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.     

Practices and Flows of Digital Photography: An Ethnographic Framework

This article develops a methodological framework for undertaking empirical studies of practices and flows, of doings and circulations, of digital tourist photography. The article outlines what might be termed a non‐representational approach to photography concerned with affordances, actor‐networks, hybridized practices and networked flows of photographs. The article falls in three parts. It begins with rethinking photography theory. Traditional dualisms between affordance and practice are challenged, and photography is conceptualized as a hybridized, embodied performance. How digital photography changes photography's traditional affordances is then discussed. The third part discusses various methods to describe how affordances of digital tourist photography are used, twisted and resisted in concrete hybridized practices. I suggest undertaking multi‐sided ethnographies with ‘busy photographers’ to craft non‐representational accounts of mobile practices of photographing and flows of photographic images across various sites and actor‐networks. In a broader sense, this article is a methodological contribution to ‘the new mobilities paradigm’.     

Fuzzy-Logik für die Soziologie

This contribution introduces fuzzy-logic as a possibly new basis for sociology. After a general introduction to the basic principles of fuzzy-logic certain advantages are presented exemplarily, particularly for the empirical research considering as example the so called “qualitative-comparative analysis” (QCA), and for the sociological theory concerning Hartmut Esser’s theory of action. In sum, the application of fuzzy-logic promises sociology a more simple modelling of more complex facts than it has been possible so far.     

Prolegomena zu einer Theorie der symbolischen Gewalt

The development of modern society calls for a substantial extension of the sociological understanding of violence. To this end, Pierre Bourdieu??s concept of ??symbolic violence?? is of crucial importance. In this article, Bourdieu??s reflections on symbolic violence scattered throughout his oeuvre are collected, qualified and knit together. In the next step, Bourdieu??s perspective will be critically compared with other relevant approaches to the sociology of power and violence in order to assess the contribution of Bourdieu??s sociology for a systematic theory of symbolic violence. Finally, it will be scrutinized to what extend Bourdieu??s approach allows for an empirical analysis of modern phenomena of domination.     

Von der imaginierten zur emotional erlebten Nation: Partizipation und Verschmelzung in der Fußballberichterstattung

Not only in a globalized world, our imagination is a space for the construction of all kinds of identity. This was shown e. g. by Anderson (Erfindung der Nation, Zur Karriere eines folgenreichen Konzepts, Frankfurt a. M., Campus, 1996) in his perspective on the nation as an imagined community. This article intends to add arguments from the sociology of emotion and ritual-theory to this mainly cognitive perspective. I will argue that rituals serve to provide an affective experience of the respective imagined community and to actualize its imagined content. In so doing, the nation gains salience compared to other constructions of collective identity. TV-coverage from the FIFA Football-World Cup in 2006 in Germany serves as an empirical example. Besides the interpretative presentation of included images of we-identity (also in discrimination against the identity of ‘the others’) the analysis focuses on showing how the formal, visual and semantic form of the examined broadcast facilitates the experience of collective effervescence by making it easier for the viewers to perceive themselves as participants in the ritual.     

Marxism underground. Latent Marxism in Austrian empirical sociology

The establishment of sociology in Austria in the twentieth century is in many ways connected with Marxism. Numerous sociologists considered themselves as Marxists, thus at least subjectively carrying on with an “underground” Marxism in their sociological work. Others spent considerable energy in distancing themselves sharply from Marxist positions and tried (especially in times of Austrofascism and National Socialism) to banish Marxism underground within the young discipline. This precarious tension continued to exist in the post-war period and shaped the establishment of sociology as an academic discipline in Austria, but remained unproductive. This thematic issue therefore raises the question of the “latency” of Marxist concepts and positions in Austrian empirical sociology and seeks to explore whether the discussion and updating of Marxist positions can stimulate reflection on the conditions of production of sociological knowledge and research.     

Soziale Klasse in der Arbeitssoziologie. Zur Relevanz eines totgesagten Begriffs

Social class as analytical term has a longstanding tradition in sociology. Starting with Karl Marx and Max Weber international class analysis has developed heterogenous theoretical and empirical approaches. The paper outlines trends in the usage of social class in industrial sociology and the sociology of work in German-speaking countries from the after-war period to the paradigmatic shift heralded by Becks individualization thesis. The displacement of social class is interpreted as manifestation of symbolic struggles over the legitimate view of social reality, which has created considerable blind spots in the analysis of social inequalities. With reference to recent international developments in class research Pierre Bourdieu’s approach is used to explore ways to connect current subject-orientated approaches with questions of social class. Focussing on the class formation of subjectivity draws attention to the development of different orientations towards work and the dealing with the exigencies of work.     

