Alex Demirović

Biography

Alex Demirović (*1952) is a social scientist whose work has been highly influenced by Critical Theory, Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault and Nicos Poulantzas. Starting in 1971 he studied philosophy, sociology and German in Frankfurt am Main. He received his doctorate in philosophy under Alfred Schmidt with an epistemological and discourse analytical study of Marxist aesthetics. Following his studies he has worked at various research institutes, and between 1990 and 2001 at the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt am Main. In 1987 Demirović received a post-graduate fellowship from the German Research Foundation (DFG). Using discourse analysis and theories of hegemony, he examined the intellectual practices of older figures from Critical Theory in science, politics, and culture in post-war Germany, publishing his post-doctoral thesis in political science and political sociology in 1992. Since 1990 Demirović has held numerous substitute and guest professorships at German as well as non-German universities. From 2007 to 2012 he taught at the Technical University in Berlin. In 2013/14 he held the guest professorship for critical social theory at the University of Frankfurt am Main. Currently he is a senior fellow at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Berlin. He has published widely on critical theories of society, the state, and democracy.