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This article addresses the paucity of social work political biographies by suggesting a novel approach of combining constructivist grounded theory and biographical inquiry methodologies as a recommended way of exploring the neglected field of social work political biographies. Both approaches have their roots in the democratic turn in social sciences research in the 1960s, which should increase their appeal to radical social work researchers. Political biographies of social workers are increasingly important at a time of neoliberal hegemony and the desire to see more social work politicians (Gwilym, 2017). It is hoped that the article will help to generate further interest in the neglected field of social work political biographies and encourage other researchers to engage with this field.

In diesem Beitrag befasse ich mich mit ethischen Herausforderungen der Biografieforschung am Beispiel eigener Erfahrungen im Rahmen einer Studie im Feld der politischen Partizipation. Im ersten Teil diskutiere ich grundsätzliche ethische Fragen der Biografieforschung, die mit der Erhebung und Auswertung von biografisch-narrativen Interviews einhergehen. Im zweiten Teil des Beitrages werden exemplarisch forschungsethische Aspekte und Probleme skizziert, die im Verlauf der Feldforschung aufgetreten sind und die Prämissen einer rekonstruktiv vorgehenden Biografieforschung herausfordern. Dazu gehören die informierte Einwilligung als dialogischer Prozess sowie die Anonymisierung und Rückmeldung von biografischen Daten in einem hochsensiblen Feld. Abschließend gehe ich der Frage nach, welche Möglichkeiten und Grenzen das Format der Forschungswerkstatt für die Reflexion von ethischen Fragen in der Biografieforschung bietet. ; In this article, I am dealing with ethical challenges in biographical research drawing on my research experiences in the context of a study in the field of political participation. In the first part, I discuss general ethical questions in biographical research related to the collection and the analysis of biographical narrative interviews. In the second part, I sketch specific ethical aspects and problems that arose from the research process and that challenge the premises of reconstructive biographical analysis. Among these are informed consent as a dialogical process, the anonymization of biographical data, and the reporting back of biographical data in a highly sensible field. I conclude by discussing the possibilities and limits of the research workshop setting for the reflection of ethical questions in biographical research.

In this article, I am dealing with ethical challenges in biographical research drawing on my research experiences in the context of a study in the field of political participation. In the first part, I discuss general ethical questions in biographical research related to the collection and the analysis of biographical narrative interviews. In the second part, I sketch specific ethical aspects and problems that arose from the research process and that challenge the premises of reconstructive biographical analysis. Among these are informed consent as a dialogical process, the anonymization of biographical data, and the reporting back of biographical data in a highly sensible field. I conclude by discussing the possibilities and limits of the research workshop setting for the reflection of ethical questions in biographical research. ; In diesem Beitrag befasse ich mich mit ethischen Herausforderungen der Biografieforschung am Beispiel eigener Erfahrungen im Rahmen einer Studie im Feld der politischen Partizipation. Im ersten Teil diskutiere ich grundsätzliche ethische Fragen der Biografieforschung, die mit der Erhebung und Auswertung von biografisch-narrativen Interviews einhergehen. Im zweiten Teil des Beitrages werden exemplarisch forschungsethische Aspekte und Probleme skizziert, die im Verlauf der Feldforschung aufgetreten sind und die Prämissen einer rekonstruktiv vorgehenden Biografieforschung herausfordern. Dazu gehören die informierte Einwilligung als dialogischer Prozess sowie die Anonymisierung und Rückmeldung von biografischen Daten in einem hochsensiblen Feld. Abschließend gehe ich der Frage nach, welche Möglichkeiten und Grenzen das Format der Forschungswerkstatt für die Reflexion von ethischen Fragen in der Biografieforschung bietet.