On "being a prostitute"

The book "On Being a Prostitute" (Perkins & Bennett, 1985) is a valuable contribution to the sociology of deviance and sexual ideologies. However, comprehensive as it is, the book presents certain omissions and flaws, with implications for both is empirical data and theoretical underpinnings. In focusing on male (homoerotic) prostitution, and drawing upon Bennett's (1983) "Twenty-Ten" survey (which forms the main empirical base of that aspect of the book), I argue that certain categories of male prostitutes have been excluded. These omissions, I suggest, were necessary to allow Bennett's hypothesis that most male prostitution derives from economic necessity--a recurrent economic determinism reminiscent of Havelock Ellis (1906/1936), and somewhat contrary to a broader structural approach (see Mathews, 1983).     

35 Jahre ?ZS �� Eine quantitative Bestandsaufnahme

In this paper I provide an empirically based quantitative analysis of the last 35 years of the Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie (ÖZS). I ask if the shape of articles have changed, which patterns of co-authorship can be found, and what conclusions are to be drawn regarding to a cultural change within the sociology in Austria. The basis for the empirical analysis is a dataset of all original papers published between 1976 and 2010. The investigated variables are the institutional affiliation of the authors, article length, number of authors per article, the proportion of women, percentage of non-Austrian contributions, and the topics covered. The data suggests that articles reflect the increasing professionalism and academisation of sociology in Austria. Furthermore it shows that articles in the ÖZS are increasingly written by more than one author. It turns out that there are a few people to be particularly attractive as co-authors and therefore get key positions within the publication network.     

Social class and workers’ rent, 1983–2001

Sociologists and economists continue to seek explanations for the growth of earnings inequality since the late 1970s. In this article, we draw upon the structural tradition of labor market analysis in sociology in order evaluate the conjecture that selective rent destruction is a source of the recent increase in earnings inequality. In empirical analysis of the Outgoing Rotation Groups of the Current Population Surveys from 1983 to 2001, we demonstrate that (1) the earnings of workers at the bottom of the class distribution have declined relative to the earnings of those at the top and (2) the variance of wage premia associated with employment in alternative industries has declined relatively more for those at the bottom of the class distribution. Adopting the position from both the sociology and labor economics literatures that these industry wage premia are reasonable measures of industry rents, we conclude that the results support the rent destruction conjecture and, by implication, that structural models of labor markets can explain some of the increase in earnings inequality.     

Praktiken der Grenzüberschreitung und die Grenzen des Feldparadigmas

So far, the phenomenon of the so-called avant-garde has rarely been the subject of sociological scrutiny. In order to approach the historical avant-garde in sociological terms, Pierre Bourdieu??s field concept is applied. This sheds new light on the avant-garde, which traditionally has been subject to related disciplines. However, Bourdieu??s field theory fails to capture the empirical phenomenon of the historical avant-garde sufficiently. This suggests that sociology ought to regard the principle of the avant-garde as a distinct concept.     

Gender,democracy, development,and overshoot: a cross-national analysis

The crux of sustainability concerns hinges on humanity’s overshoot of our global carrying capacity, which we currently exceed by about 50 %. Overshoot of the earth’s natural resource bases militates against our current and future prospects for sustainability. Despite the theoretical and practical impetus to examine these dynamics, there is a dearth of empirical sociological research that analyzes overshoot. The paper fills this gap by offering a structural equation model of each nation’s relative contributions to overshoot. The model tests key theorizations in the environmental sociology, development, and global political-economy literatures, and adds to them by theorizing and empirically testing ecofeminist positions that the status of women affects and is affected by environmental conditions. Findings support ecofeminist interpretations that resource degradation yields adverse impacts on women and that their representation in government bodes well for the environment. The theoretical, empirical, and policy-based conclusions and implications are treated, as well as future areas of research.     

民族地区的生态移民效应分析——以内蒙古阿拉善移民为例

以生态经济学和社会学理论为基础,运用理论思辩和质的研究方法,研究了民族地区的生态移民效应问题。通过对阿拉善孪井滩的实证研究表明,阿拉善移民取得了保护生态、反贫困、促进民族团结和经济社会发展等方面的良性效应,同时,也产生了一系列的负效应,包括生态退化、社会文明危机等。本文的研究对正在广泛的民族地区进行的生态移民有一定的启示作用。     

Kunstkonsum und Kunstsozialisation

The dependence of art consumption on the social stratum is one of the basic findings of the sociology of art. During the last decades, both the discussion of social inequality as well as differentiations within the various art fields have undergone considerable changes. These processes should effect the consumption of art. The empirical analysis of data on the profiles of visitors to art galleries and art museums shows various effects: as before the educational background determines the consumption of art, however there is also a certain hierarchy of the locations in which art is consumed. Cluster analysis results in a typology of visitors that shows that the importance of education varies within the different clusters.     

