Soziologie und Geschlechterforschung in entsicherten Verhältnissen — Plädoyer für eine praxeologische Öffnung

Starting point of the article are the upheavals in post-Fordist societies. The author argues that the sometimes paradoxical social dynamics of these radical changes produce situations of social uncertainty. This is a great challenge for the analytic abilities of sociology and gender studies which are both strongly influenced by the thought patterns of ?organized modernity“. On the (empirical) example of a praxeological sociology of gender, the author tries to show what gender studies and sociology can contribute mutually to an opening of their own terms and categories.     

Arbeitsmarktflexibilisierung und wachsende Niedriglohnbeschäftigung in Österreich

Western societies have experienced an increasing flexibilization and deregulation of their labour markets in the last decades. These developments led to an expansion of non-standard work as well as low-paid employment. Nevertheless, there has been little systematic research on flexibilization and low-paid employment in Austria. Against this background, we discuss the growth of low-wages in Austria and analyse which social groups are especially affected by lowpaid work, using data from EU-SILC as well as ECHP for the years 1996–2010. While we find that those with better qualification tend to be better protected against low-pay risks, our results underline that employees in personal services and hospitality industry as well as non-standard workers are increasingly exposed to low-pay risks in the last 15 years.     

Politisierte Aufsichtsräte? Über die Entwicklung personeller Verflechtungen von Wirtschaft und Politik in Österreich (1989–2011)

Party affiliations of managers form the basis of social networks that are not only positioned between the mostly autonomous systems of politics and business, but are able to undermine the functional logics of these social systems. In the eighties Austrian business was dominated by the state to such an extent that political parties could vote their men of confidence into the boards of large stated-owned companies. This article quantifies the evolution of personal connections between business and politics in Austria (1983–2011) and explains changing patterns by pointing out shifts of power between the state and business. The focus of attention here is on multiple directors in supervisory boards of Austria’s big business. The study shows that businessmen have largely displaced the statesmen of industry who used to mediate conflicts between the state and business within a corporatist setting. “Proporz”, however, remains widespread and a change of government still leads to new constellations of political representation in supervisory boards of large companies. Political capital has thus not lost completely its value for top managers.     

Macht Kultur glücklich? Überlegungen und Befunde zum Verhältnis von kultureller Partizipation und Lebenszufriedenheit

The article focuses on the relationship between life satisfaction and participation in “high culture” activities (attendance of opera, theater, classical concerts, and museums). The empirical basis is made up by four mail surveys of the adult population in three German cities. It is shown that life satisfaction is correlated with cultural participation and this also holds when the social background of the respondent—sex, age and education—is taken into consideration. However, when anomie and social contacts are brought into the analysis, the relationship diminishes. Life satisfaction is not result of the aesthetic experience that is tied up with cultural participation, but at best a result of the social involvement linked to the respective life style.     

Zu aktivierenden Gefühlspraktiken und -semantiken von MitarbeiterInnen deutscher Arbeitsämter

The paper tries to fill a gap in the existing sociological literature on emotions by investigating how public employment agents actually deal with their clients emotionally under a regime of activation. The results are based on interviews and non-participant observations in German employment agencies. It is argued that there are two crucial forms of emotional practices in the interaction of agents with their unemployed clients: first, emotional evaluations of the situation and the present client, and second, empathy with the client. Furthermore, the empathy of staff members changes in the younger generations of agents from political to individualized ways of solidarity. Finally, the paper will show that the changing emotional practices are interconnected with changes of the welfare state and policies of activation, but also with general cultural changes.     

Videoüberwachung von Demonstrationen und die Definitionsmacht der Polizei. Zwischen Objektivitätsfiktion und selektiver Sanktionierung

The paper examines the use of video surveillance in the context of protest policing, drawing on group discussions and expert interviews with the riot police as well as ethnographic fieldwork. The use of video surveillance is legitimised by the police through a promise of objectivity and stringent compliance to the law. The author analyses the use of video surveillance as a contingent process of actively constructing evidence. It consists of a series of decisions in three phases: starting with the determination of the potential to use surveillance to the police oriented application, and finally, the follow up phase, focusing on the developments of results and prosecution. The variety of courses of action to make use of surveillance right up to manipulation of results is considered to be an expression of sociological discretion, in which the police definitional power rests. Especially, the involved technology allows for existing contingencies apparent in every substep to become invisible through material objectifications and abstractions. In this process, the law proves to be only one motive for agency among others. The idea of the police being determined by law becomes visible as a necessary fiction.     

