Carolin Amlinger

Dr. Carolin Amlinger is a researcher at the University of Basel's Department of German Linguistics and Literature, directing the SNSF Ambizione Grant "Reading: Taste and Social Boundaries". She studied philosophy, German studies, and sociology at the University of Trier, later earning her doctorate at the Technical University of Darmstadt and the Institute for Social Research Frankfurt am Main with the award-winning thesis "Writing: A Sociology of Literary Work".

Her research centers on Literary Sociology and Social Theory, particularly focusing on the intersection of taste, social boundaries, and cultural struggles. She co-directs the Forum Literary Sociology and has contributed to debates on conspiracy theories and the post-factual age. Her 2023 monograph "Infringed Freedom: Aspects of Libertarian Authoritarianism" (co-authored with Oliver Nachtwey) was shortlisted for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize.

• Research interests: Literary Sociology, Social Theory, Post-Factual Age, Cultural Studies, Conspiracy Theories, Political Sociology
• Key projects: SNSF Ambizione Grant "Reading: Taste and Social Boundaries", co-director of Forum Literary Sociology, visiting fellow at CRC 1472 "Transformations of the Popular" (University of Siegen, 2022/23)
• Scientific awards:
  • 2022 Dissertation Prize (Friends of TU Darmstadt)
  • 2022 DGS Labor and Industrial Sociology Prize
  • 2023 Young Thinker Award (Sociology category)
• Recent publications (2024–2025): Focus on literary sociology, libertarian authoritarianism, bureaucratic reform, and social dimensions in text production