Marcel Sebastian

Dr. Marcel Sebastian is a Research Associate in Environmental Sociology with a focus on Transformation Research at TU Dortmund University's Faculty of Social Sciences. His research examines institutional and cultural change, particularly analyzing societal actors' roles in processes involving human-animal relations. He holds a doctorate in Sociology (summa cum laude) from the University of Hamburg and has held postdoctoral and research roles at institutions including the University of Hamburg and the European University Flensburg.

His thematic focus includes the sociology of human-animal relations, studied through historical institutionalism, environmental sociology, labor sociology, and social movement research. Empirical work centers on social conflicts in animal slaughter contexts and agricultural policy regulation. He has been a lecturer at the University of Hamburg and serves on multiple academic boards, including the Working Group Animal-Human Sociology in the German Sociological Association.

Key awards include a nomination for the German Study Award. His publications explore topics like slaughterhouse labor ethics, policy impacts on animal husbandry, and the cultural re-categorization of animals. He actively reviews for journals such as Agriculture and Human Values and Zeitschrift für Soziologie.

Professional memberships span the German Sociological Association, American Sociological Association, and interdisciplinary animal studies groups. He advises on projects like the FWF study on veterinary work stigma in slaughterhouses. His work bridges theoretical frameworks with empirical analysis of societal dynamics involving human-animal interactions.