Unterscheidung und Härtung. Bewertungs- und Notenkommunikation in Lehrerzimmer und Zeugniskonferenz

In schools humans are classified and categorized by other humans through the assessment of their actions and documents they produce there. This practice of differentiation essentially relies on contingent teacher judgements that are aggregated into marks, end-of-year reports or school graduation certificates. The article explores the formal and informal situations of teachers talking about their students and classes and making decisions about their school reports. While teachers share their judgements on pupils in informal staff-room conversations, the thereby generated knowledge does not necessarily result in social consequences. It does, though, in formal gatherings such as report conferences, where the judgements are ratified and fixated. The judgement of an individual teacher is hereby transformed into a grade given by the school. By analytically characterizing these social and numeric-administrative objectifications the article shows how judgements on pupils are kept reversible and simultaneously become solidified during the school year.     

Finanzm?rkte und ihre Sinnformen: Handlungskoordination und Signalkommunikation

The article explores theoretical arguments that help understand the specificity of financial forms of meaning as well as their dissemination beyond financial markets. It revaluates the argument, discussed in the Social Studies of Finance, that financial operations and knowledge practices are characterized by a performative logic. While this argument suggests that financial forms of meaning ought to be conceptualized as a mode of knowledge, the article proposes an alternative. Proceeding from Jürgen Habermas??s distinction between life-world and systemic rationality, it argues that financial markets rely on a distinctive mode of action coordination: actors orient their actions not at the possible motives of others but at the cumulating consequences of their action (prices). The prevalent mode of meaning in financial markets, thus, can be conceptualized as action coordination through signal communication. This mode of meaning has been institutionally and technologically fostered in the course of the twentieth century, spreading across the financial economy and beyond. As an example the article refers to current political debates about the stabilization of the Euro, which significantly evoke the idea of political signals vis-à-vis the financial markets.     

Religion und Wirtschaft. Mauss,Simiand und das Durkheim’sche Programm

Berliner Journal für Soziologie - Der Artikel zeigt auf, dass das Werk Emile Durkheims zwei Forschungsprogramme im Bereich der Wirtschaftssoziologie umfasst. Beim ersten liegt der Schwerpunkt...     

Max Weber, Norbert Elias und Michel Foucault über Macht und Subjektivierung

Innerhalb der deutschen Soziologie wurde die Arbeit Michel Foucaults bisher eher verhalten rezipiert. Immer wieder ist in der Auseinandersetzung mit seinen Texten auf zentrale theoretische Defizite und begriffliche Verengungen der Machtanalytik hingewiesen worden. Im Rahmen eines Theorievergleichs mit Max Webers Herrschaftssoziologie auf der einen und der Theorie der Zivilisation von Norbert Elias auf der anderen Seite sollen in diesem Beitrag die analytischen Stärken der ?Genealogie der Macht“ herausgearbeitet werden. Dabei wird die These vertreten, dass sich schwer wiegende Probleme der beiden Theorieansätze durch den Rekurs auf das Foucaultsche Konzept der Gouvernementalität überwinden lassen. Die Problematik der Gouvernementalität erschließt — so die weiter gehende Annahme — der soziologischen Machtforschung eine Reihe innovativer Forschungsperspektiven und öffnet sie für neue Fragestellungen.     

Opportunitätsstrukturen und Lebenschancen

The article discusses the development, meaning and theoretical context of both Robert Merton’s concept of “opportunity structure” and the concept of “life-chances” that he took up from Max Weber. In order to analyze crucial social conflicts, I argue that both concepts should follow along the lines of conflict theory. While they converge in terms of meaning, we need different theoretical strategies to make their analytical and explanatory power explicit. First, a reinterpretation of the concept of opportunity structure shows that social actors might reduce others’ access to options while realizing their own aims; second, life-chances should be put again in a Weberian perspective for two reasons. On the one hand Weber already conceptualizes them in the context of social struggles, on the other hand he shows that the mechanism of social closure helps to understand how people exclude others from life-chances by monopolizing resources.     

Leiharbeit und Privatleben: Auswirkungen einer flexiblen Beschäftigungsform auf Partnerschaft und Familie

Berliner Journal für Soziologie - Im Zuge des allgemeinen Trends zur ökonomischen Flexibilisierung ist Leiharbeit zu einer zunehmend bedeutenden Beschäftigungsform in Deutschland...     

