and contributed to the theoretical debates on governmentality and biopolitics. He has received national and international research grants for his work on genetic discrimination, the use of DNA analysis in immigration policies, personalized medicine and cryotechnologies.

Main publications

Lemke, T.  & Rüppel, J. (2019): Social dimensions of preimplantation genetic diagnosis: a literature review. New Genetics and Society, 38 (1), 80–112.

Lemke, T. (2019). Foucault’s Analysis of Modern Governmentality. A Critique of Political Reason, translated by Erik Butler, London and New York: Verso.

Bauer, S., Heinemann, T., & Lemke, T. (eds.) (2017). Science and Technology Studies. Klassische Positionen und aktuelle Perspektiven. Berlin: Suhrkamp.

Dionisius, S., Larsen, L. T., & Lemke, T. (eds.) (2015). Mapping Reproduction. Special Issue of Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory 16 (3).

Lemke, T. & Liebsch, K. (eds.) (2015). Die Regierung der Gene. Diskriminierung und Verantwortung im Kontext genetischen Wissens, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.

Heinemann, T., Helén, I., Lemke, T., Naue, U., & Weiss, M. G. (eds.) (2015). Suspect Families. DNA Analysis, Family Reunification and Immigration Policies, Farnham: Ashgate.

Folkers, A., & Lemke, T. (eds.) (2014). Biopolitik. Ein Reader, Berlin: Suhrkamp.

Lemke, T. (2013). Die Natur in der Soziologie. Gesellschaftliche Voraussetzungen und Folgen biotechnologischen Wissens, Frankfurt am Main/New York: Campus.

Lemke, T. (2013). Perspectives on Genetic Discrimination, New York/London: Routledge.

Lemke, T. (2007, 2013). Biopolitik zur Einführung, Hamburg: Junius Verlag.

Find more information on Goethe University’s website ↗.

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