Since the explosion of the so-called "refugee crisis" in 2015 and the introduction of increasingly restrictive policies, at both national and international level, aimed at preventing migrants from crossing European borders, the topic of irregular migration over the Mediterranean has gained high visibility in public debate as well as on the international research agenda. While in the past most research in this field was based on analysing official data and institutional records, media coverage and interviews with experts, more recently the use of biographical narratives and life histories – two of the main tools that allow complex spheres, such as those related to emotions, memory and identity, to be explored – has become more widespread. These pieces of research actually provide a unique insight into the phenomenon and thus contrast with official representations and state-oriented accounts, often ideologically biased and more inclined to assess the success or failure of legislative measures or administrative and law-enforcement strategies. The accounts given by refugees, those who escaped from conflict and persecution, and so-called clandestine exiles, however, often recall the memories of those who survived the most notorious massacres of the twentieth century. The violence, humiliation and suffering that migrants increasingly experience on their journeys to Europe not only requires a critical synthesis of the historical and social matrices and asymmetrical power structures that contribute to producing the status of clandestinity and that have created an enormous underwater cemetery in the Mediterranean Sea. They also force social scientists to consider that these complex social phenomena lie within an intricate web of relationships and dynamics that cannot be properly investigated and governed without an adequate understanding of their crucial human dimension. On the one hand, migrants are often construed by the media as pure and naked victims of events, universal objects of sympathy, to be looked at with pietas and sorrow, or simply lives who do not matter, given the generalized state of collective atrophy in European public opinion. And yet, on the other, all this imagery often diverts our attention, preventing it from focusing on their agency, resources and abilities which, on the contrary, often resist and struggle against dominant narratives and, if adequately dealt with, might have crucial implications for a new approach towards the governance of the phenomenon. In this regard, adopting a politics of the voice, aimed not only at providing migrants with the chance to speak for themselves but also at reshaping the conditions of visibility of their narratives and subjectivities within the wider public arena, often struggles with the methodological and ethical implications of our work as social scientists and most likely requires a more critical assessment of the tools generally used in this field.

The paper deals with the ethical aspects of the research process and contemporary changes in this field, which make the discussion on ethical dilemmas and concerns more dynamic and varied. Although in natural science and social sciences one can find a common ground related to the most general ethical principles. In the article I refer primarily to the social sciences. The article discusses three aspects affecting the dynamics of ethical discussions: the development of research in the field of natural sciences leading to many ethical dilemmas and forcing ethical codification of research proceedings also in the area of social sciences; the increase in sensitivity and social consciousness and not only awareness of research as such (processes of democratization, emphasizing human and animal rights, protection of minority rights, the process of individualization); the dynamics of contemporary social changes resulting from the development of technology, especially the Internet, which has become a global resource of data and their exchange. This forces qualitative researchers to consider the issue of data archiving, their reanalysis, and determining the boundary for creating Big Qualidata from them. The article discusses these three dimensions, with particular emphasis on the last of them, which will be commented on in relation to the specific methodological approach, which is biographical research.

The paper deals with the ethical aspects of the research process and contemporary changes in this field, which make the discussion on ethical dilemmas and concerns more dynamic and varied. Although in natural science and social sciences one can find a common ground related to the most general ethical principles. In the article I refer primarily to the social sciences. The article discusses three aspects affecting the dynamics of ethical discussions: the development of research in the field of natural sciences leading to many ethical dilemmas and forcing ethical codification of research proceedings also in the area of social sciences; the increase in sensitivity and social consciousness and not only awareness of research as such (processes of democratization, emphasizing human and animal rights, protection of minority rights, the process of individualization); the dynamics of contemporary social changes resulting from the development of technology, especially the Internet, which has become a global resource of data and their exchange. This forces qualitative researchers to consider the issue of data archiving, their reanalysis, and determining the boundary for creating Big Qualidata from them. The article discusses these three dimensions, with particular emphasis on the last of them, which will be commented on in relation to the specific methodological approach, which is biographical research.

Este artículo analiza la epistemología básica de la metodología de investigación biográfica. Dicho análisis se sustenta empíricamente en la historia de vida de un joven marroquí que llegó a España de manera ilegal y tras un proceso de justicia juvenil se convirtió en educador social. Se examinan algunos aspectos metodológicos de este caso, incluyendo la hermenéutica biográfica; los conceptos 'relato de vida' e 'historia de vida', habitualmente confundidos; las principales características del método, incluyendo la visión del 'otro'; la vida como proceso; y la idea de sujeto. Las dimensiones educativa, ética y política analizadas hacen visibles contra-narrativas que cuestionan el estatus quo y persiguen la justicia social. ; This article analyses the basic epistemology of biographical research methodology. This analysis is grounded on the life history of a Moroccan boy who entered Spain illegally, but after being processed by the juvenile justice system, became a social educator. Some methodological aspects of this case are examined, including biographical hermeneutics; the often-confused concepts of 'life story' and 'life history'; the main characteristics of the method, including the usually neglected vision of the 'other'; life as a process; and the idea of subject. The educational, ethical, and political dimensions analysed make visible counter-narratives that question the status quo and pursue social justice.