Leiharbeit und Privatleben: Auswirkungen einer flexiblen Beschäftigungsform auf Partnerschaft und Familie

In the course of the general trend of economic flexibilization, temporary agency work (TAW) has become an increasingly important form of employment in Germany and is often associated with precariousness. Previous research has not yet regarded TAW in connection with private life. The article investigates the influence of TAW on young adults’ relationships and fertility decisions. For this purpose, 13 qualitative problem-centered interviews were conducted with German male and female temporary agency workers, aged 21–35 years. Results indicate that the characteristics of TAW are preponderantly estimated negatively, but effects on relationship quality differed according to the position in the social strata: Interviewees with higher educational degrees appraise TAW as largely beneficial to their partnerships, whereas low-skilled workers’ relationships are influenced detrimentally by a lack of recognition at the workplace and material deprivation. Both groups evaluate job insecurity, low remuneration, and geographical mobility as obstacles to parenthood.     

Der musikalische und literarische Protest in “Spelemannen” von Harry Olt und Kalju Lepik

Abstract

In his novella on German-Lithuanian relations, which is the theme of Litauische Claviere, the East German writer Johannes Bobrowski (1917–1965) attributes a proto-Marxist dialectic outlook to the Lithuanian national poet Kristijonas Donelaitis, in that Donelaitis is presented by Bobrowski as a harsh critic of the injustices of 18th century Lithuanian society seen through the prism of a class struggle. As Bobrowski was writing at a time when writers were expected to conform to Party ideology, it is of interest to revisit the official interpretation of Donelaitis work during the Soviet era.     

Ost und West, Nord und Süd: Zur räumlichen Verteilung und theoretischen Erklärung der Gewaltkriminalität in Deutschland

The research reported here follows up on the long-standing discussion concerning the regional distribution of violent crime in Germany. It focuses on assault and robbery rates reported by the official German crime statistics for the years 2005–2007 in each of the 413 communal districts (“Kreise”). The discussions commonly contrast the eastern region (till 1990 the territory of the communist ruled “German Democratic Republic”) with the northern and the southern region of the (now) western part of the “Federal Republic of Germany”. It becomes obvious, however, that crime rates vary much more within than between these regions. More than half of the overall variation can be explained by two composite measures of relative deprivation and the level of urbanization. A number of additional variables have been tested for their explanatory power, including a newly constructed measure of disintegrative individualism. It successfully identifies a specific criminogenic potential associated with certain structural elements of a developing “knowledge society” and the rapid expansion of higher education. Apart from ordinary regression analyses various techniques of spatial data analysis have also been applied.     

Duale oder schulische Berufsausbildung? Entwicklungen und Weichenstellungen in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz

In der vergleichenden politischen Ökonomie hat das Thema Ausbildung vor allem seit der “Varieties of Capitalism”‐Forschung an Popularität gewonnen. Deutschland, Österreich und die Schweiz gelten dabei als Länder, die ihre Arbeitskräfte im Rahmen einer korporatistisch gesteuerten dualen Ausbildung beruflich bilden. Unser Beitrag zeigt jedoch, dass sich die relativen Teilnehmerzahlen verschiedener Bildungsgänge im Sekundarbereich II seit Mitte der 1970er Jahre unterschiedlich entwickelt haben. In Österreich hat sich über die Zeit die staatlich gesteuerte vollzeitschulische Berufsausbildung neben der dualen Ausbildung etabliert. In Deutschland und in der Schweiz ist das duale Ausbildungssystem nach wie vor dominierend. Als ausschlaggebend für die Expansion der vollzeitschulischen Ausbildung in Österreich identifizieren wir drei zentrale Punkte: erstens die Dominanz der österreichischen Sozialdemokratie und deren informelle Zusammenarbeit mit den Christdemokraten, zweitens die Steuerung des österreichischen Bildungswesens durch den Zentralstaat und drittens die breite Unterstützung der Berufsbildungsreformen durch Arbeitgeber und Gewerkschaften. Bedeutende Weichenstellungen erfolgten in den 1970er Jahren.     

Parlament und Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit in der österreichischen Monarchie

SUMMARY

In this article Maria Sofia Corciulo discusses the dissolution of the recently elected ‘Chambre introuvable’ by Louis XVIII, following his second restoration in 1815. The king had been completely surprised by the outcome of the elections, which returned an ultra-royalist majority. This put severe pressure on the king and his ministers who were committed to moderate, conciliationist policies, in which they were supported and pressured by the representatives of the Allied powers. The Ultras found themselves in confrontation with the ministers and policies of the king. This created a paradox, in that the Ultras, who wished to reinstate features of the ancien régime, could only do so by imposing parliamentarianism on the king, and use their majority to force him to change his ministers and adopt policies that they knew he opposed. On the other hand, the king felt he could only save the liberal constitutional values, which he and the ministers considered necessary if civil war was to be avoided, by a dissolution of the Chamber, for which there was no clear constitutional justification. The article discusses whether Louis XVIII, by his dissolution, which his critics claimed was a coup d'état, in fact secured the future of liberal constitutional government in France.     

