Gegen den Brain Drain des wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses: Reformvorschläge zur Hochschulpolitik in Deutschland

Seit langem beklagt der wissenschaftliche Nachwuchs, dass das deutsche Hochschulsystem kaum langfristige Karriereperspektiven und wenig individuelle Freiheiten bietet. Auf viele Jungwissenschaftler wirkt die Realität des deutschen Hochschulbetriebs abschreckend. Was müsste sich ändern? Vorschläge der German Scholars Organization (GSO)

Raising regional academic voices (alongside data) in higher education (HE) debate

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in Postdigital Science and Education on 13/05/2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00131-6 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.As agendas for data-driven measures of excellence dominate policy in UK Higher Education (HE), we argue that the generic structure of national policy frameworks virtually silences regional voices. This furthers a territorially agnostic discourse about universities, downplays institutional history and purpose, risks concealing innovative practices, and fails to tackle entrenched inequalities. In response, we point to the value of live, place-based debate in HE institutions to highlight distributional inequity, raise local voices and connect these with national policy. Yet even as we compiled this article about HE debate, the Covid-19 pandemic took hold globally, cancelling face-to-face meetings, by necessity. We therefore draw on a postdigital perspective, as we share our individual dialogues in support of debate, via collective writing, against this new backdrop of social distancing and widespread uncertainty. We may not currently be able to convene our Midlands HE Policy Network (MHEPN) debates in person, but we can voice the essential part that regional universities play in connecting global technological and biological change, with local social projects, citizens and industry. Postdigital theory offers one route to understanding that Covid-19 does not sit apart from other political economic challenges in HE and beyond, that we need to debate simultaneously.Published onlin

Beyond Stability: Rethinking Germany’s Political Economy

From the post-war period up to the early 2000s, (West) Germany was viewed as a paradigmatic case of institutional stability, successfully accommodating different social interests. Yet the past two decades have brought large-scale changes to the structures of Germany’s political and economic life. This article introduces a special issue that seeks to rethink Germany’s political economy by shifting the scholarly lens on Germany from stability to imbalance. After outlining the proposed paradigm shift, and introducing three vantage points from which to study the politics of imbalance, this article presents the main findings that contributors to the special issue unearthed as they engaged this theoretical agenda in their empirical analyses.Reassessing Germany: From stability to imbalance Embracing imbalance: Theorising processes of recomposition Work in progress: Germany after the social democratic century Acknowledgements Reference

Germany After the Social Democratic Century: The Political Economy of Imbalance

The end of the social democratic century has marked the beginning of a new era of political and economic imbalance in Europe. These dynamics are visible even in Germany, despite its reputation for stability. This article proposes reorienting the paradigm for research on Germany’s political economy from stability to imbalance in order to help illuminate central causal processes within the country and across the rich democracies. As our review of prominent approaches to the German Model reveals, recent developments have unseated the mechanisms that once balanced competing social forces. Putting contemporary tensions centre stage, we outline three vantage points from which to study political and economic imbalance: the systemic properties of capitalism, multivalent policy feedback, and the organisational foundations of creative adjustment. This conceptual reorientation should equip scholars to use Germany not merely for theorising the roots of stability in the past, but also to employ it as a powerful prism to explain the dynamics of imbalance in the current era.Toward imbalance: Challenges to the paradigm of German stability Processes of recomposition: A dynamic perspective on German political economy Conclusion: From Germany as model to Germany as prism Reference

Debating Lessons from Germany After the Social Democratic Century

This article seeks to stimulate a debate about the propositions that this special issue advances on German political economy by presenting responses from two experts who were not otherwise involved. Both scholars independently engage with the volume’s characterisations of empirical developments and arguments for conceptual innovation. Their comments highlight three themes in particular: the malleability of ‘conflictual partnership’ in industrial relations, the growing political prominence of consumer interests, and the revitalisation of social movements. In a rejoinder, the editors spell out how the proposed shift in the scholarly lens on Germany from stability to imbalance helps address these themes. The rejoinder closes with an invitation for scholars and practitioners to draw on the volume as they interpret, manoeuvre within, and try to positively shape what will undoubtedly be a challenging future.Introduction The German model of conflictual partnership is still alive Germany on its way to a "green century"? Old and new imbalances Rejoinder: Collective action for a sustainable future Footnotes Reference