Archives de catégorie : Mémoires, Thèses, HDR / Theses, PhD, Dissertations

On the Value of Information Security Policies in Organizations: A Convention Theory Perspective

Dominik Zellhofer (2023)

PhD thesis. Vienna: Vienne University of Economics and Business.

Abstract. Due to the widespread use of information technology, information security has become an important issue for all organizations. Organizational information security policies are an important part of efforts to formalize secure practices. Despite extensive research on (non-)compliance with these policies, theoretical approaches to the question of why information security-related practices deviate from organizational policies lack sociological perspectives. This dissertation addresses this gap in literature and presents a qualitative study based on the theoretical perspective of the economies of convention (EC). A single case study method is used to investigate an organization after its ISO/IEC27001 certification. The study discusses how to successfully integrate information security policies into organizational coordination and why efforts to do so can fail. The developed EC-perspective shows that value-based disputes about information security policies and practices call for compromises that qualify policies and their related practices as relevant to organizational coordination. It describes how individuals use justification and critique to settle these disputes. The findings also highlight the importance of situational factors, the role of information technology and other objects, and how policies and controls affect the personal attachment of actors to their work environment. The developed models and frameworks can be useful for future research to analyze the coordination between actors in organizations. Implications for practice suggest that information security practitioners must compromise between conflicting values and goals, that they must account for situational deviances from policies, and consider the impact of information security policies and controls on habits and innovative behavior of employees.

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Pour une sociologie du marketing

For a sociology of marketing

Kevin Mellet (2023)

Habilitation à diriger des recherches – 23/06/23 – Sciences Po Paris

Le jury : 

  • Eve Chiapello, Directrice d’études, EHESS
  • Franck Cochoy, Professeur des universités, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès
  • Emmanuel Didier, Directeur de recherche CNRS, Centre Maurice Halbwachs, ENS Paris
  • Sophie Dubuisson-Quellier, Directrice de recherche CNRS, Sciences Po (garante)
  • Sylvain Parasie, Professeur des universités, Sciences Po

Résumé. Le mémoire original propose une analyse sociologique originale des activités et des enjeux contemporains du marketing. Je propose de caractériser la sociologie du marketing à partir de trois mouvements : son inscription dans des questions de sociologie générale ; son engagement dans une démarche empirique ; sa prise en compte des questions de valeurs. Ce mémoire original comprend deux parties de taille à peu près équivalente.
La première est une synthèse de la littérature en sociologie du marketing (projet éditorial pour la collection Repères des éditions La Découverte).
La seconde rassemble des enquêtes originales portant sur : l’histoire des études de marché ; les outils numériques de construction de la « valeur client » ; les professionnels de la publicité face au règlement européen sur les données personnelles. La perspective développée situe le marketing à la confluence du marché, des organisations productives et de la consommation, l’inscrit dans l’histoire longue des techniques productives et marchandes et des savoirs économiques, et éclaire les effets produits sur ces activités par l’usage croissants des techniques et données digitales.

Abstract. This original dissertation offers an original sociological analysis of contemporary marketing activities and issues. I propose to characterize the sociology of marketing on the basis of three movements: its inclusion in questions of general sociology; its commitment to an empirical approach; and its consideration of questions of value. This original dissertation comprises two parts of roughly equal size.
The first is a synthesis of the literature on the sociology of marketing (an editorial project for the Repères collection published by La Découverte).
The second brings together original surveys on: the history of market research; digital tools for constructing “customer value”; advertising professionals and the European regulation on personal data. The perspective developed situates marketing at the confluence of the market, productive organizations and consumption, places it within the long history of productive and commercial techniques and economic knowledge, and sheds light on the effects produced on these activities by the growing use of digital techniques and data.

