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Jana Hitziger

21335 Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, C40.313
Fon +49.4131.677-2029, jana.hitziger@leuphana.de
Research associate, Institute of Sociology and Cultural Organization

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Vita

Jana Hitziger is a social science researcher specializing in (post-)apocalyptic futures, disaster preparedness, digital platforms, and qualitative methods of social research.
Since October 2025, she has been a doctoral researcher in the “Climate Futures in Digital Cultures” research area of the university-wide “Embracing Transformation” program at Leuphana University Lüneburg, where she is also affiliated with the Center for Digital Cultures (CDC) and the Institute for Sociology and Cultural Organization (ISCO).
In her doctoral thesis, provisionally titled “Anticipatory Technologies for Darker Futures – Ethnographic Explorations of Solidarity-Based Preparedness Technologies in Germany,” she examines how disaster preparedness is evolving in the Anthropocene, focusing on the entanglement of digital technologies, ecological crises, and social practices.
She is editor of the social and cultural science journal “Behemoth – A Journal on Social Dis/Order.”
Previously, she studied social sciences and philosophy at the University of Erfurt, sociology and social research at the University of Bremen, and criminology at the University of Hamburg with a scholarship of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
She worked as a research assistant at the Humanities Centre for Advanced Studies “Futures of Sustainability,” at the Chair of Sociology of Security and Resilience at the University of Hamburg, at the Institute for Democracy and Civil Society in Jena, at the Chair of Practical Philosophy, and at the Chair of Political Theory at the University of Erfurt.

Projects

  1. Embracing Transformation: Climate Futures in Digital Cultures
    Armin Beverungen (Project manager, academic) , Jan Müggenburg (Project manager, academic) , Daniel Irrgang (Coordination) , Jana Hitziger (Project staff)
    →

    Project: Research

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Publications

Journal contributions

  1. Tech vs. Hate: Muster und Dilemmata des Deplatformings deutschsprachiger Hassakteure
    Maik Fielitz (Author) , Jana Hitziger (Author) , Karolin Schwarz (Author) , 01.01.2021 , in: Wissen schafft Demokratie, 9 , p. 196-207 , 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

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Courses

Critical Perspectives on Digital Activism
Jana Hitziger
Specific affordances of digital technologies and specific features of giant software platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google have become central to social movement organizing around the world. They have fundamentally altered the trajectories and dynamics of collective action. On the one hand they promote the rise of grassroots activism e.g., through enhanced and rapid connectivity and the possibility of providing space for marginalized voices. On the other hand, claims about “slacktivism” or “clicktivism,” terms that suggest low-effort actions requiring little commitment, raise concerns about the effectiveness and depth of digital engagement. In the context of authoritarian states, digital technologies also pose a significant risk: they can be repurposed to repress social movements and suppress grassroots mobilization. Furthermore, the platform politics of social media and their algorithmic filters complicate the relationship between digital media and collective action.

In this seminar we critically examine these developments and tensions of a digitally-mediated activism. Potential questions include: How do digital technologies alter the strategies people use to effect political change? What strategies remain unchanged in the digital age? What kinds of public formations of civic engagement do online platforms support? How do networked platforms facilitate affective processes? How is affect, understood as potential for action or inaction, built up with technological affordances and platform design? How are these publics mobilized or immobilized through their information and communication practices?

The course is divided into two parts. In the first part, students will gain foundational theoretical knowledge about core concepts such as contentious politics, collective and connective action, affective publics and platforms as political actors.
In the second, more practical part, case studies showcasing both the democratic and antidemocratic potentials of digitally mediated affective publics will be analysed and connected to the theoretical frameworks. Additionally, students will gain insights into how to gather digital data and further develop their academic writing skills.

By engaging with theoretical frameworks, historical developments, and case studies, students will gain a nuanced understanding of the transformative potential and limitations of digital media in contemporary social movements.
Next appointment:
Lectures for this semester ended.