Das Historische Seminar der Universität Tübingen hat unter Leitung von Bernhard Mann ein 'Handbuch der Mitglieder des preußischen Abgeordnetenhauses 1867-1918' mit den wichtigsten biographischen und politischen Daten der Abgeordneten erarbeitet. Es handelt sich dabei um ein 'Nebenprodukt' von Studien des Projektleiters zur Geschichte des preußischen Landtags im Kaiserreich, bei denen sich das Fehlen eines zuverlässigen und leicht greifbaren biographischen Nachschlagewerks als gravierender Mangel herausgestellt hatte. Der Beitrag zeigt, in welcher Weise das 'Tübinger System von Textverarbeitungs-Programmen' (TUSTEP) bei der Herstellung des Handbuches genutzt wurde, um die Auswertung von Quellen, die Ergänzung und Korrektur der Daten und schließlich die Aufbereitung des Datensatzes für die Publikation effektiver zu bewältigen. TUSTEP wurde zwar für den literaturwissenschaftlichen Bereich entwickelt, speziell für Texteditionen, wegen seines modularen, flexiblen Charakters kann es aber viele Anwendungsbereiche abdecken und ist ohne größere EDV-Kenntnisse anwendbar. ; The Handbook contains short biographies of the 2659 members of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies during the period 1867-1918. The quantity of the material induced us to use electronic data-processing. The 'Tübinger System von Textverarbeitungs-Programmen' (TUSTEP) enabled us to manage research, completement and correction of data as well as their preparation for statistical analysis. Publication was considerably made easier by a great flexibility in arranging the biographical information, by automatic index-making and above all by automatic type-setting.

This article analyses the basic epistemology of biographical research methodology. This analysis is grounded on the life history of a Moroccan boy who entered Spain illegally, but after being processed by the juvenile justice system, became a social educator. Some methodological aspects of this case are examined, including biographical hermeneutics; the often-confused concepts of 'life story' and 'life history'; the main characteristics of the method, including the usually neglected vision of the 'other'; life as a process; and the idea of subject. The educational, ethical, and political dimensions analysed make visible counter-narratives that question the status quo and pursue social justice. ; Este artículo analiza la epistemología básica de la metodología de investigación biográfica. Dicho análisis se sustenta empíricamente en la historia de vida de un joven marroquí que llegó a España de manera ilegal y tras un proceso de justicia juvenil se convirtió en educador social. Se examinan algunos aspectos metodológicos de este caso, incluyendo la hermenéutica biográfica; los conceptos 'relato de vida' e 'historia de vida', habitualmente confundidos; las principales características del método, incluyendo la visión del 'otro'; la vida como proceso; y la idea de sujeto. Las dimensiones educativa, ética y política analizadas hacen visibles contra-narrativas que cuestionan el estatus quo y persiguen la justicia social. ; Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación

This article explores the selected cases of the biographies of right-wing supporters from a larger sample of narrative interviews with young (18-35 years old) people in Poland and Germany. In the existing literature, we can find the socio-economic explanations of the sources of the right-wing turn (related to economic deprivation, precarisation, social exclusion, labor market competition with immigrants and others), as well as cultural explanations connected with new identity politics, symbolic exclusion and divide between society and political elites, the disembedding from previously solid communities, and the fear of new risks related to the inflow of cultural Others. Despite notable exceptions, it is rather uncommon to discuss in this context the actual biographical experiences of right-wing and far-right supporters. In the article, we take a closer look at four biographical cases of people declaring their political support for far right parties. The analysis of the cases leads to the distinction of socio-economic and socio-political pathways to right-wing populist support. ; This article was prepared within the project PREWORK ("Young Precarious Workers in Poland and Germany: A Comparative Sociological Study on Working and Living Conditions, Social Consciousness and Civic Engagement") funded by the National Science Center in Poland and the German Research Foundation (DFG), the NCN project number UMO-2014/15/G/HS4/04476, the DFG project number TR1378/1-1

This article explores the selected cases of the biographies of right-wing supporters from a larger sample of narrative interviews with young (18-35 years old) people in Poland and Germany. In the existing literature, we can find the socio-economic explanations of the sources of the right-wing turn (related to economic deprivation, precarisation, social exclusion, labor market competition with immigrants and others), as well as cultural explanations connected with new identity politics, symbolic exclusion and divide between society and political elites, the disembedding from previously solid communities, and the fear of new risks related to the inflow of cultural Others. Despite notable exceptions, it is rather uncommon to discuss in this context the actual biographical experiences of right-wing and far-right supporters. In the article, we take a closer look at four biographical cases of people declaring their political support for far right parties. The analysis of the cases leads to the distinction of socio-economic and socio-political pathways to right-wing populist support.