Il senso morale. Studio sulle convenzioni sociali nella sfera d’azione della reciprocità. Il caso della sperimentazione Mag6 sul Reddito di Esistenza universale ed incondizionato

Moral sense. A study of social conventions in the sphere of action of reciprocity. The case of the Mag6 experiment on universal and unconditional Existence Income

Simone Michelangelo Muzzioli (2022)

PhD thesis. Verona: University of Verona

Coordinatore: Prof.re Domenico Secondulfo
Tutor: Prof.re Giorgio Gosetti

Abstract. The aim of this research is to investigate the moral sense in its subjective and collective forms, through the analysis of the empiric manifestations their interaction produces: the social conventions. Particularly, our goal has been focused on the comprehension of the social coordination, that is to say the study of the ways social actors find an agreement on their conducts, both explicitly and implicitly. Therefore, we took advantage from the theoretical equipment made available by the School of the Economy of the Conventions (and especially from the main works of its founders, Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot). In fact, we have recognized the relevance for sociological research to put more strength on the relevance of the role of subjective moral sense in the explanation of social action in advanced capitalist societies. That is why it has been assumed as the main object of our research. But this assumption has not been clear right from the beginning of this study. Tracing an ironic parallel with our object, it has rather been the outcome of a process. Thus, it took shape a three steps sociological research. In the first phase, we could understood the symbolic level of our research and, consequently, draft its design, thanks to an exploratory grounded theory analysis. In the second one, we found a profitable case study by which conduct our core analysis on moral sense. In the third, we come to an end of our work, providing for a beneficial interpretation of the main findings. We have applied this theoretical approach and this research pathway to the pragmatic issues springing from the contemporary socioeconomic crisis. To this end, we have recognized our work field in those social conventions featuring the universe of meanings stemming from the overlapping of two different kinds of social phenomena: the paradigmatic shifts of the capitalist system and the contemporary shrinking of Welfare State. We have read the intertwining among the technological transformations, the globalizing exchanges, the scarcity and the precarization of labor and the reduction of social protection devices as driving elements of renewed social question. In the space shaped by this social question find place the conflict between the common concept of fordist work and the availability of a decent income for individual life building. In general terms, we have become aware of how this space represents for the collective imaginary a symbolic arena, that we called the common world of wealth redistribution, where people define their reciprocity relationships, both materially and culturally. By the study of the justifications populating this common world (social conventions and their related principles of justice), it has been possible to highlight how there exists basically two different forms of the collective moral sense ruling the reciprocity sphere: the distinctive, and the similarity one. Moreover, both forms are ascribable to an anthropological approach that every social actors shows when he is called to judge the generalized other. Both forms are made by two different sets of social conventions, which each one calls for a diverse anthropological approach. On one side, the distinctive form is featured by selective and conditional conventions, on the other, the similarity one is made up by universal and unconditional conventions. Reckoning also with the role played by the universal equivalent (money) in the objectification of our actors redistributive bonds, we could recognize how the existing need for reciprocity (belonging to both forms) can be collectively satisfied also by a redistributive way apparently exchange free (Universal and Unconditional Basic Income). In fact, we took advantage of an empirical case of study (the Mag6 affaire), where an experimentation of unconditional cash transfer has been carried on by an heterogeneous group of people on two different, but strictly linked, levels of reality: the reflexive and the practical. Methodologically, we used a mixed method for data collection and their analysis. This method is known in literature as simultaneous nested research design. Thanks to this, we succeeded in exploring two different aspects of the moral sense. The qualitative one is related to the composition of its nature and of its dynamic model of transformation. Instead, the quantitative one has helped us to explore the existence of possible associations between social conventions and actors’ socioeconomic characteristics. From both this moment we got several kinds of outcomes useful, not only to describe moral sense and its dynamic, but also to stress the contradictions related to social action that arise from the clash between people’ believes (collective moral sense) and what they believe in (subjective moral sense). Finally, these outcomes have been used to satisfy our initial aim of finding elements to expand the social knowledge at our disposal to cope with contemporary social question. Thus, we conclude the third and last phase of our work through the exposition of three different types of operative conjectures, by which our findings can be employed. We made some reflections and suggestion, severally, at the heuristic level, at the theoretical and at the practical one. Specifically, we observed how a sociological reading of our outcomes opens up to some new research pathways, to different deep theoretical considerations on social phenomena (like identity, integration and reciprocity) and, last but not least, to some political and operational involvements.

