Search results

Globalization definitely has been one of the most discussed issues in social sciences during the last decade, and still is today. Despite this grown interest, the measurement of globalization still remains vague or often one-sidedly restricted to the analysis of its economic dimension, thereby neglecting the multidimensionality of the phenomenon of globalization. As a consequence, a differentiated measure of globalization covering both economic and social aspects that can be, for example, introduced into multivariate analysis of survey data as an explanatory variable, is still largely missing. In this article, we suggest a multi-dimensional globalization measure, encompassing economic, (socio-)technological, cultural, and political dimensions of global change. It builds on previous globalization measures, but extends them by additional dimensions and indicators representing central facets of a genuine sociological concept of globalization. Our contribution starts by shortly describing the multidimensional nature of the globalization process and then develops an overall sociological index of globalization, which we call Global- Index, covering a total of 97 different countries from 1970 to 2002. Based on this measure, we first describe the development of globalization on a worldwide scale and across economic regions. Next, we demonstrate the potential of the Global-Index for the analysis of contemporary survey data by illustratively including it into two micro-level longitudinal analyses of labor market transitions during the early career in Germany and the United Kingdom." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

"The contribution pertains to several aspects of ethnic segregation. The first is how segregation and social integration are related. The second is the crucial question which dimensions of segregation can be distinguished and how we can measure them. In the next section, results from studies of ethnic segregation in Germany are presented. The evidence is then discussed in the light of general hypotheses explaining ethnic segregation, specifically, the aspect of spatial correlates of social integration. A multilevel model of ethnic segregation is suggested. In the final section the results are resumed and suggestions for further research are given." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

"Vor dem Hintergrund einer Reihe ernst zu nehmender rechtsextremistischer und antisemitischer Übergriffe in Deutschland während des Jahres 2000 entwickelten wir ein neues heuristisches Drei-Komponenten-Modell zur Beschreibung von Antisemitismus: Ein Aspekt a. beruht auf traditionellen antisemitischen Vorurteilen, ein weiterer b. auf der Kommunikationslatenz des Antisemitismus und c. auf der Zurückweisung oder der Akzeptanz von Verantwortung gegenüber den Juden. Mittels eines standardisierten Fragebogens wurde das Modell in unterschiedlichen Feldstudien (N=2130 Jugendliche in Deutschland) getestet. Die 3-dimensionale Struktur des Antisemitismus (manifester AS, latenter AS und 'keine Verantwortung gegenüber den Juden') wurde in Pfadanalysen gezeigt und die Daten entsprachen dem theoretischen Modell. Neue Aspekte antisemitischer Einstellungen spiegeln die öffentliche Vermeidung antisemitischer Statements und eine Ablehnung früherer Diskussionen über deutsche Schuld, Verhalten und Verantwortung gegenüber den Juden wider. Diese neuen Aspekte antisemitischer Einstellungen sind ebenfalls mit einer generellen Feindseligkeit gegenüber Fremden verbunden. Weiterhin ist es möglich, zwischen Gruppen von Individuen mit unterschiedlichen antisemitischen Einstellungen zu differenzieren. Die neuen Aspekte antisemitischer Einstellungen haben auch mit derzeitigen Debatten über deutschen Nationalstolz innerhalb deutscher Subpopulationen und mit der 'Schlussstrichdebatte' zu tun. Der 'neue' Antisemitismus in Deutschland besteht möglicherweise innerhalb deutscher Subpopulationen als soziales Konstrukt, um ihre eigenen Vorstellungen von 'deutschen' Problemen zu unterdrücken." (Autorenreferat). Die Untersuchung enthält quantitative Daten. Die Untersuchung bezieht sich auf den Zeitraum 1998 bis 2000.;;;"Against the background of a series of serious right-wing extremist and anti-Semitic incidences in Germany in the year 2000, we constructed a new heuristic model with three components of anti-Semitism to describe new aspects of anti-Semitism: a. one is based upon traditional anti-Semitic prejudices, b. the communicative latency of anti-Semitism and c. the refusal or the acceptance of responsibility for the Jewish people. The model was tested in some field studies (N=2130 adolescents in Germany) using a standardized questionnaire. Path analyses show a 3-dimensional structure of anti-Semitism (manifest AS, latent AS and 'no responsibility toward Jews') and the data fit the theoretical model. New aspects of anti-Semitic attitudes reflect the public avoidance of anti-Semitic statements and a refusal to further discuss German fault, behavior and responsibility for the Jewish people. These new aspects of anti-Semitic attitudes are also linked to a general hostility toward foreigners. It is possible to differentiate between groups of individuals with various anti-Semitic attitudes. The new aspects of anti-Semitic attitudes are concerned with present debates about German national pride among German subpopulations and about the end of 'getting over history'. The 'new' anti-Semitism in Germany may be considered as a social construction of German subpopulations designed to repress their own conceptions of 'German' problems." (author's abstract).

