Assoz.-Prof.in Dr.in Silvia Rief
Institut für Soziologie - Universität Innsbruck
Universitätsstrasse 15, A-6020 Innsbruck
Raum w 2.10
Tel: +43 512 507 73415
Email: Silvia.Rief@uibk.ac.at
Silvia Rief is an associate professor specializing in interpretative sociology and cultural sociology. Her research interests encompass the intersections of consumption sociology, economic sociology, technology sociology, as well as cultural sociology and the history of social sciences and social theory.
After completing her studies in history and German studies at the universities of Salzburg, Berlin, and Vienna, she earned her Ph.D. in sociology from Goldsmiths College at the University of London. Her doctoral work focused on social stratification processes and experience-based consumption within club culture scenes in London. In 2016, she obtained her habilitation at the University of Innsbruck, focusing on societal processes of aestheticization. Silvia Rief has been a fellow of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in the UK. She has also served as a visiting lecturer at institutions such as the London School of Economics, Goldsmiths College, the University of Kent (2003-2004), and the Open University (2002-2012). Between 2017 and 2019, she conducted a two-year research stay at Harvard University as a Joseph A. Schumpeter Fellow and Botstiber Fellow.
Her research work has been published in various academic journals, including Sociology Compass, Journal of Cultural Economy, European Journal of Social Theory, and New Political Economy. In her current research, Silvia Rief explores sociotechnical systems and infrastructures of everyday provisioning, particularly within the context of drinking water infrastructure (in the RESIST research project). She also engages in historical and contemporary social science debates concerning societal knowledge, social calculation, and planning.
2016
Habilitation, University of Innsbruck (24.06.2016). Awarded: Venia docendi for Sociology.
1998-2003
Doctoral Studies in Sociology, University of London, Goldsmiths College, Department of Sociology / Centre for Urban and Community Research. Awarded Degree: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, 30.04.2003).
1996-1998
Postgraduate Course in Historical Anthropology, University of Vienna, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and Training.
1990-1996
Studies in History and German Studies at the Universities of Salzburg, Berlin (Erasmus-programme) and Vienna. Awarded Degree: Magistra of Philosophy (with distinction, 17.12.1996.
2018-2019
Visiting Scholar, Harvard University, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.
2017-2018
Schumpeter Professorship, Harvard University, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.
2016- to date
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Innsbruck.
2013-2016
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Innsbruck.
2004-2013
Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Innsbruck.
2002-2012
Associate Lecturer for Social Sciences, Open University, UK; part-time position.
2003-2004
Guest Lecturer in Sociology: London School of Economics and Political Science; Goldsmiths College, University of London; School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research at the University of Kent, Canterbury.
2018-2019
Fellowship in Austrian-American Studies, Dietrich W. Botstiber Foundation, USA.
2017-2018
Joseph A. Schumpeter Research Fellowship, Schumpeter Society, Austria.
2004
Research grant of the University of Linz, Austria.
2001-2003
Doctoral grant of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
2000
Junior Research Fellowship of the International Research Centre for Cultural Studies, Vienna (awarded, but not consumed).
1998-2001
ESRC award for PhD-studies (Economic and Social Research Council, UK).
1998-2000
Postgraduate scholarship of the Ministry of Science, Austria for PhD-studies.
1998
Doctoral studentship of the European University Institute, Florence (awarded, but not consumed).
1996
Academic Prize of the Arbeiterkammer Oberösterreich for Diploma-Thesis.
Research Projects
2024
Research proposal (Co-applicant) (under review): Community advancement in renewable energy. Funding body: Austrian Science Fund (FWF). Co-applicants: Natalia Magnani (University of Trento), Jessica Balest (EURAC Research, Bozen).
2023
Research proposal (Co-applicant) (submitted): Water management in Austria under climate change and urbanization: preparing for the future (Water4Future). Funding body: Austrian Climate Research Panel. Lead applicant: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Sitzenfrei, Department of Infrastructure, UIBK.
2022-2023
Research project (Co-applicant): Digitales Pandemie- und Krisenmanagement in der Trinkwasserversorgung (KIRAS). Funding body: Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). Lead applicant: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Sitzenfrei, Department of Infrastructure, UIBK. Total funding: approx. € 422.000,-; Department of sociology: ca. € 58.000,- Role: Co-applicant and project leader for sociological research part.
2014
Research proposal SOCIALWORLDS (Consumption and Grammars of Worth in Social Worlds) submitted to the ERC-Consolidator Grant Programme.