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Una calidad sostenible? Las Denominaciones de Origen en la transición hacia la sostenibilidad

A sustainable quality? Appellations of Origin in the transition to sustainability

Ana Esquinas (2023)

PHD thesis. St. Gallen: University of St. Gallen.

Jury:
Sánchez, Yvette (Prof. Dr.) (Referent)
Sánchez, Luis (Prof. Dr.) (Koreferent)

Resumen. La sostenibilidad se ha convertido en una meta para todos los sistemas que cumplen una función social. Dentro de los sistemas agroalimentarios, el mundo del vino también experimenta esta presión. España es uno de los países más relevantes dentro del sector vitivinícola y ha sufrido una profunda transformación orientándose hacia un sistema de calidad basado en las denominaciones de origen. Tomando como caso de estudio las Denominaciones de Origen Protegidas de Ribera del Duero y Rueda, cuya gran reputación actual se basa en la estrategia de diferenciación por la calidad de sus vinos, ligada al origen y la tradición, investigo la potencial transición hacia la sostenibilidad de la denominación de origen como sistema sociotécnico, combinando los marcos teóricos de la perspectiva multinivel (Estudios de Transición) y la Teoría de las Convenciones. Mediante el análisis del discurso de diferentes grupos de actores asociados a la DO, argumento la existencia de un cambio en curso que sigue una trayectoria lenta de transformación. Sostengo que está relacionado con la debilidad de la demanda, orientada a la calidad, pero que aún no solicita claramente el atributo de sostenibilidad dentro de sus exigencias, lo que desincentiva la implementación de iniciativas ante el riesgo de desalinear la oferta con las exigencias de los consumidores. Las innovaciones de nicho, como la producción de vino natural, aún no están suficientemente desarrolladas. Se hallan bloqueos para la transición en el nivel del funcionamiento de la Denominación de Origen, cuyo papel en materia de sostenibilidad podría ser mucho más relevante.

Abstract. Sustainability has become a goal for all systems that fulfill a social function. Within agri-food systems, the world of wine is also experiencing this pressure. Spain is one of the most relevant countries in the wine sector and has undergone a profound transformation towards a quality system based on appellations of origin. Taking as a case study the Protected Designations of Origin of Ribera del Duero and Rueda, whose great current reputation is based on the strategy of differentiation by the quality of their wines, linked to origin and tradition, I investigate the potential transition towards the sustainability of the appellation of origin as a socio-technical system, combining the theoretical frameworks of the multilevel perspective (Transition Studies) and the Theory of Conventions. By analyzing the discourse of different groups of actors associated with the AO, I argue the existence of an ongoing change that follows a slow trajectory of transformation. I argue that it is related to the weakness of demand, which is quality-oriented, but still does not clearly request the attribute of sustainability within its requirements, which discourages the implementation of initiatives at the risk of misaligning supply with consumer demands. Niche innovations, such as natural wine production, are not yet sufficiently developed. Blockages to the transition are found at the level of the functioning of the Appellation of Origin, whose role in terms of sustainability could be much more relevant.

Link / Lien

Die Theorien in der Kulturproduktion. Aspekte der Performativität oder „How to do things with theory”

Theories in Cultural Production. Aspects of Performativity or “How to do things with theory”

Guy Schwegler (2022)

PhD thesis. Lucerne: University of Lucerne.

