Normal Interruptions of Service. Structure and Change of Public Infrastructures (A04)

• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 262513311

The way of responding to breakdowns has an impact on how Large Technical Systems (LTS) evolve. To what extent does this account for inertial forces that stand in the way of a modal shift – from road to rail? To answer this question, the subproject reconstructs how daily newspapers in Germany report on mobility crises between 1990 and 2023. From a comparative analysis of how controversies fade from media attention, it develops a complementary format of reporting that highlights the multiplici-ty of mobility crises. While climate and current geo-political issues prompt the return of LTS to the public spotlight, a praxeological re-orientation of LTS research is still needed.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1187: Media of Cooperation
• Applicant Institution: Universität Siegen
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Jörg Potthast