Democracy, Totalitarianism, and Dead Ends in Sociology

The 20th century did not only see the rise of academic sociology, but highlighted also strife within societies that resulted in specific forms of totalitarianism. Literature on the relationship of sociology and these totalitarianisms is controversial. Some authors state that sociology is not a natural antipode to dictatorships: Some sociologists like Sombart and Michels were active proponents of totalitarian ideology, and most totalitarian regimes quite liked the technical expertise of social research. Other authors propose that a flourishing sociology needs a certain form of society characterized by openness and tolerance to find a constructive climate for theoretical reflection, empirical research and practical relevance.From this position one could state that there is a “Wahlverwandtschaft”, a structural affinity, between sociology and democracy.The article uses empirical material from a case study on the development of sociology at the University of Halle between 1900 and 1990. The University of Halle is an interesting case in so far as in this East German university the societal context varies between monarchy, democracy, fascism and communism. The empirical material focuses on published and unpublished work of Friedrich Hertz and Rudhard Stollberg, as well as archive material to their activities and conflicts. Specific dead ends of forms of historical sociology and empirical sociology are analysed with regard to the guiding question, whether there is a structural tension between forms of totalitarianism and sociology

Der Einfluß von Verrentungsprozessen und Mobilitätsprozessen auf die Arbeitsmarktrisiken von Berufseinsteigern (The influence of retirement processes and mobility processes on the labour market risks of new entrants to the labour market)

"On the basis of the IAB employment sample a test is carried out to determine what influence the lowering of the retirement age and the rate of mobility of middle-aged workers have on the labour market opportunities of new entrants to the labour market. For this an event history analysis of the career paths in six occupations was carried out. It becomes clear in this explorative analysis that early retirement has no importance at all in reducing unemployment in new entrants to the labour market. An increase in the occupational mobility of middle-aged workers on the other hand reduces the risk of new entrants to the labour market becoming unemployed." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Berufsanfänger, Arbeitsmarktchancen, Rentenalter - Auswirkungen, berufliche Mobilität - Auswirkungen, IAB-Beschäftigtenstichprobe

Types of governance in education: a quantitative analysis

This study creates a typology of education systems. It uses empirical analysis to deter-mine six types of education governance on the basis of various factors such as the de-gree of state involvement or funding sources, and structural differences of average time spent on homework or the degree of support for low achievers. It reveals differences in output among these types as measured by student performance, and relative equality of performance. The typology reflects similarities in governance of education among groups of countries, and indicates that common geography and history may be more of a linking factor than expected in a globalized world. --

Governance indicators and responsiveness to population decline: school closures in practice and discourse in Saxony-Anhalt

"The subject of this analysis is the practice of school closures, since it constitutes a key response to demographic decline and is usually hotly disputed in regional discussions on demographic change. Our research is guided by two questions: How do political and administrative responses to demographic decline emerge? How is the practice of school closure publicly portrayed and discussed in the newspapers? We assume that in democratic welfare regimes, the spatial allocation of school infrastructures is mediated by the use of key administrative indicators allowing the calculation and public deliberation of questions related to education infrastructure policy. However, in transformation societies, a democratic political culture of 'governing by numbers' only develops as a result of collective learning processes in which the participants acquire what we refer to as 'democratic numeracy'. In the stratified German school system, social prestige is conferred unequally among the different school types, with the grammar school (Gymnasium) being the most prestigious school type. It is therefore likely that the elements of the school system are not affected equally by policy responses to demographic decline and public attention, which results in spatial inequalities. Empirically, the article follows a mixed-methods approach, whilst emphasising a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of school closures in the regional press of Saxony-Anhalt from 1990 to 2014. The results show that, in the transformation process, the relevance of indicator-based governance of the school infrastructure increases both in practice and in discourse. However, as the participants gain in democratic numeracy, the use of numbers becomes politicised. With respect to the pattern of school closures, grammar schools receive a disproportionately large share of public attention. This has a positive effect on their survival chances and diminishes differences in spatial distances between grammar schools and integrated secondary schools." (author's abstract

Evaluation AFG-finanzierter Weiterbildung : Arbeitslosigkeit und Qualifizierung in Ostdeutschland (Evaluation of further training measures funded underthe Employment Promotion Act : unemployment and training in eastern Germany)

"The efficiency of publicly funded further training comes under controversial discussion. Relevant evaluation studies provide diverging findings, which can be put down not least to inadequate data. This article examines the effectiveness of further training measures for the unemployed that are funded under the Employment Promotion Act in the new Federal Länder in the period 1990-1997. For this a multivariate event analysis is carried out with the longitudinal record of the 'study of career patterns in eastern Germany'. Analytically a distinction is made between an 'education effect' and an 'institution effect' of further training. These two effects oppose each other, where in times of rapid structural change on the labour market the blocking institution effect eclipses the education effect of human capital theory." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Weiterbildungsförderung - Erfolgskontrolle, Arbeitsmarktpolitik, berufliche Reintegration, Bildungsertrag, Arbeitslose, Ostdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Comparing governance of international organisations: The EU, the OECD and educational policy

