Anne van Rießen

Anne van Rießen is a Professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Sciences at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, where she has taught social work methods since 2018. She is a leading figure in German social work, renowned for founding the specialist group 'Recipients, Use, (Non-)Use' within the German Society for Social Work and shaping national discourse on user-centered approaches.

Her academic foundation includes a diploma in social work from Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, followed by associate research in the 'Contradictions of Social Integration' doctoral program—a collaboration between University of Duisburg-Essen and multiple applied sciences institutions. This background underpins her methodological rigor in examining service-user dynamics.

Professor van Rießen's research centers on user research, social space-related interventions, and democratization processes in social work. Her work critically analyzes how structural contexts shape service utilization, emphasizing recipient agency through frameworks like 'non-use' as active resistance rather than passive disengagement.

Her publications reveal a consistent trajectory examining power dynamics between service providers and users, with recent focus on pandemic-induced disruptions. The 2020 and 2022 volumes demonstrate methodological innovation in capturing lived experiences during systemic crises, bridging theoretical social work with real-world policy challenges.

She actively contributes to the German Social Work Association (DGSA) as a member since 2017 and participates in Promotionskolleg NRW, driving collaborative doctoral training while mentoring emerging scholars through her specialist group activities.