The thesis was defended Monday 16 January 2023 at University of Lucerne

Rainer Diaz-Bone (University of Lucerne), supervisor, referee, jury member
Günter Mey (University of applied Science Stendal), referee, jury member
Michael Hartmann (University of Lucerne), jury member

Zusammenfassung. Kultur- und sozialwissenschaftliches Wissen hat über die letzten 50 Jahre eine beständige Verbreitung erfahren und wurde zu einem festen Bestandteil gegenwärtiger Gesellschaften. Dies bezieht sich allerdings nicht nur auf die Ergebnisse der Disziplinen, sondern trifft im besonderen Maße auf deren grundlegende theoretische Konzepte zu. In verschiedensten gesellschaftlichen Bereichen repräsentiert dieses Wissen eine Ressource für die Akteur*innen, um Produktionsprozesse anzuleiten. Die Theorien liefern daher nicht nur Beschreibungen des Sozialen, sondern sie wirken „performativ“. Die Arbeit fokussiert auf den Bereich der Kulturproduktion und zeigt auf, welche Bedingungen zur Verwendung der theoretischen Konzepte außerhalb der Wissenschaft geführt haben, wie diese Konzepte in Prozessen zur Anwendung kommen und welche Veränderungen daraus folgen. Hierzu wird zuerst ein konzeptioneller sowie methodologischer Rahmen präsentiert, bevor die empirische Studie einer Kulturwelt detaillierte Einblicke in die Wirkungsweisen ermöglicht. Anhand der so verdeutlichten Aspekte der Performativität von kultur- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Theorien lässt sich schlussendlich aufzeigen, wie Kulturproduktion in gegenwärtigen Gesellschaften eine zentrale Stellung einnehmen konnte.

Abstract. Cultural and social science knowledge has experienced a steady spread over the last 50 years and has become an integral part of contemporary societies. However, this does not only refer to the results of the disciplines, but is especially true for their basic theoretical concepts. In various social fields, this knowledge represents a resource for actors to guide production processes. Therefore, the theories do not only provide descriptions of the social, but they have a “performative” effect. The thesis focuses on the field of cultural production and shows which conditions have led to the use of theoretical concepts outside of academia, how these concepts are applied in processes and which changes follow from this. For this purpose, a conceptual as well as methodological framework is presented first, before the empirical study of a cultural world provides detailed insights into the modes of action. Based on the thus clarified aspects of the performativity of cultural and social science theories, it can finally be shown how cultural production could take a central position in contemporary societies.

Auszug: “Mittels des zweiten Unterkapitels [2.2] wird das Ziel verfolgt, die aus der Wirtschaftssoziologie stammenden theoretischen Überlegungen zu übersetzen, um die Verwendung der kultur- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Theorie durch die Akteur*innen in der Kulturproduktion analysieren zu können. Hierzu werden zuerst allgemeine Überlegungen gemacht, welche „Blaupausen“ zur Ausrichtung von Prozessen in diesen theoretischen Konzepten stecken könnte. Anschließend wird die Perspektive der Arbeit auf mehrere Weisen geöffnet und erweitert: Mittels einiger aktueller Gesellschaftsdiagnosen (u.a. Reckwitz 2017; Boltanski und Esquerre 2018) sowie dem Konzept der Valorisierung wird diskutiert, wie die kultur- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Theorien insbesondere in einem gegenwärtigen Kulturkapitalismus eine Rolle spielen könnten. Um die Wertigkeiten zu konzeptualisieren, die in den Theorien stecken, wird anschließend das Modell der Qualitätskonventionen aus der sogenannten „Economie des conventions“ (EC) vorgestellt (Boltanski und Thévenot 2007; Diaz-Bone 2018a) und mit weiteren theoretischen Überlegungen zur Anwendung von Theorien in der Kulturproduktion ergänzt. Diese ergänzte und erweiterte Perspektive der Arbeit soll allgemein fassen können, in welchen Zusammenhängen die Performativität der kultur- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Theorie auftritt.” (S. 23/24)

