Dr. René Gründer
Scientific Career
- 2001-2005: Studied sociology, historical anthropology and philosophy at the University of Freiburg
- 2010: Received his Ph.D. in sociology from the Institute of Sociology, University of Freiburg. Academic supervisors: Dr. Michael Schetsche and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Eßbach
- Since winter term 2009: Academic collaborator at the Department of Sociology at the University of Education in Freiburg
Fields of work
- Sociology of Religion
- Sociology of Knowledge
- Field Studies
- Computer-based methods in qualitative social research
Research interests
- Ethnography of European alternative religions
- Ritual dynamics in alternative religious groups
- Emergence, passing on and transformation of forms of collective knowledge in new-religious movements
- Interaction effects of aesthetics, ideology and religion (with a focus on youth cultures such as Gothic, Neofolk and Industrial-Music)
Research projects at the IGPP
Field research on "The Social Construction of the 'Germanic' in Contemporary Heathenism" from 2006 to 2009
Assistance in Dr. Gerhard Mayer's research project "The Magician and his world(s)" completed in 2008
2009: Assistance in the research project: Modes of reality construction in magic and alternative religious groups (together with G. Mayer and M. Schetsche)
Publications
Monographs
Gründer, René (2010): Blótgemeinschaften. Eine Religionsethnografie des 'germanischen Neuheidentums', Grenzüberschreitungen Bd. 9. Würzburg: Ergon. [zgl. Univ. Diss. Freiburg 2009] [Blót-communities – A religious ethnography of "germanic neopaganism"]
Gründer, Renè, Schetsche, Michael & Schmied-Knittel, Ina (Hrsg.) (2009): Der andere Glaube. Europäische Alternativreligionen zwischen heidnischer Spiritualität und christlicher Leitkultur (= Band 8 der Reihe Grenzüberschreitungen). Würzburg: Ergon. [The other faith. Alternative religions in Europe between pagan spirituality and christian ‘Leitkultur’.]
Gründer, René (2008): Germanisches (Neu-)Heidentum in Deutschland: Entstehung, Symbolsystem und Struktur einer alternativreligiösen Szene, Perilog Bd. 2, Berlin: Logos. [Germanic (Neo-)Paganism in Germany: Development, symbolic system and structure of an alternative religious field]
Gründer, René: Identität – Gemeinschaft – Naturverbundenheit. Symbolische Strukturen ethnokultureller Alternativreligion. Unveröffentlichte Magisterarbeit. Freiburg 2005. [Identity, Community, Living in close touch with nature. Symbolic structures of ethnocultural alternative religion]
Articles
Mayer, Gerhard und Gründer, René. (2011). The Importance of Extraordinary Experiences for Adopting Heterodox Beliefs or an Alternative Religious Worldview. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 75.1(902), 14-26.
Mayer, Gerhard und Gründer, René (2010). Coming Home or Drifting Away - Magical Practice in the 21th Century. Ways of Adopting Heterodox Beliefs and Religious World Views. Journal of Contemporary Religion, Volume 25 (3), pp. 395-418.
Gründer, René (2010): Blutgnostische Heilslehren im alternativreligiösen Spektrum der
Gegenwart. In: Groß, D.; Knust, C. (Hg.): Blut – Die Kraft des ganz besonderen Saftes in
Medizin, Literatur, Geschichte und Kultur. Kassel: University Press. pp. 229-252.
[Gnosis of the Blood as soteriology: Investigations
on the meaning of blood in the alternative Religions of Neopaganism]
Gründer, René (2009): Runengeheimnisse. Zur Rezeption esoterischen Runen-Wissens im germanischen Neuheidentum Deutschlands. In: Aries Vol. 9, N2, Leiden: Brill. [Secrets of the Runes. On the reception of esoteric rune-lore in Germanic paganism in Germany]
Gründer, René (2008): Asatru in Deutschland. Strömungen einer alternativreligiösen Bewegung. In: Gründer, R., Schetsche, M. & Schmied-Knittel, I. (Hrsg.) Der andere Glaube. Europäische Alternativreligionen zwischen heidnischer Spiritualität und christlicher Leitkultur, Grenzüberschreitungen Bd. 8, Würzburg: Ergon. [Asatru in Germany. Currents of an alternative religious movement.]