Erwerbszentrierte Lebensführung in der Wiener Kreativwirtschaft zwischen Kunstschaffen und Dienstleistung

This paper presents empirical research on employment in Vienna’s creative industries, with a special focus on self-employment and creative or even artistic work practices. Based on more than 50 in-depth interviews with those employed, ideal types on occupational behaviour and self-images are introduced. Workers that represent patterns of “artistic creation” are described in more detail. Altogether, work oriented lifestyles in creative industries refer to very heterogeneous ways to combine work and life.     

Kooperation unter Konkurrenten? Regionale Kulturmuster und soziale Praktiken betriebsübergreifender Personalwirtschaft

During the recent financial and economic crisis, trade unions and employers’ associations have increasingly concluded collective agreements on so-called “collegial temporary work” that enables flexible deployment of employees, especially for small and medium sized enterprises. Empirical results show large differences in the application of those collective agreements: While the possibilities of the agreements were sometimes actively used in some regions, companies in other regions avoided implementation – despite their potential to cope with important challenges of economic crises and skill shortages. The paper selects a structuration theory perspective to analyze the reasons for the differences in the practice of this human resource management strategy by comparing two German regions (Braunschweig and the Ruhr area). The differences in the practices can be traced back to regional cultural patterns, interests of key actors, and the degree of involvement during the implementation period.     

Integrationspotenziale des Internets für türkische Jugendliche in Wien am Beispiel von Online-Spielen und digitalen Freundschaftsnetzwerken

Based on a cohort of young Austrians of Turkish descent, this paper links the debate on the integration of the second generation (or the lack thereof) with the controversial discourse about the potential usefulness and risks of new media and technologies, specifically the Internet. Various studies have concluded either that the new media and technologies are positive integrative aspects of the society or have devastating impacts on different groups. On the one hand, the Internet allows young people to discover new experiences and gain additional often unorthodox knowledge; on the other hand, observers have warned about the segregating effects of new technologies. A ?digital divide“ has been opened between privileged users and the underprivileged masses, according to these more cautious voices. This divide has caused social deprivation and disintegration amongst the most vulnerable groups, in particular, older people, economically insecure groups and immigrants. Thus, various media life-styles establish a continuum between a media and information elite on the one end and the entertainment under-class on the other. Semi structured interviews with young Turks in Vienna show the positive and negative effects of playing Online Role Playing Games on the Internet in opposition to so-called Social Network Sites such as Netlog.     

Personal Well-Being and Family Quality of Life of Early Adolescents in Hong Kong: Do Economic Disadvantage and Time Matter?

Differences in personal well-being and family quality of life in Chinese adolescents with and without economic disadvantage as well as the related developmental trends were examined in a longitudinal study. Over three consecutive years, Chinese junior secondary school students responded to validated measures of positive youth development, risk behaviors and perceived family functioning. Consistent with our hypotheses, results showed that poor adolescents had poorer positive youth development and perceived family functioning than did non-poor adolescents. Although there was no difference between the poor and non-poor groups on substance abuse, significant interaction effect of poverty and time on substance abuse was observed. While there was a general drop in positive youth development and perceived family functioning over the years, adolescent risk behaviors gradually increased during the junior secondary school years in Hong Kong.     

Bowling Alone in Taiwan? Political Trust and Civic Participation of Taiwanese and Their Appraisal of Liberal Democracy and Personal Wellbeing

Social Indicators Research - Based on a nationwide survey dataset collected by Taiwan’s Executive Yuan (2017) (N?=?2737) and adopting structural equation modelling with...