Extract: “By means of the second subchapter [2.2] the aim is pursued to translate the theoretical considerations originating from economic sociology in order to be able to analyze the use of cultural and social science theory by the actors in cultural production. For this purpose, first general considerations are made, which “blueprints” for the orientation of processes could be found in these theoretical concepts. Then, the perspective of the paper will be opened and broadened in several ways: by means of some recent social diagnoses (including Reckwitz 2017; Boltanski and Esquerre 2018) and the concept of valorization, it will be discussed how the theories of cultural and social sciences could play a role especially in a contemporary cultural capitalism. To conceptualize the valorizations inherent in the theories, the model of quality conventions from the so-called “Economie des conventions” (EC) is then presented (Boltanski and Thévenot 2007; Diaz-Bone 2018a) and complemented with further theoretical considerations on the application of theories in cultural production. This supplemented and expanded perspective of the work should be able to grasp in general terms in which contexts the performativity of cultural and sociological theory occurs.” (p. 23/24)

La digitalisation comme convention d’effort multiniveau

Digitalization as a multilevel effort convention

Etude de la diffusion du Building Information modeling (BIM) dans une entreprise française de construction [Study of the diffusion of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in a French construction company]. PhD thesis

Roland Bessenay
https://www.theses.fr/2022LYSE3010

Résumé. Tandis que la digitalisation du travail est décrite par les milieux stratégiques et managériaux comme une transformation nécessaire et souhaitable, elle rencontre simultanément une résistance parmi certains professionnels. La littérature gestionnaire interprète généralement cette rupture soit à l’échelle « macro », en étudiant comment les usagers résistent à certaines pressions appliquées à l’ensemble d’une organisation ou d’un secteur, soit à l’échelle « micro », en décrivant des processus locaux de contournement des outils digitaux par les usagers. La présente thèse propose de réunir ces deux échelles en mobilisant une approche « multiniveau », consistant à étudier comment la digitalisation se diffuse à différents niveaux afin de transformer la façon dont les professionnels se représentent leur propre activité. Pour comprendre à la fois le rôle spécifique de chacun des niveaux dans cette diffusion ainsi que leurs influences réciproques, nous mobilisons le modèle structural des conventions, et définissons la digitalisation comme une convention d’effort, c’est-à-dire comme une remise en cause de l’effort que les usagers-professionnels appliquent dans leur travail. En étudiant un cas d’adoption du Building Information Modeling (BIM), une base de données modélisable et partagée promue au sein d’une entreprise française de construction, nous montrons comment le niveau institutionnel, composé d’éditeurs de logiciel et de consultants, légitime l’usage du BIM dans l’effort quotidien des professionnels ; comment le niveau organisationnel, composé des cadres digitaux de l’entreprise étudiée, prescrit son mode d’usage, et comment les deux niveaux professionnels, composés des concepteurs de plan en bureau d’étude et des exécutants de bâtiment sur chantier, réalisent (ou non) ce nouvel effort. En outre, nous montrons comment chaque niveau est influencé dans sa diffusion par ses interactions avec les autres niveaux, et parvenons à expliquer grâce à ce phénomène pourquoi les concepteurs acceptent le BIM, et pourquoi les exécutants le refusent. D’un point de vue théorique, ces résultats nous permettent de lire par le même cadre heuristique les interactions intra et inter niveaux, ainsi que d’interpréter leurs effets sur les représentations des professionnels. Ils reconsidèrent également le phénomène de digitalisation, en voyant celui-ci non pas uniquement comme un moyen rationnel de « désiloter » l’entreprise, mais aussi comme une multitude de médiations construites par le mimétisme non-intentionnel de ses acteurs. D’un point de vue managérial, cette recherche énonce diverses recommandations stratégiques à travers une typologie des modes de digitalisation, et enjoint les organisations à interagir avec leurs professionnels en développant des espaces de discussion sur les transformations du travail.

