15.12.2023
Journal article

(What remains of) criminal law in the big data surveillance society?

In order to counter a Big Data surveillance society that is to be taken seriously with something substantial in terms of criminal law, a critique of criminal law is required that neither preaches technological solutionism nor glorifies a right of intervention or a classically designed criminal law. It therefore depends on which criminal law is addressed in the key question “What remains of criminal law in a post-digital big data surveillance society?”. Less of the bright side of an idealized and essentialized liberal criminal law and criminal procedural law remains than many might like. And more remains of its dark sides than we should like.

I will develop these theses based on the individual questions of whether we are facing the end of normativity (III. below) and the beginning of the end of initial suspicion (IV. below) in the post-digital big data surveillance society. Before I come to this, the terms mentioned above need to be sharpened. In doing so, I will also emphasize my above theses and outline the structural change in formal social control, which in a big data surveillance society is neither necessarily legally constituted nor based on punishment in the traditional sense (II. below).

News from the research center

Publication
08.01.2026 | Journal article

The rural-urban divide in Europe

Riera, Pedro; Roßteutscher, Sigrid (Hrsg.) (2025): „The rural-urban divide in Europe: Assessing its impact on political attitudes and voting behavior“. In: Electoral Studies, Special Issue.

more information ›
Publication
08.01.2026 | Journal article

Gender Differences in Financial Advice

Bucher-Koenen, Tabea; Hackethal, Andreas; Koenen, Johannes; Laudenbach, Christine (2025): „Gender Differences in Financial Advice“. In: American Economic Review, 115 (12), pp. 4218–4252.

more information ›
News
11.12.2025

Jonathan White on future thinking in democracies

On the second date of the lecture series "At the crossroads? On the crisis of democracy". Political scientist White discusses views on the future of democracies. A follow-up report

more information ›
News
04.12.2025

The crisis of democratic theory from a sociological perspective

Sociologist Jenny Brichzin's lecture "Crisis of Democratic Theory? A sociological intervention" opened our lecture series "At the crossroads? On the future of democratic theory". The sociologist criticized the fact that social coexistence has so far been insufficiently addressed in democratic theory. A follow-up report

more information ›
Publication
03.12.2025 | Journal article

The Archipelago Capitalism of Citizenship-By-Investment

Džankić, Jelena; Seyfettinoglu, Mira; Shachar, Ayelet; Vink, Maarten; Baaren, Luuk van der (2025): „The Archipelago Capitalism of Citizenship-By-Investment“. In: Comparative Political Studies, OnlineFirst.

more information ›
Publication
01.12.2025

Non-Fiction Cinema in Postwar Europe

Hediger, Vinzenz (2025): „Preface: (Re)Building Europe through Cinema (Studies)”. In: Cesalkova, Lucia, et al. (eds.): Non-Fiction Cinema in Postwar Europe. Visual Culture and the Reconstruction of Public Space. Amsterdam University Press.

more information ›
Publication
21.11.2025 | Chapter

Die Möglichkeiten des Einsatzes von Multi-Party-Computation beim Datenaustausch zwischen Sicherheitsbehörden als Grundlage der Qualitätssicherung von KI-Anwendungen

Müllmann, Dirk; Spiecker gen. Döhmann, Indra (2025): „Die Möglichkeiten des Einsatzes von Multi-Party-Computation beim Datenaustausch zwischen Sicherheitsbehörden als Grundlage der Qualitätssicherung von KI-Anwendungen“. In: Honekamp, Wilfried; Kemme, Stefanie; Struck, Jens: Auswirkungen von Künstlicher Intelligenz auf die zukünftige Polizeiarbeit. Springer.

more information ›
Publication
21.11.2025 | Chapter

Die Sicherheit der Zukunft – Künstliche Intelligenz und soziale Kontrolle: Vom Predictive Policing zum Social Scoring

Singelnstein, Tobias (2025): „Die Sicherheit der Zukunft – Künstliche Intelligenz und soziale Kontrolle: Vom Predictive Policing zum Social Scoring“. In: Honekamp, Wilfried; Kemme, Stefanie; Struck, Jens: Auswirkungen von Künstlicher Intelligenz auf die zukünftige Polizeiarbeit. Springer.

more information ›
Publication
21.11.2025 | Anthology

Handbook of Leadership. Applied Business Psychology for Managers

Felfe, Jörg; Dick, Rolf van (eds.) (2025): Handbook of Leadership. Applied Business Psychology for Managers. Springer.

more information ›