2013
Research proposal RE_CONSUME (Reconfigurations of Consumer Society) submitted to the ERC-Consolidator Grant Programme.
2012
Research proposal Reconfigurations of Consumer Society submitted to the START programme of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).
2008-2009
Research project Integriert geplante hocheffiziente Energie- und Gesellschaftssysteme für nachhaltige Lebensformen der Zukunft (INTENSYS). Funding body: Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). Lead applicant: Prof. Michael Flach, School of Technical Sciences, University of Innsbruck Total funding: € 573,000; Sociological part of the project: € 50,700. Role: Co-applicant and project leader for sociological research part.
Research networks, working groups & coordination
2022-2023
Submission and approval of proposal for an Incoming BritInn-Fellowship at the University of Innsbruck: Invitation of Prof. John O’Neill, Professor of Political Economy, University of Manchester. Research cooperation: “Neurath, Polanyi, Planning and Ecology”. Organization of several guest lectures at the University of Innsbruck.
2017-2023
Member of the Research Cluster Comparative Inequality and Inclusion, Chair: Prof. Michèle Lamont, Weatherhead Center, Harvard University. Former Affiliate since 2020. Participation in the Culture & Social Analysis Workshop, Department of Sociology, Harvard University.
2017-2019
Research project at Harvard: Consumption and the Democratic Ethos. An Exploration in Political and Economic Thought. 2018-2019: Continuation and special focus on: Political Philosophy, Economic Theory and Society: Karl Polanyi’s ‘Real Utopia’ Reconsidered.
2012-2017
Coordination of the research group Socio-material Orders and Conduct of Life, Department of Sociology, University of Innsbruck.
2012
Participation in the Austrian network for interdisciplinary research on sustainable societies, organized by the Austrian Institute for Sustainable Development. http://oin.at/
2010-2012
Interdisciplinary research group Auto/Biography – De/Reconstructions (part of the research platform Gender: Identities – Discourses – Transformations), University of Innsbruck.
2010-2020
Member of the interdisciplinary research platform Organizations and Society, University of Innsbruck.
2006-2009
Coordination of the research group Cities, Regions & Cultures part of the research area on Governance and Civil Society, University of Innsbruck.
Recent and upcoming publications
(submitted) Rief, Silvia: Socialist calculation debate. In: Maurer, Andrea (ed): Encyclopedia on Economic Sociology. Edward Elgar Publishing.
(in preparation) Ludwig, G., Rief, S., Sperk, V., Tschuggnall, J. (ed.): Gender and Digitalization. Innsbruck Gender Lectures 2022/2023.
(forthcoming) Rief, Silvia, Scott, Alan: A tale of two sociologies: Social research and the sociology of knowledge in Central Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. In: Collyer, Fran (ed) Research Handbook for the Sociology of Knowledge. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Rahul Satish, Martin Oberascher, Monica Ender, Thomas Lampalzer, Silvia Rief, Robert Sitzenfrei (2024): The socio-technical short-term implications of drinking water hording on supply reliability. AQUA - Water Infrastructure, Ecosystems and Society. DOI-Link
Rief, Silvia (2023): From ‘socialist accounting’ to the ‘livelihood of man’. The Viennese and the Columbia Polanyi. Journal of Austrian-American Studies 7 (2): 213-246. DOI-Link
Rief, Silvia (2023): Karl Polanyi’s ‘socialist accounting’ and ‘overview’ in the age of data analytics. New Political Economy 28 (2): 284-298. DOI-Link
Rief, Silvia (2022): Betriebsführung als Kriegsführung gegen den Feind. KZ-Zwangsarbeit in der Produktionsverlagerung der Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG im KZ Gusen und der Linzer Volksgerichtsprozess gegen die ehemaligen Betriebsleiter. coMMents 1: 123-154. DOI-Link
Scott, Alan and Rief, Silvia (2021): Reactionaries of the lectern. Universalism, anti-empiricism, and corporatism in Austrian (and German) social theory. European Journal of Social Theory 24 (2): 285-305. DOI-Link
Rief, Silvia (2021): Consumerism. In: Ritzer, G., Rojek, C. (eds): Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. 2nd edition. DOI-Link
See also: ORCID
Recent conference presentations, talks and panels:
- Rief, S. (& Scott, Alan): A Tale of Two Sociologies: Empiricism versus ‘Metaphysics’ in Social Research and the Early Sociology of Knowledge. Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Section History of Sociology and Social Thought. Montréal, 9.-13. Aug. 2024.