Abstract. While the digitization of work is described by strategic and managerial circles as a necessary and desirable transformation, it also meets resistance among certain professionals actors. Management literature generally interprets this rupture either on a “macro” scale, by studying how users resist to some pressures applied across an organization or a sector, either on a “micro” scale, by describing local processes of circumvention of digital tools by users. This thesis proposes to combine these two scales by mobilizing a “multilevel” approach, consisting in studying how digitalization spreads at different levels in order to transform the way professionals represent their own activity. To understand both the specific role of each level in this diffusion as well as their mutual influences, we mobilize the structural model of conventions, and define digitalization as an effort convention, i.e. as a reconsideration of the effort that user-professionals apply in their work. By studying a case of adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM), a shared modelling database promoted within a French construction company, we show how the institutional level, composed of software editors and consultants, legitimizes the use of BIM in the daily effort of professionals; how the organizational level, composed of the digital executives of the studied company, prescribes its usage mode, and how the two professional levels, composed of the plan designers in the design office and the building executors on the building site, realize (or not) this new effort. Moreover, we show how each level is influenced by its interactions with the other levels, and we manage to explain through this phenomenon why designers accept BIM, and why executors refuse it. From a theoretical perspective, these results allow us to read intra and inter level interactions through the same heuristic framework, as well as to interpret their effects on the professionals’ representations. They also reconsider the phenomenon of digitalization, by seeing it not only as a rational way to integrate the company, but also as a multiplicity of mediations constructed by the unintentional mimetism of its actors. From a managerial standpoint, this research provides various strategic recommendations through a typology of digitization modes, and urges organizations to interact with their professionals by developing discussion spaces on work transformations.

Jury:
Hélène Delacour, Professeur des Universités, Université de Lorraine, Rapportrice
Albert David, Professeur des Universités, Université Paris Dauphine-PSL, Rapporteur
Bérangère Szostak, Professeur des Universités, Université de Lorraine, Examinatrice
Jean-Fabrice Lebraty, Professeur des Universités, Université Lyon 3, Examinateur
Xavier Lecocq, Professeur des Universités, Université de Lille, Examinateur
Pierre-Yves Gomez, Professeur, EM Lyon Business School, Directeur de thèse

Soutenue le 05-04-2022 à Lyon , dans le cadre de École doctorale Sciences économiques et gestion (University Jean Moulin Lyon).
Download link: https://www.theses.fr/2022LYSE3010/document

Beleid, beoordeling enaanvraag: eenwisselwerking? De case van subsidies voor beeldend kunstenaars

Policy, review and application: an interaction? The case of grants for visual artists

Julia Peters (2022)

PhD thesis. Gent: University of Gent

How does the state influence the arts field? In Flanders and Brussels, artists and arts organizations can apply for state subsidies. You already read about that in previous sections. Now you can assume that arts policy influences, for example, the way applicants express themselves in their subsidy dossiers. Or on the way those files are evaluated. In doing so, the state influences the careers of artists and the development of arts organizations. That state is not static. Arts policy changes over time. And those changes should therefore leave traces in the history of grant applications and evaluations. These are the starting points of the following paragraphs. You will learn more about the interaction between policy changes, shifts in the language of applicants, and the evolution of assessment and grant distribution.

You read here the result of Julia Peters’ (2022) doctoral research on the subsidization of visual artists by the Flemish government (and its administrative predecessors). This for the period 1965-2015. First you get a historical sketch of the policy for visual artists. That in the context of the broader cultural policy of the Flemish government (and older institutions) since the 1960s. Next comes a substantive analysis of individual artists’ grant applications. The focus is on the justifications they use to convince evaluators of their case. Do these justifications change over time? And if so, how? Do you see historical developments in policy reflected in them?