How do international organisations (IOs) influence domestic policymaking? In the field of educational policy, IOs increasingly play an important role in shaping national debates and policies. Comparative studies as conducted by the OECD, for example, reveal strengths and weaknesses of individual educational systems and raise questions of "best practice". International initiatives such as the EU's Bologna Process even compel national policy makers to restructure their systems in such a way that students and staff will be able to move with more ease between systems and receive fair recognition of their qualifications in the near future. The aim of this study is to explore the forms of governance through which international organisations exercise influence on national policymaking. For this purpose, the EU and the OECD serve as case studies since these two organisations have recently been particularly active players in educational policy. Drawing on institutionalist approaches, an analytic grid will be designed in this study for systematically investigating the forms of governance as exercised by international organisations. The findings show that IOs have the most capacities to form and guide national policymaking through their distinctive ability to co-ordinate initiatives and to shape the ideas in a policy field, such as education. --

Path Dependency, Demographic Change, and the (De-)Differentiation of the German Secondary School System

Der soziologische Diskurs über die Folgen des demographischen Wandels für Bildungssysteme schwankt immer noch zwischen den Extremen „Demographie als Schicksal“, was Bevölkerungsveränderungen unmittelbare Folgen zuschreibt, und „Demographie als Ideologie“, was die Relevanz demographischer Faktoren grundsätzlich in Frage stellt. Der vorliegende Aufsatz nimmt eine Durkheim’sche Perspektive ein und prüft, ob Veränderungen der Arbeitsteilung die Folgen des demographischen Wandels moderieren. Diese Hypothese wird mit Hilfe von Paneldaten über die Differenzierung des deutschen Sekundarschulsystems auf der regionalen Ebene der Kreise für die Jahre 1995–2010 analysiert. Zusätzlich zu demographischen Veränderungen werden auch Effekte von Pfadabhängigkeit, Parteiideologie und der Wiedervereinigung modelliert. Die Analyse zeigt einen moderaten Effekt des demographischen Wandels auf die (Ent-)Differenzierung des deutschen Sekundarschulsystems.Current sociological debate on the effects of demographic change on education systems still swings between the extremes of “demography as destiny,” which conceives of demographic change as a phenomenon with immediate impact, and “demography as ideology,” which questions any relevance of demographic factors at all. This article adopts a Durkheimian perspective and checks whether changes in the division of labor moderate the effects of demographic change. This hypothesis is tested by analyzing panel data at the regional level of counties on the differentiation of the German secondary school system for the years 1995–2010. In addition to demography, the effects of path dependency, party politics, and German re-unification are modeled as well. The analysis shows a moderate effect of demographic change on the (de-)differentiation of the German secondary school system

Institutionalistische Generationsanalyse sozialer Ungleichheit

"Generationen können als eine Form 'neuer' sozialer Ungleichheit angesehen werden. Der Beitrag versucht für dieses neue Gebiet der Sozialstrukturanalyse einen Rahmen abzustecken. Hierzu wird eine differenzierte Begrifflichkeit von 'Generation', 'Generationsbeziehungen' und 'Generationsverhältnissen' entfaltet. Eine an Ungleichheiten zwischen Generationen interessierte Sozialstrukturanalyse steht insbesondere vor der Aufgabe, institutionell mitbedingte Generationsverhältnisse wie den Generationenvertrag der Rentenversicherung, das Erbschaftsrecht oder Insider-Outsider-Relationen auf Märkten in ihren Formen und ungleichheitsrelevanten Auswirkungen zu analysieren. Eine Forschungsagenda formiert sich. Gleichzeitig steigt das Vergesellschaftungspotential von Generationen mit der zunehmenden Organisierbarkeit 'schwacher Interessen' durch citizen groups. Eine stärker an materiellen Ungleichheiten, Interessenlagen und Vergesellschaftungsformen von Generationen orientierte Forschung ermöglicht eine engere Verknüpfung von klassischer Sozialstrukturanalyse und Generationstheorie." (Autorenreferat

Konkurrierende Generationen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt: Altersstrukturierung in Arbeitsmarkt und Sozialpolitik

"Die Institutionen moderner Gesellschaften produzieren Spannungsverhältnisse zwischen den Generationen. Das Buch gibt einen Überblick über neuere Lebenslauftheorien. Es prüft in empirischen Analysen, ob institutionelle Ordnungen zu unterschiedlichen nationalen Mustern von Jugendarbeitslosigkeit und Arbeitslosigkeit im Alter führen, ob Jugendarbeitslosigkeit durch Frühverrentungen gesenkt wurde, und ob das deutsche Rentenversicherungssystem Normen intergenerationaler Gerechtigkeit entspricht." (Autorenreferat