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.     

Symbolische Gewalt, Normalisierungsdispositiv und/oder Stigma? Soziologie der Behinderung im Anschluss an Goffman, Foucault und Bourdieu

Is Pierre Bourdieu??s sociology helpful in order to analyse dis/ability as social construction? As a first step, this paper offers a sketch of the German-speaking sociology of disability. Subsequently, it considers two approaches which are already established in this discourse. Erving Goffman??s stigma theory focuses on ??doing dis/ability??, but it reveals a naturalistic core, when it comes to phenomena of embodied difference. Drawing on Michel Foucault, his discourse analysis and theory of power, one can analyse ??making dis/ability?? by using the dimensions of discourse, discipline, normativity and normalization, but the level of agency tends to be neglected. Thirdly, the article looks at Bourdieu??s concept of symbolic violence as a possible contribution to the sociology of disability. This concept proposes that dis/ability can be described as an embodied effect of power relationships; it brings the aspect of ??being disabled?? into view. Finally, the paper discusses the added value created by the triangulation of the three theoretical approaches; it concludes with suggestions to be drawn from the analysis of disability for the sociology after Bourdieu.     

Symbolische Gewalt und ihr potenzielles Scheitern. Eine Ann?herung zwischen Butler und Bourdieu

The article discusses the similarities and differences between the contributions of Pierre Bourdieu and Judith Butler regarding symbolic power. While both share core arguments such as the discursive constitution of symbolic power, its disguised effectiveness due to naturalization processes, and the notion that symbolic power is part of domination (as it is interwoven with the social logic of personal recognition), there are also important differences between Butler and Bourdieu. Latter insists on discerning the social dimension of discourse??asking who speaks from which position???from the immanent linguistic realm of discourse. Butler instead highlights the impossibility of separating the social from the discursive and stresses the imponderability of discursive acts due to their performativity and iterative logic. Thus, Butler argues, ??social imperatives?? (Bourdieu) can and actually do ??fail??. This becomes especially evident within processes of subjectivation (Butler). Considering the systematic possibility of ??failure?? in Butlers work, I argue that Butler and Bourdieu offer distinct notions of critique: While Butler??s notion is framed as heterotopy (Foucault), Bourdieu??s is utopic.     

Die m?nnliche Herrschaft: ein somatisiertes Herrschaftsverh?ltnis

Bourdieu understands masculine domination to be both a paradigmatic form and an extreme case of symbolic domination. Bourdieu??s argumentation in hisMasculine Domination is outlined, highlighting the key importance of the somatization of domination as well as the fact, more or less neglected in the general discussion, that in relations of symbolic domination those who exercise domination are imprisoned in this relation, as well. Key points of the criticism concerning this argumentation are discussed, in particular the standard objection of structural determinism raised against the concept of habitus, and new research perspectives are proposed.     

Die Krise als Chance? Eine habitustheoretische Dekonstruktion des Bew?ltigungsbegriffs

This article focuses on a critical reflection of the concept of coping as well as its deconstruction based on the habitus approach. The transformation of the notion of subject in the context of socialisation theory with regard to risk and individualisation will be reflected. Such approaches conceptualise identities as flexible resources. In contrast, Bourdieu??s concept of habitus implies a theoretical perspective on coping that considers appropriately the possibilities and boundaries of action.     

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.     

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.     

Bourdieu 1993: Ein Fallbeispiel einer wissenschaftlichen Ehrung

Drawing on archival materials and personal testimonies, I reconstruct the conditions under which Bourdieu came to receive the Gold Medal of the National Center for Scientific Research, France’s highest science prize, in 1993 as a signal case study of the existential predicament and institutional trappings of scholarly consecration. Bourdieu’s award speech and the ceremony at which he read it present a triple interest for the history and sociology of sociology. They illustrate how a shaping figure in the discipline personally experienced, reflexively viewed, and practically navigated the nexus of science, authority, and power. They mark 1993 as a pivot-year in Bourdieu’s intellectual evolution, leading to a new agenda foregrounding the state as paramount symbolic power, the alchemy of group formation, and the unfinished promise of democratic politics; and they help explain why he ventured more forthrightly into civic debate in the 1990s. Bourdieu’s ambivalent acceptance of the prize also illustrates his conception of the ‘Realpolitik of reason’ and put an emphatic end to the eclipse of Durkheim by restoring sociology to its rightful place at the scientific zenith in the country of its birth.     