Lien / Link

Une lecture conventionnaliste de l’évolution des pratiques de comptabilité carbone relativement aux transactions du marché carbone, en absence de normalization

A conventionalist reading of the evolution of carbon accounting practices in relation to carbon market transactions, in the absence of standardization

Etienne Clermont (2022)

PhD thesis. Montréal: Université du Québec à Montréal

Résumé. Dans le contexte des changements climatiques, plusieurs nations ont choisi les marchés du carbone comme mécanisme pour forcer une réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre par les sociétés polluantes. De plus en plus de ces sociétés polluantes doivent maintenant adhérer aux marchés du carbone impliquant aussi qu’elles doivent choisir une méthode de comptabilité carbone, car ces mécanismes ont amené de nouvelles transactions à comptabiliser (quotas d’émission de carbone, obligations liées à la remise de ces quotas) et ce en l’absence de norme comptable spécifique sur le sujet. Dans cette thèse nous nous intéressons au développement des pratiques comptables en l’absence de norme de comptabilité financière spécifique. Pour comprendre les modalités de création d’un accord en matière de comptabilité carbone, une méthodologie en trois volets est utilisée. Dans le volet 1, nous analysons l’évolution des pratiques de comptabilité carbone d’un groupe de 87 émetteurs assujettis du Global Fortune 500 sur cinq années durant la période de 2005 à 2018. Une analyse de contenu de 431 rapports annuels est faite pour répertorier les méthodes comptables des émetteurs assujettis de l’échantillon. Le volet 2, s’intéresse aux prises de position des participants à la normalisation durant le processus de normalisation comptable internationale et américaine ayant eu lieu en parallèle. Dans le volet 3, nous mettons les résultats des volets 1 et 2 en relation pour en extraire les conditions pouvant affecter les pratiques étudiées dans le volet 1. Le normalisateur comptable international (l’IASB) a travaillé depuis 2003 pour élaborer une norme de comptabilité carbone, mais sans succès. Partant du postulat que la pratique vient avant la norme, la théorie des conventions a été utilisée comme cadre théorique. La théorie des conventions permet d’étudier le processus de normalisation comptable en plaçant le préparateur d’états financiers à l’avant-plan du processus. L’utilisation de la théorie des conventions et de la dynamique conventionnelle, selon Amblard (2003a; 2003b; 2004), a permis d’établir les conditions du développement d’une pratique conventionnée. L’analyse documentaire des rapports annuels des émetteurs assujettis et des documents des normalisateurs et de grands cabinets d’audit a permis de constater qu’une pratique conventionnée se développe sous trois conditions : (1) sur la base d’un ancrage; (2) de manière cohérente avec le système comptable utilisé et (3) à partir de la légitimé que lui accordent des acteurs influents. Ces conditions du développement d’une pratique comptable conventionnée représentent notre principale contribution. Les résultats montrent aussi une pratique conventionnée différente selon l’usage qui est fait des quotas d’émission de carbone. Les deux usages répertoriés sont la détention à des fins de conformité et la détention à des fins de spéculation. Pour un usage à des fins de conformité, les résultats montrent une adhésion forte pour une comptabilité carbone au coût historique. Les résultats pour cet usage montrent aussi, sur la période de 14 ans étudiée par la thèse, un rejet graduel de la comptabilité carbone à la juste valeur. Pour un usage à des fins de spéculation, les résultats montrent une adhésion forte pour une comptabilité carbone à la juste valeur. Ces résultats, qui montrent l’émergence d’une pratique de comptabilité carbone différente selon l’usage, n’apparaissent pas dans la littérature sur les pratiques de comptabilité carbone ou sur la normalisation comptable. Ceci représente aussi une contribution importante de cette thèse.

