Alexandra Rau

Alexandra Rau is a Professor for Theories and Methods of Social Work at the Evangelical University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, Department of Social Work/Social Pedagogy. She has been affiliated with Goethe University Frankfurt and European Academy of Labour, contributing to research on neoliberalism, gender, and care work.

• PhD in Sociology (2009, Goethe University Frankfurt)
• Magistra Artium in Sociology, Philosophy, and Political Science
• Diploma in Social Pedagogy (Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences)

Her research spans critical social work, gender relations, precariousness, and psychopolitics. Key projects include analyzing the therapeuticization of society, social reproduction crises, and caregiving's gendered dynamics. Recent work examines post-growth paradigms and socio-ecological transformation in social work.

Notable publications include studies on male caregiving in retirement and gender role renegotiation in precarious female-breadwinner families. Her 2010 dissertation on psychopolitics in subjectified employment remains influential.

Scientific Awards:
• WISAG Prize 2010 (Goethe University)

A former member of the DGSA Section Gender and Queer Studies in Social Work, she has led funded projects such as the Hessian Ministry-supported Giving Grandparents study and the Goethe University project on precarious families. Her lectures address neoliberal self-care, stress in performance societies, and feminist critiques of psychopolitics.