Nils Julian Meiß

Hi, my name is Nils and I’m a doctoral fellow in the Research Training Group. In my project, I’m concerned with the conceptual history of the ‘imaginary’ and its significant position for social analysis. I’m specifically interested in the works of Henri Lefebvre and Cornelius Castoriadis and their particular take on the imaginary in the entanglement of subject, space and society. In connecting the two authors, I want to show common analytical configurations, strategic claims and methodological considerations in investigating social practice. I will focus on political mechanisms of the imaginary in regard to knowledge (possibilities of reflexive action), collectivity (the conflict of shared visions) and time (references to the future). Empirically, I take a look at imaginaries of urban futures as prism for social change.

I studied Human Geography and Sociology at Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany and graduated as Master of Arts. During my studies, I worked for ANNALINDE gGmbH and the Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde (IfL) Leipzig, Germany among others. I completed my Erasmus semester at the International School for Spatial Policy Studies in Groningen, The Netherlands. I wrote my master thesis on “Urban Villages” in Shenzhen, Peoples Republic of China supported by the DAAD research stay grant. I’ve already worked in different academic positions at RWTH Aachen University and University of Cologne.

Please contact me via: nils.julian.meiss@uni-koeln.de