Dr. Köhrsen, Jens

Jens Koehrsen (Köhrsen) is an assistant professor at the Centre for Religion, Economy and Politics(ZRWP). He has studied sociology, philosophy and evangelical theology (Mag.), social sciences (Dipl.) and economics (Dipl.) at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, University of Salamanca and the University of Buenos Aires. Fascinated by the relationship between social inequality and religion, Jens Koehrsen conducted his PhD research on the religious tastes and styles of middle-class Pentecostals in Argentina. His PhD project was located at the CIRRuS. In 2013, he received his PhD in sociology from the University of Bielefeld and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) Towards the end of his PhD, he started to work in the area of sociology of innovation at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, conducting a collaborative research project on local energy transition processes in Germany and France. In 2016, his research interest in the societal transformations towards sustainability drove him to the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford where he was an honorary research associate until 2018. In the winter term 2017/18, he was a guest professor for sociology at the University of Münster. Currently, Jens Koehrsen is undertaking sociological research about climate change and the relationship between religion and sustainable development. He is supervising the SNSF-project "Urban Green Religions". More information can be found on his homepage at University of Basel.

Selection of Publications

Koehrsen, Jens (2019) “From the “What” and “How” to the “Where”: Distinction as a Matter of Place”,in:Cultural Sociology 13 (1), p. 76–92;https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975518819669

 

Koehrsen, Jens (2018) “Religious Tastes and Styles as Markers of Class Belonging: A Bourdieuian Perspective on Pentecostalism in South America”, in:Sociology52 (6), p. 1237–1253;https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038517722288

 

Koehrsen, Jens (2018) “Exogenous shocks, social skill, and power: Urban energy transitions as social fields“, in:Energy Policy 117, p. 307–315;https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.03.035

 

Koehrsen, Jens (2018) “Religious Agency in Sustainability Transitions: Between Experimentation, Upscaling, and Regime Support“, in:Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions27, p. 4-15,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2017.09.003.

 

Koehrsen, Jens (2017) “When Sects become Middle Class: Impression Management among Middle Class Pentecostals in Argentina”, in:Sociology of Religion78 (3), p. 318–339;https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srx030

 

Koehrsen, Jens(2016)Middle Class Pentecostalism in Argentina: Inappropriate Spirits.Leiden/Boston: Brill;https://brill.com/view/title/31866

 

Mattes, Jannika; Huber, Andreas; Koehrsen, Jens (2015) “Energy transitions in small-scale regions – what we can learn from a regional innovation systems perspective”, in:Energy Policy78, p. 255-264;https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2014.12.011

 

Koehrsen, Jens(2015) “Does Religion Promote Environmental Sustainability? – Exploring the Role of Religion in Local Energy Transitions”, in:Social Compass62 (3), p. 296-310;https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768615587808

 

Koehrsen, Jens(2012) “How religious is the public sphere? – A critical stance on the debate about public religion and post-secularity”, in:Acta Sociologica55 (3), p. 273-288;https://doi.org/10.1177/0001699312445809

 

 

Research Grants

• “Urban Green Religions: Religion in Low Carbon Transitions in two Western European Cities“; Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
• “The Innovation Dynamics of Prosperity Gospel”; German Research Foundation (DFG), project located at the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics" at the University of Muenster.
• “Co-Visioning the Future: The Future Perspectives of Sustainable Grassroots Initiatives”, Mercator Foundation.
• “Synergies from an Integrated Renewable Energy Supply and Storage System in the Upper Rhine Region: An Interdisciplinary Analysis” (SIRES_URR), EUCOR.
• “Religious Tastes and Styles in Argentinean Pentecostalism”; German National Academic Foundation.