Dienstboten der Nation: Ausbeutung informeller Laienpflege und die Revitalisierung eines totgeglaubten Klassikers

The decline of Marxist theory is best exemplified by the concept of “exploitation”. For decades now and not only in sociology, the former mainspring of the social critique has been carving out a niche existence. While the concept of exploitation has all but vanished from the social sciences together with its Marxist legacy, it seems like everyone is talking about exploitation. Moreover, the retrenchment of Marxist theory has left a gap that has not yet been filled. This article aims to show that exploitation can be a useful instrument for the theoretical and empirical study of society. The article proposes a sociological concept of exploitation that draws on the sociologies of work, inequality and gender in an empirical analysis of so-called “caring communities” currently garnering widespread societal and political support in the context of Germany’s eldercare crisis. In so doing, the article aims to end the presumed obsolescence of a classic sociological concept that is as relevant today as it ever was.     

Subjective Indicators Construction by Distance Indices: An Application to Life Satisfaction Data

The construction of subjective indicators for measuring phenomena expressed in an ordinal scale is a central issue in social sciences, particularly in sociology and psychology. In this paper, we propose the use of a subjective indicator by groups of units (for example, by geographical area) based on the ‘distance’ between the empirical cumulative distribution and a hypothetical cumulative distribution of reference. This approach allows to avoid the awkward question of the ‘quantification’ of an ordinal variable, i.e., the conversion of an ordinal variable into an interval variable. As an example of application, we consider life satisfaction data coming from the annual multipurpose survey on “Aspects of Daily Life”, carried out by the Italian National Institute of Statistics, and we present a comparison with some classical methods.     

Socio-spatial attributes of social problems: The case of crime and delinquency

This article examines three hypotheses: (1) Socio-spatial structures and processes, like segregation, succession, and specialization, help explain the emergence of social problems. (2) "Space" is embedded — implicitly or explicitly — in every sociological approach to crime or delinquency. (3) Its explicit consideration increases the explanatory power of these approaches. Different dimensions, aspects or qualities of space are distinguished in order to dispel the terminological confusion that often surrounds "space". Spatial distances or units may include costs, symbols, of power. The relevance of these aspects for different approaches or criminal sociology like anomie, disorganization, opportunity structure, and labelling are demonstrated, and the implications of these arguments for the development of sociological theories, as well as societal, political and planning practices are also considered. Most empirical examples are drawn from recent sociological research in West Germany. Such an approach to integrate urban and criminal sociology can be used to draw conclusions for urban planning as is shown in a final passage: Desegregation and functional diversification of spatial units are recommended as strategies which may diminish crime and delinquency.I would like to thank the American and German publishers and editors for the permission to publish this extended English translation. My special thanks goes to Dr. Ralph B. Taylor from The Johns Hopkins University, Center for Metropolitan Planning and Research for helpful discussions and assistance with the English version[1].     

Leisure: Definitions,Trends, and Policy Implications

Economic theories predict that with modernity and with the increase in standards of living, individuals will aspire for more leisure. However, the results of empirical studies which examined period trends in leisure time across developed countries do not confirm this presumption. The current study asks: If changes in leisure stem from ideational changes among different generations, will trends in leisure look different if examined across cohorts, or if measured differently? By integrating theoretical definitions of leisure based on literatures in economics, sociology, and psychology, this research derives three main macro-level empirical measures of leisure from various sources. These measures are used to analyze the contribution of population turnover to changes in the quantity of leisure, in developed countries, using linear regression decomposition method. Our results show an almost unequivocal increase in leisure across cohorts, across 159 country-periods, suggesting that new policies supporting domestic consumption are warranted.

     

Auf gute Nachbarschaft?

Starting with the beginning of feminist and gender studies, the paper asks for the relations between them and sociology. It can be shown that, on the one hand, they are moving and, on the other hand, a pattern already found at the beginning is persistent. This pattern is the distinction between the universal and the particular, which takes up the consideration of the human being as implicitly male and women as gender. How it shapes the relations between feminist or gender studies and sociology and what nevertheless is changing is shown for three fields of actual research: the development of the disciplinary profile of gender studies and their issues; the gender sensible sociology in relation to feminist theory and intersectionality; the actual mapping of the field of gender studies and the sociology of work.