Subjektivierung Distinktion Narzissmus

The work on subjectification tends to put actors in a victimized position and to restrain itself on organizational discourse and cultural analyses. The article proposes a sociostructural and -psychological enhancement of perspective. The concepts of distinction and symbolic violence will give a more accurate picture of class specific conditions, meanings and effects of subjectification in flexible capitalism. Concepts of narcissism theory improve our understanding of subjectification??s attraction through its relation to the antagonistic psychodynamic of impotence, omnipotence and fear. Not at last, this enhancement of perspective will allow for a better reflection on subjectification??s entanglement with power and dominance in the interest of its emancipatory potentials.     

Subjektivierung der Biographie. Lebensorientierungen und Anspruchshaltungen

Opposing the tendency within current analyses in the social sciences to draw a conclusion from present changes in people??s working and living conditions to corresponding social-psychic dispositions, this article both theoretically and empirically develops the thesis that people??by considering structural preconditions??put demands on themselves and structure their resources and possible courses of action. In order to understand how this is done, the article develops the concept of ??life-orientation??. By means of four exemplary typifications of life-orientations gained from a research project on employees?? demands on work, we will demonstrate that established beliefs about actual forms of subjectivity are in need of correction.     

?Hegemoniale M?nnlichkeiten‘ alsnarrative Distinktionspraxis im Wissenschaftsspiel

The paper focuses theoretically and methodologically on the analysis of narrative constructions of gender from the perspective of sociology of science. It contributes to discussions about extending discourse analytical perspectives by impulses from theories of social practice. Thus it suggests analyzing scientific narratives as routinized ??strategic fictions?? in the context of gendered boundary work. Additionally, it draws on recent discussions on the concept of ??hegemonic masculinity?? as a generative principle and asks theoretically about practices in the course of which multiple, complex and context-specific versions of hegemonic masculinity are drafted as the outcome of discursive struggles and also of the competition among men. The empirical analysis thus reconstructs narrative practices of symbolically distinguishing and situating gendered actors in the social field of science. This is illustrated at the example of the professionalization of modern German engineering in the time period from the 1870ies until the turn of the century. In their writings engineering scholars initially composed the ??scientist of machinery?? as the symbolically neutralized position of objectivity by following a narrative of progress. Later the engineer as the ??man of action?? displaced the former concept by now stressing a narrative of a prehistorical origin of technological man whose competence is a gift of the nature of his sex. Both narratives are interpreted as an, in each case, specific mode of masculinity construction in order to struggle for a dominant position not only with respect to women but also to other social groups of men.     

Anwendungsorientierte Forschung und der Wandel der Wissensordnung zu Geschlecht: Konzeptionelle Annäherungen

First, the article is a speech for theoretical ambitious and applied oriented gender research. However, the transfer between scientific knowledge and praxis-oriented knowledge is an independent step, which might be based on gender trainings and gender expertise. Second, the complex processes of knowledge transfer and communication and its impacts on the scientific order of knowledge in the gender arena forms part of the debate. The paper discusses these issues and challenges for scientific gender knowledge from the perspective of gender studies and the sociology of professions, scientific discourses, and sociology of science.     

Grenzen der Geschichte?

The article follows Tony Becher’s suggestion, that scientific disciplines metaphorically spoken may be looked at as different tribes of different habits occupying different territories. The articles reviews then some possibilities to determine a border between the field of historical research and sociology by different methods, different theories, different research objects e. g. past vs. present and so on. The academic field of history is described as a field importing theories, methods and objects from other academic fields, many of them from sociology. The last decades’ processes of innovation and redefinition within the field of historical research diminished cognitive differences between history and sociology so significantly that — this is the main argument of the article — more or less only the borders produced by institutions remained. Nevertheless these kind of borders have major effects all of them responsible for maintaining different disciplinary identities.     

Dads, disease, and death: determinants of daughter discrimination

Existing evidence suggests that girls are differentially affected by income shocks and changes in bargaining power. Most studies, however, ignore household production and confound differential opportunity costs with changes in income or bargaining power. I disentangle these determinants of gender discrimination??preferences, income and time allocation??by comparing households with varying degrees of parental involvement. Results indicate that, controlling for household fixed effects, reducing the time available for household production has a disproportionately negative effect on daughters. But, for a transitory income shock, daughters?? education is less income-elastic. Increasing mothers?? bargaining power is most effective in narrowing the gender gap.     