„Care“ leisten und „Care“ erhalten zwischen Individualisierung und Refamilialisierung<Superscript>1</Superscript>

In industrialized, capitalist welfare states, men could be de-familialized because they could also abandon their caring needs and obligations to women, who therefore remained bound to the family. The focus on women, and precisely on the reasons why they remained bound to the family, has increasingly highlighted that not only incomplete individualisation was at issue, but the overall issue of care. There is a need to reformulate the concept of autonomy in order to include the relationships of interdependence that develop around care giving and care receiving along the life course and to incorporate care giving and care receiving both conceptually and in practice in the structure of social rights and social citizenship themselves. The author discusses how different countries are addressing the issue of care following women’s increasing labour market participation and the ageing of the population, showing that there are contrasting trends both across and within countries.     

An den Grenzen der Demokratie – Citizenship und Flucht

Current diagnoses of the crisis of democracy mostly refer to a specific type of mass democracy as it was characteristic of the second half of the 20th century. Its political space is the nation state. The presence of refugees in receiving countries now raises the basic democratic question: How can people participate in political decisions that determine their own living conditions? Refugees, lacking citizenship status, hardly have any formal political influence. The article discusses the relationship between democracy, citizenship, and forced migration in three steps. First, it presents the core arguments of the current debates on the crisis of democracy and outlines the main characteristics of democratic welfare capitalism. Thereupon, it analyzes current transformations of citizenship with regard to forced migration. It will be shown that citizenship is differentiated in the course of transnationalization and economization processes. Finally, the paper shows that potentials for democratization become visible when refugees come into view as “activist citizens” who politicize and scandalize the discrepancies between moral and legal norms as well as the limitations of democracy.     

Arbeitnehmerfreizügigkeit und Diskriminierung auf dem deutschen Arbeitsmarkt – Europäische Politik,transnationaler Mobilitätsraum und nationales Feld

The paper deals with the interaction of horizontal and vertical European integration. It asks whether the principle of free movement of labour does not only legally but also de facto prevent discrimination of non-nationals in EU Member States. Theoretically, the analysis is framed by distinguishing three interrelated types of social fields: a supranational political field of free movement of labour, national labour market fields and an intermediary transnational space of mobility. Focusing on the German labour market and drawing on comprehensive administrative data the article shows that wage differences are to a large extend caused by differences in relevant labour market characteristics such as age or education. However, for the vast majority of EU non-nationals in Germany is also observed discrimination in payment. Strikingly, positive discrimination is more pronounced than negative discrimination. These differences are understood as hinting at the increasing importance of comparisons between national labour markets in the EU.     

Philanthropisches Handeln zu Lebzeiten und über den Tod hinaus

As the number of rich people in Germany increases, it becomes more and more relevant to ask how they spend their wealth, because among other aspects being rich can be legitimized by social commitment. For example, responsibility can be shown by financial commitment or volunteering. Academic results not only show a rising number of people that are philanthropically active but also an increase in philanthropic behavior in the last two decades. Unlike it is stated in the American literature, social commitment of wealthy people has not yet gained currency in the German literature. In addition, it is little known about inheritance to society beside family transfers after death. Based on the data of the study ??Verm?gen in Deutschland?? (ViD) (Wealth in Germany) the paper discusses these questions for the year 2008. The results reveal a considerably above-average commitment of wealthy households and people. Moreover, 41?% of all respondents plan to fund a part of their wealth for public purposes and charity.     

Die demokratische Differenz zwischen besitzindividualistischen und kommunitären Eigentumsgesellschaften

Ownership is a central institution of modern societies, underlying the latter’s differentiation into different functional spheres. The article attempts to systematically assess the consequences of this institution for the political relationship to the world as well as for the character of democratic action. It asks which type of ownership is more, and which is less conducive to the democratization of the political community. It is argued that the increasingly frequent crises of contemporary democracies that can be noticed can neither be understood nor remedied without considering the conflictual influence exerted on the political process by possessive individualist ownership societies. This is because the latter, by inducing indifference and patterns of antagonistic domination, tend to undermine the conditions for democratic interaction. As an alternative, the article outlines the contours of a communitarian ownership society based on economic ownership where ownership is understood as a relationship of caring self-efficacy – thus only allowing democracies to live up to their own ambitions.