Inconsistencies and Contradictions in Bureaucratic Interactions: Street-level Bureaucracy in Austria in the 1920s and 1930s

Historians who use administrative records for their research frequently encounter variations, inconsistencies and contradictions in personal data. Th ese often impede linking records to a certain person (or what appears to be a person in public administration). This may not come as a surprise since administrative work should, in principle, follow rules, it should be precise, consistent, disciplined and reliable – as Weber put it in his ideal type. Yet, like any other practice it also goes along with arbitrary or involuntary deviations, it is based on improvisation and discretion, it includes pragmatism. Also, administrative work deals with clients who can provoke administrative processes, provide and coproduce information. They follow their own agendas in ways that are based on their experiences and expectations, and seem appropriate and promising to them. Nevertheless, unlike knowledge, concepts, technologies, tools of public administration, inconsistencies and contradictions in bureaucratic interactions are rarely made a subject of historiographical research. This paper builds on a systematic comparison of records of street-level bureaucracy such as criminal justice and trade administration. It addresses the terms and conditions in which inconsistencies and contradictions in personal data are produced, addressed, handled, used and sometimes ignored by the involved parties.Historians who use administrative records for their research frequently encounter variations, inconsistencies and contradictions in personal data. Th ese often impede linking records to a certain person (or what appears to be a person in public administration). This may not come as a surprise since administrative work should, in principle, follow rules, it should be precise, consistent, disciplined and reliable – as Weber put it in his ideal type. Yet, like any other practice it also goes along with arbitrary or involuntary deviations, it is based on improvisation and discretion, it includes pragmatism. Also, administrative work deals with clients who can provoke administrative processes, provide and coproduce information. They follow their own agendas in ways that are based on their experiences and expectations, and seem appropriate and promising to them. Nevertheless, unlike knowledge, concepts, technologies, tools of public administration, inconsistencies and contradictions in bureaucratic interactions are rarely made a subject of historiographical research. This paper builds on a systematic comparison of records of street-level bureaucracy such as criminal justice and trade administration. It addresses the terms and conditions in which inconsistencies and contradictions in personal data are produced, addressed, handled, used and sometimes ignored by the involved parties

Historical Migration Research: Obstacles and Possibilities

(Historical) research on migration is still a booming field of research. There is a variety of concepts and approaches as well as manifold empirical studies. Research concepts and categories are developing and subject to change. Nevertheless, some common categories, perspectives, and frames of analysis seem rather persistent. In many cases, they can be an epistemological obstacle rather than a useful tool of research. This introductory essay sketches out some of these obstacles. It discusses the possibilities and problems of epistemic reflexivity in migration research.(Historical) research on migration is still a booming field of research. There is a variety of concepts and approaches as well as manifold empirical studies. Research concepts and categories are developing and subject to change. Nevertheless, some common categories, perspectives, and frames of analysis seem rather persistent. In many cases, they can be an epistemological obstacle rather than a useful tool of research. This introductory essay sketches out some of these obstacles. It discusses the possibilities and problems of epistemic reflexivity in migration research

Making Use of the Foreign: 'Wanderschaft' in Artisans' Autobiographies

The rereading of autobiographical texts of artisans shows, that the 'Wanderschaft', the journeying from place to place - which at first sight appears to be clearly determined by traditions, to be normatively and institutionally defined and protected - is in fact open to various interpretations and ambitions. 'Wanderschaft' does not simply appear as a phase of training and socialisation, but provides some scope for ambitions of distinction and rise in the world, which far surpass the bounds of a particular trade. The article attempts to develop a tendencially desubstantialising perspective in respect to what - beyond collective representations - single craftsmen contribute to the making of a trade. The article thus questions the time honoured perception of the Central-European artisan of early modern times, a perception characterised by collectivism, petrification and particularism and based on historical sources generated by seigneural and governmental administrations.The rereading of autobiographical texts of artisans shows, that the 'Wanderschaft', the journeying from place to place - which at first sight appears to be clearly determined by traditions, to be normatively and institutionally defined and protected - is in fact open to various interpretations and ambitions. 'Wanderschaft' does not simply appear as a phase of training and socialisation, but provides some scope for ambitions of distinction and rise in the world, which far surpass the bounds of a particular trade. The article attempts to develop a tendencially desubstantialising perspective in respect to what - beyond collective representations - single craftsmen contribute to the making of a trade. The article thus questions the time honoured perception of the Central-European artisan of early modern times, a perception characterised by collectivism, petrification and particularism and based on historical sources generated by seigneural and governmental administrations

Journeymen’s Mobility and the Guild System. A Space of Possibilities Based on Central European Cases

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