"The chapter shows that, on the whole, the German labour market is heading in the right direction and has shown itself to be extremely robust, particularly in times of crisis. Nonetheless, further progress will not come about of its own accord. This is first and foremost because people who lose their jobs in Germany have a higher risk of remaining without work for a fairly long period of time. However, after ten years of basic income support, the balance does not point towards a reform of the reform. Rather it is a question of the targeted further development of SGB II (Book II of the Social Code), which is making contributions to an overall successful employment policy and, with that, is continuing to counteract the persistence in unemployment, an aspect which can still be viewed critically. Sound approaches are to be seen in the even more professional management of cases, in improving the employability of those groups of persons concerned, and in the prevention of long-term benefit receipt." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku)

Die Popularität des Begriffs "Leistungseliten" ist nicht zuletzt auf die Vermengung des Konzepts der wissenschaftlichen Exzellenz mit dem der Elitenperformanz zurückzuführen. Beide Konzepte müssen jedoch analytisch unterschieden werden, da für die Erlangung gesellschaftlicher und politischer Führungspositionen neben einer exzellenten Fachausbildung weitere Qualifikationen erforderlich sind, die erst im Verlauf der Berufskarriere erworben werden. Die vorherrschenden Muster der Elitenrekrutierung werden vielfach als inadäquat kritisiert. Unter Verweis auf die besseren Aufstiegschancen von Kindern aus Familien mit höherem sozialem Status wird einerseits der meritokratische Charakter der Elitenrekrutierung in Zweifel gezogen. In der Praxis sind diese allerdings primär auf den Zusammenhang zwischen sozialer Herkunft und Bildungschancen zurückzuführen. Andererseits wird mit der Einrichtung von Eliteuniversitäten die Hoffnung auf eine Steigerung der Qualifikation der Eliten verbunden. Die Dominanz der Absolventen von Eliteuniversitäten in den Eliten Frankreichs, Großbritanniens und der USA ist jedoch nicht nur auf deren akademische Exzellenz, sondern mindestens ebenso sehr auf ihre Exklusivität zurückzuführen. Daher erhöht die Existenz von Eliteuniversitäten die soziale Selektivität der Elitenrekrutierung. (DIPF/Orig.).;;;The current popularity of the concept of "meritocratic elites" is at least partly due to its critical potential. It combines two important aspects of assessing elites, academic excellence and elite performance. These two aspects have to be analytically distinguished, however. Elite roles imply a complex mixture of qualifications many of which are not taught within the educational system, but have to be acquired on the job. The prevailing patterns of elite recruitment are frequently blamed for selecting individuals with inadequate qualification. While social critics have argued that family background is more important for advancement to elite positions than meritocratic criteria, conservatives claim that only elite universities may provide the appropriate training ground for future elites. With respect to the first criticism, statistical controls for educational level show that the disproportionate share of children from upper-class background in the elites is primarily due to the association of family background with educational opportunities. Conversely, evidence from France, Great Britain and the U.S. reveals that having a degree from an elite university is a distinct advantage for achieving elite positions. However, this is not only due to the academic excellence of these elite universities, but at least as much to their exclusive nature. Elite recruitment in those countries is therefore socially even more selective. (DIPF/Orig.).

"The article describes the period of the 1980s from the perspective of regional differentiation as a not sharply contoured phase during which present policy structures and processes in Germany were initiated. It analyses significant aspects of transformation processes of the political culture and of structures of social representation, which increased in batches in the wake of the secular value change at the end of the 1970s. Conventional forms of policy making became of less and less importance in the parliamentary pluralistic Federal Republic dominated by parties and pressure groups. The conflict-laden contradiction between well-engineered planning scenarios and claims of participation was carried out not only within, but more and more frequently outside the existing institutions of democratic representation. A swiftly growing number of local and regional Bürgerinitiativen (campaigns initiated by concerned citizens) emerged. Initially, the West German party system was not yet affected by this development. But already during the early 1980s, traditional allegiances to different social milieux and parties began to erode, in particular where the 'organised civil society' originated from the milieu of the New Social Movements took shape at regional and local level. This involved a loss of significance of the three main actors of the economic system of corporatism - employers, employees and lobbyists -which essentially shaped the Bonn Republic. As early as the 1980s, federal and local administrations as protagonists of the extensive provision of services for the public ceased seeing themselves merely as governmental agencies of modernisation in this scenario of change. Again, this functional change initially started at local and regional level and quickly gained importance across the board alter the turn of the millennium." (author's abstract)

The article presents the findings of two large international comparative social research projects, the project 'GLOBALIFE - life courses in the globalisation process' and the research network 'TransEurope', on the effects of globalisation processes on individual life course patterns in modern societies. On the basis of an index for measuring the multidimensional phenomenon of globalisation, it is demonstrated how this phenomenon can be illustrated and how its historical development can be traced empirically. Based on a comparative analysis of life course patterns from seven European countries (Belgium, Germany, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands), we examine if and which ways the globalisation process has impacted on selected aspects of life and employment histories of women and men in modern industrial societies. The results show that globalisation has not contributed to a generalisation of risks and an accelerated development of patchwork careers. Rather, globalisation-induced risks concentrate systematically on specific groups in the labour market. Country-specific welfare state institutions and different modes of labour market regulation 'filter' the globalisation process and contribute to a wide diversity of 'globalisation effects' among different modern industrialised countries. (IAB)