Das Ende der Beliebigkeit — zum evolutionär-biologischen Fundament des Menschen

The relationship between biology and sociology has always been difficult, even though (or even because) both are interested in the same human subject. Historic mishaps, such as the severe abuse of biology by political systems, ideological inferences and simple misunderstandings still strain the dialogue. In contrast to sociologists, biologists employ a comparative approach within a firm Darwinian framework for posing questions. A hypothesis only qualifies as “scientific” when rigorously testable. Along with the overwhelming success of biology in the 20^th century, the biological base of the human existence is now generally acknowledged. But the explanatory potential of the Darwinian approach is still expanding.c Over the past decades, biologist even ventured into the “cultural” domains, which lead to new battles with sociologists, but also to some cross-fertilization. It showed, that even morals and ethics have a biological and hence, an evolutionary base. Without the prefrontal cortex of the brain, humans are not able to act socially responsible. This example also shows that the long-outdated distinction between “innate” and “learned” (still a major obstacle for dialogue between biology and sociology) is indeed, obsolete, because the morphological substrate only develops towards its full functionality, when adequately stimulated via implicit social learning during early childhood. Further examples for the heuristic power of modern behavioural biology are insights into social organization and sexual strategies, evolutionary explanations of socio-sexual violence against women and children, new results towards showing the biological foundations of personality, or even the contribution of modern biology towards explaining mentalities. With the increasing dominance of biology, arbitrariness comes to an end. Today, the basidemand on all theories and concepts which claim to explain aspects of Homo sapiens scientifically, no matter whether from the humanities, social sciences or even philosophy, is their consistency and logic coherence, with evolutionary theory.     

Visuelle Wissenssoziologie der Fotografie

The article sketches the outlines to a visual sociology of knowledge of photography. It begins with a discussion of the epistemological and methodical approaches to photography by Roland Barthes and Pierre Bourdieu, and it reflects upon the theoretical and analytic conceptions of the art historians Erwin Panofsky and Max Imdahl in regard to their significance for an empirical visual sociology. Based on this, Erving Goffmans metaphor of the frame is introduced for the sociological analysis of photographs between single frames, picture contexts, and social milieus. A photograph taken from current everyday communication is used for the illustration and for the empirical testing of the methodological and methodical considerations.     

Kritik der Life-Politics — zum Grenzziehungsdiskurs der Humangenetik

Genetic diagnosis and counselling have gone through a process of institutionalization and normalization, but ethical debates about the benefits and dangers of human genetics continue. This article adopts a sociology of science approach and asks how the professional authority of a science like human genetics, which is still a controversial field, is maintained. Using qualitative expert interviews, the article first identifies boundarywork strategies which provide information about specific ways in which claims to scientific competence and validity are succesfully asserted. At a second level, the boundary-drawing discourse of human genetics makes it possible to reach conclusions about the structuring of professional orientations to action. In order to dissociate human genetics from eugenic practices, the individual and the individual’s moral concepts are treated as the decisive point of reference for professional actions. In conclusion, the article criticizes the mistaken belief that this kind of denationalization (Entstaatlichung) and individualization of biopolitics (?life-politics“) is the same thing as a reflexive practice.     

Über die Grundlagen der Handlungstheorie: Vier Imperative

The major theme of this paper is that there are four important modes by which general theoretical sociology can be advanced. These modes are set forth as four imperatives for effective theorizing that combine process philosophy with a methodology of formal theorizing. The four imperatives are: Think process! Think structure! Think integration! Think idealization! These imperatives are elucidated in general terms and also with particular reference to the action theory program of Talcott Parsons in the context of foundational issues in contemporary sociological theory.     

Gesundheitsf?rdernde Faktoren f��r Selbst?ndige in der Kreativwirtschaft

For political and economic decision makers, the Creative Industries are a major future market. The social situation many of the mostly self-employed creative workers find themselves in, however, is far from secure. Financial problems, precarious employment conditions, long working hours and high burn-out rates are typical of this ??class of the new?? (Barbrook 2009). This paper addresses the question of which variables that creative workers themselves have the power to influence have an impact on psychological health syndromes. It shows that compensation strategies such as ??brief periods of relaxation even during work intensive phases??, the quality of creative workers?? interpersonal relationships with peers and colleagues, ??being confident about one??s abilities??, enjoying work and ??taking holidays??have a positive impact on psychological health syndromes. Conversely, conflicts with colleagues or customers, turning a blind eye to problems and dependency on a single major customer impact negatively on psychological health syndromes. The paper is based on research carried out for the project ??Balancing creative workers dilemmas: value-based business and networking practices of self-employed working in the Creative Industries??, funded by the Translational Research Programme of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). It was developed as a thesis for the SOQUA postgraduate training programme (http://www.soqua. net), which provides further professional qualification for workers in the social sciences.     

Researching to transgress: the need for critical feminism in gerontology

This article defines "empowering research" and argues the need for a critical gerontology informed by feminist and postmodern theories which focus on the connections between language, self, and social action. The author calls for feminist gerontology which evokes critical consciousness on the part of the researcher and participants. Feminist gerontologists are encouraged to engage in self-reflection and self-critique in regards to their own attitudes toward aging and to include personal criticism in their scholarly writings. Examples of feminist research on aging which illustrate these characteristics are provided.