In den aktuellen Überlegungen der im Anschluss an Michel FOUCAULT ausgearbeiteten Gouvernementality-Studies werden im Zuge der Formierung neuer (neoliberaler) Regierungsrationalitäten auch neue Subjektivierungsweisen konstatiert. Diese Subjektivierungsweisen sind – FOUCAULT folgend – als Effekte diskursiver Praktiken zu begreifen. Bisher offen geblieben ist aber die forschungsmethodische Erschließung von diskursiven Effekten. Denn während von Seiten der Diskursforschung bisher nur neue Subjektivierungsweisen deklariert wurden, ohne sie aber methodisch einzuholen, wurden von Seiten der Biographieforschung nur die subjektiven Verortungen betrachtet, ohne sie mit den sie umgebenden Diskursen systematisch zu verbinden. Um dieses Desiderat zu beheben und die diskursiven Effekte, die Subjektpositionierungen, methodisch zu erfassen, wird hier eine methodische Koppelung von Diskursanalyse und Biographieforschung vorgeschlagen, um damit den Defiziten beider Forschungstraditionen beizukommen. Am Beispiel der in Juchitán/Südmexiko auffindbaren Subjektpositionierung muxé wird die vorgeschlagene Methodenkoppelung exemplarisch veranschaulicht. Dem hier vorgestellten Vorgehen liegt die These zugrunde, dass biographische Erzählungen einerseits von Diskursen durchdrungen sind und die biographischen Erzählungen andererseits Hinweise auf die Materialisierung von Diskursen sowie auf das über die Diskurse Hinausgehende geben. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs070268 ; Recent reflections on governmentality studies which are based on Michel FOUCAULT, ascertain new forms of subjectivation within the frame of new (neoliberal) rationalities of government. Following FOUCAULT, these forms of subjectivation are seen as effects of discursive practices. However, there is no way yet on adequate methods for grasping discursive effects. For closing this gap and finding adequate methods to study discursive effects, the subject positions, I will suggest a methodical link between discourse-analysis and biography-analysis. Linking these two research ...

This article explores the use of biographies in qualitative research about collective memory. It is argued that commemorative ceremonies, as well as changes appearing in macro-level structures within the time-span of individuals' life histories need to be included when analyzing biographies in collective memory studies. The article suggests enhancement of the biographical case reconstruction method (Rosenthal 1993; 2004) with two additional stages: analysis of the experienced past with more emphasis on socio-historical transformations; and inclusion and analysis of the ethnographical data collected from collective mnemonic practices. By providing empirical data from the research conducted with political exiles in Germany, these analytical steps of the method of socio-historical analysis are demonstrated in detail.

This article explores the use of biographies in qualitative research about collective memory. It is argued that commemorative ceremonies, as well as changes appearing in macro-level structures within the time-span of individuals' life histories need to be included when analyzing biographies in collective memory studies. The article suggests enhancement of the biographical case reconstruction method (Rosenthal 1993; 2004) with two additional stages: analysis of the experienced past with more emphasis on socio-historical transformations; and inclusion and analysis of the ethnographical data collected from collective mnemonic practices. By providing empirical data from the research conducted with political exiles in Germany, these analytical steps of the method of socio-historical analysis are demonstrated in detail.

The text focuses on discussions about the "world of life" and its interfaces with conceptual notions of experiences and events for the field of (auto)biographical research, in the strand of research-training. Experiential and formative dispositions built in the context of the Research Group (Auto)biography, Education and Oral History (Grupo de Pesquisa (Auto)biografia, Formação e História Oral - GRAFHO), in a discursive and textual dialectic, allow me to theorize, in an archaeological digression, ways in which life-education-profession intertwine and unfold as an epistemological and political option of work in the field of (auto)biographical research. The idea of an event as a discourse, as a practice and (auto)biographical disposition, is inscribed as potent for the analysis that will be carried out, as I will seek to situate events-experiences that make it possible to intertwine dimensions about life and education; dialogues about self-writing, narratives and teacher training; training and research practices; and, finally, challenges and epistemological openings of the (auto)biographical research. ; El texto se centra en discusiones sobre el "mundo de vida" y sus interfaces con nociones conceptuales de experiencia y acontecimiento para el campo de la investigación (auto)biográfica, en la vertiente de investigación-formación. Disposiciones experienciales y formativas construidas en el contexto del Grupo de Investigación (Auto)biografía, Formación e Historia Oral (GRAFHO), en una dialéctica discursiva y textual me han permitido tematizar —con cierta digresión arqueológica— los modos como vida-formación-profesión se entrecruzan y desdoblan como una opción epistemológica y política de trabajo en el campo de la indagación (auto)biográfica. La idea de acontecimiento como discurso, como práctica y disposición (auto)biográfica se inscribe como potente para el análisis que será realizado en la medida en que buscaré situar acontecimientos-experiencias que posibilitan articular dimensiones sobre la vida y la formación; diálogos sobre escritura de si, narrativas y formación de profesores; prácticas de formación e investigación y, al fin, desafíos y aperturas epistemológicas de la investigación (auto)biográfica.