Die Esser-Luhmann-Kontroverse als unbefriedigender Streit um die Grundlagen der Soziologie

The controversy about the foundations of Sociology between Hartmut Esser und exponents of the sociologic systems theory hasn't yet been satisfactorily settled. A basic reason for this point is that there is no systematic analysis from a distant comparative point of view, of what in the conceptions of Esser and Luhmann is meant by ?social“ as their central topic. The consequence is a debate in which both their social theories are discussed in a limited and superficial way. To avoid this kind of limitations and to come to a fruitful dispute, the theories have to be discussed comparatively starting with Esser's ?Model of Sociological Explanation“ and with Luhmann's concept of ?social system“. Starting with such a systematic comparison, not only deficits of the controversy can be detected, but essential problems and errors of the approaches become visible too. From such a starting point something else can be developed: that the controversial positions of their conceptualizing, of what they understand to be the central topic of Sociology, is much less different than is supposed to be. The proposed method can also be used to validate Esser's claim to have integrated in his conception the various theories of Sociology.     

Umweltgerechtigkeit als Forschungsparadigma der Soziologie

This paper discusses Environmental Justice to be a probably new area of research for environmental sociology. In order to reveal the complex structure of Environmental Justice related discourses and to promote more research on that topic, an analytical framework is elaborated, based on a distinction between the US-American experiences and recent European debates. Environmental Justice is understood here as a mutual process of negotiating conflicts of interests rather than a fixed state. Several “decision spots” will be carved out, which have to be considered in environmental-political regulations which are challenged by perceptions of social justice. The analytical framework will finally be illustrated by the empirical example of the new airport for Berlin, “Berlin-Brandenburg International”.     

Die Forschungsleistung der Soziologie an zehn deutschen Universitäten

Der Artikel stellt eine Methodik zur Bildung von bibliometrischen Ma?zahlen vor, mit denen sich die Forschungsleistung von Autoren, Institutionen, F?chern und F?chergruppen darstellen l?sst. Basierend auf den im SSCI erfassten wissenschaftlichen Artikeln, den Impaktfaktoren der Zeitschriften, in denen sie erschienen sind, sowie der H?ufigkeit, mit der die Artikel innerhalb der Zeitschriften des SSCI zitiert werden, beschreiben absolute und relative Publikations- und Zitationsma?e anschlie?end die Publikationsleistung der soziologischen Institute im Vergleich zu den anderen gro?en wirtschafts- und sozial-wissenschaftlichen F?chern Politologie, Betriebswirtschaftslehre und Volkswirtschaftslehre. An insgesamt zehn deutschen Hochschulen liegt die Soziologie bei der absoluten Zahl der Ver?ffentlichungen und Zitationen zwischen 1993 und 2002 weit hinter der Volkswirtschaftslehre, holt unter Berücksichtigung des eingesetzten Personals jedoch auf. Eine zweite Analyse vergleicht die Forschungsleistung der Institute für Soziologie an den zehn Standorten. Bei allen absoluten Ma?zahlen liegt die Universit?t Mannheim vorn. Unter Berücksichtigung der eingesetzten Mittel zeigt sich, dass die Soziologen der LMU München und der Universit?t zu K?ln qualitativ und quantitativ am produktivsten forschen und auch kleine Institute unter Effizienzgesichtspunkten wettbewerbsf?hig sind.     

Soziologie der Aufmerksamkeit

The aim of this article is to demonstrate the theoretical relevance of the concept of “attention” for understanding the social. Against the backdrop of neurological, psychological and philosophical insights into this subject matter, and drawing on both classical as well as current theories on this phenomenon, the article will examine the term’s respective meanings and develop genuinely sociological questions in order to underline the heuristic value of research on this topic. Furthermore, it will be argued that the (post-)modern subject oscillates between being at liberty to bestow his attention at will and being forced to do so, and the social processes accounting for attention gradually becoming an ever more scarce resource will be identified. The field of science is then drawn upon as an example to illustrate the fight for attention, followed by a plea for the comprehensive treatment of attention as a key sociological issue.     

Die Soziologie und die Gesellschaft

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Perspektiven der Politischen Soziologie

On the basis of a concept of politics as social action and conflict, which focuses on the institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation of power, the article argues for a political sociology which is interdisciplinary, methodology pluralistic, ‘eurodecentric’, and which focused on seven areas of research: the invention of non-state forms of power and their relations to the state, war, representation and legitimacy, the relationships between religion and politics, globalisation, and the rise of ‘subpolitics’, NGOs and the local.     

Die Außenwirkung der Innenwirkung — die Soziologie schreitet aus dem Jammertal

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Working-Class Authoritarianism und Die Wahl Rechtspopulistischer Parteien

May the often stated over-representation of workers in the electorates of right-wing populist parties in Western Europe be explained by the so-called “working-class authoritarianism”-thesis by S.M. Lipset? Following this thesis, there are specific socialisation and deprivation experiences in the social situation of the working-class, favouring the development of authoritarian traits and making class-members more susceptible to authoritarian parties. On the basis of the European Social Survey of 2002 the thesis is tested empirically by using the Goldthorpe class scheme and two measures of authoritarianism. It is shown that workers are more inclined to vote for right-wing populist parties and have higher levels of authoritarianism. Furthermore, persons with high levels of authoritarianism are more likely to vote for such parties. The authors conclude that disproportionately high shares of votes for right-wing populist parties from the working-class are, indeed, mediated by authoritarianism. In addition to this, class affiliation has an independent effect on voting behaviour. Finally, it is found that authoritarianism has an even stronger impact on the vote for right-wing populist parties in the service class and the class of routine non-manual workers, though being less frequent there.