- Rief, S. (& Lampalzer, Thomas): Konfliktkonstellationen und Konflikttypen in der Infrastrukturierung von Trinkwasser in Österreich. Infrastrukturtransformationen angesichts multipler Krisen. Tagung des DGS-Arbeitskreises „Soziologie der Nachhaltigkeit“ (SONA) und der DGS-Sektion Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitssoziologie, Universität Stuttgart, 6.-7. Juni 2024.
- Rief, Silvia (& Lampalzer, Thomas): Wasser unter Druck: Gesellschaftliche Problemlösung zwischen Störung, Verwerfung und Krise. Forum Anthropozän. Heiligenblut, Haus der Steinböcke, 13.-15.6.2024.
- Ender, Monica & Rief, Silvia, Lampalzer, Thomas, Sitzenfrei, Robert, Oberascher, Martin, Satish, Rahul (2023): Digitalisation in Drinking Water Supply. International Digitalisation Security Forum, IDSF 2023, (De-)Centralisation of Digital Infrastructures, Wien, 19.-21. Sept. 2023.
- Rief, S. (& Ender, Monica, Lampalzer, Thomas): How households, municipalities and water providers respond to disruptions and temporary scarcities of water provision – case examples from Austria. SCORAI-ERSCP-WUR Conference:Transforming consumption-production systems toward just and sustainable futures, Wageningen University, 5.-8. Juli 2023.
- Panel organizer: Sociotechnical assemblages and practices of crisis planning and preparation: Imaginaries of infrastructure breakdown and its governance. For: IX Italia International Conference: Interesting Worlds to Come. Science & Technology Studies facing more-than-human challenges, Bologna 28-30 June 2023.
- Rief, S. (& Sitzenfrei, Robert, Oberascher Martin, Ender, Monica, Satish, Rahul): Digitalisierung der Trinkwasserinfrastruktur. Tagung: Infrastrukturen der Zukunft: Wie kann Technikfolgenabschätzung anstehende Transformationen begleiten? Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Institut für Technikfolgenabschätzung, Wien, 5.-6. Juni 2023.
- Rief, S. (with Alan Scott): Method as politics: The case of holism vs. empiricism in early 20th century Vienna. Annual Meeting of the European Society for the History of the Human Sciences, Sigmund-Freud Privat-Universität Berlin, 2.9.2022.
- Co-organizer of Innsbruck Gender Lectures 2022/2023: Gender & Digitalisierung (with Gundula Ludwig, Julia Tschuggnall, Verena Sperk)
I am teaching in the following programmes:
BA Sociology:
- VO Geschlechterforschung (1 SWS, WS 2007/08, SS 2008–2016, SS 2020)
- VO Lebenswelt und Lebensformen I (2 SWS, SS 2009–2016, SS 2020–)
- PS Lebenswelt und Lebensformen I (1 SWS, SS 2009–2014, SS 2017, SS 2020–)
- VO Lebenswelt und Lebensformen II (2 SWS, WS 2009/10–2016/17, WS 2020/21)
- SE Lebenswelt und Lebensformen II (2 SWS, WS 2009/10–2016/17, WS 2020/21)
- SE Markt, Staat, soziale Institutionen II (2 SWS, SS 2008)
- SE bachelorarbeit (0,5 SWS, WS 2014/15, SS 2015, 1 SWS SS 2016, 2017)
- SE Methoden der Sozialwissenschaften, Vertiefung (2 SWS, WS 2016/17)
- VU Konsumsoziologie: Einführung und Überblick (2 SWS, WS 2021/22)
- VU Aktuelle konsumsoziologische Forschungsthemen (2 SWS, WS 2021/22)
MA Sociology
- SE Handlungstheorie (2 SWS, SS 2020, SS 2021)
- SE Kultur und Gesellschaft (2 SWS, SS 2022-)
- VO Kultur und Gesellschaft (2 SWS, SS 2023-)
- SE Begleitseminar Masterarbeit (2 SWS, WS 2023/24)
PhD Sociology
- SE PhD-Seminar (2 SWS, SS 2017, SS 2024)
MA Gender, Culture and Social Change
- SE Geschlechterverhältnisse in Migrationsgesellschaften (2 SWS, WS 2016/17, WS 2019/20)
- SE Reproduktion und Wandel sozialer Ungleichheit (2 SWS, WS 2020/21, WS 2021/22, WS 2023/24, WS 2024/25)
- VO Reproduktion und Wandel sozialer Ungleichheit (1 SWS, WS 2021/22, WS 2023/24, WS 2024/25)
- SE Begleitseminar (Master-Thesis, 2 SWS, WS 2020/21, WS 2024/25)