Abstract. In the context of climate change, many nations have chosen carbon markets as a mechanism to force a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by polluting companies. More and more of these polluting companies must now adhere to carbon markets, which also implies that they must choose a carbon accounting method, because these mechanisms have brought new transactions to be accounted for (carbon emission allowances, obligations related to the delivery of these allowances) and this in the absence of a specific accounting standard on the subject. In this thesis, we focus on the development of accounting practices in the absence of a specific financial accounting standard. In order to understand how a carbon accounting agreement is created, a three-part methodology is used. In Component 1, we analyze the evolution of carbon accounting practices of a group of 87 Global Fortune 500 reporting issuers over five years during the period 2005-2018. A content analysis of 431 annual reports is conducted to identify the accounting practices of the reporting issuers in the sample. Part 2 focuses on the positions taken by standard-setting participants during the parallel international and US accounting standard-setting process. In Section 3, we relate the results of Sections 1 and 2 to extract conditions that may affect the practices studied in Section 1. The international accounting standard-setter (IASB) has been working since 2003 to develop a carbon accounting standard, but without success. Based on the premise that practice comes before the standard, convention theory was used as a theoretical framework. Convention theory allows for the study of the accounting standard setting process by placing the financial statement preparer at the forefront of the process. The use of convention theory and convention dynamics, according to Amblard (2003a; 2003b; 2004), allowed for the establishment of the conditions for the development of a conventional practice. The documentary analysis of the annual reports of reporting issuers and of the documents of standard setters and major audit firms has shown that a conventional practice develops under three conditions: (1) on the basis of an agreement; (2) in a manner consistent with the accounting system used; and (3) on the basis of the legitimacy accorded to it by influential actors. These conditions for the development of a conventional accounting practice represent our main contribution. The results also show that conventional practice differs according to the use made of carbon emission allowances. The two uses identified are holding for compliance purposes and holding for speculation. For compliance use, the results show strong support for historical cost carbon accounting. The results for this use also show, over the 14-year period studied by the thesis, a gradual rejection of fair value carbon accounting. For speculative use, the results show a strong support for fair value carbon accounting. These results, which show the emergence of a different car-bone accounting practice depending on the use, do not appear in the literature on carbon accounting practices or accounting standardization. This also represents an important contribution to this thesis.

Lien / Link

Qualifications et prises en charge de la précarité énergétique. Une analyse économique institutionnaliste

Qualifications and management of fuel poverty. An institutional economic analysis

Adèle Sébert (2022)

PhD thesis, university of Lille

Thèse soutenue à l’université de Lille, le 18 octobre 2022
Sous la direction de Florence Jany-Catrice et Benoît Lallau
Jury: Nathalie Lazaric, Franck-Dominique Vivien, Nicolas Postel et Patrick Jolivet

Résumé. Cette thèse porte sur les difficultés de certains ménages à accéder à l’énergie. Tantôt dénommées « précarité énergétique », tantôt « pauvreté énergétique », ces difficultés d’accès à l’énergie se laissent difficilement saisir par un seul terme. La co-existence de plusieurs termes fait écho à la diversité des thématiques auxquelles l’accès à l’énergie renvoie, en particulier celle de la justice sociale et des inégalités environnementales. S’agit-il de désigner par « accès à l’énergie » une question purement technique en lien avec les activités de production, distribution et fourniture ? Mais dans ce cas, comment interpréter le déploiement d’une action publique ne portant pas seulement sur ces activités ? Que penser de la notion de précarité énergétique, actuellement mobilisée en France pour désigner une partie de l’action publique ? La précarité énergétique est définie en France depuis loi Grenelle II de 2010 comme une situation dans laquelle une personne ne parvient pas « à disposer de la fourniture d’énergie nécessaire à la satisfaction de ses besoins élémentaires en raison de l’inadaptation de ses ressources ou de ses conditions d’habitat ». Elle s’enracine dans un ensemble institutionnel plus ancien qui se structure dans les années 1970-1980 et qui est l’un des symptômes du passage du capitalisme fordiste au capitalisme néolibéral. La précarité énergétique est-elle une catégorie particulière d’action sociale ou une nouvelle catégorie au croisement des questions sociale et écologique ? Cette thèse interroge les processus par lesquels les difficultés d’accès à l’énergie des ménages sont « mis en problème » sur les plans social et écologique. En nous appuyant sur la littérature académique, professionnelle et législative, nous montrons dans un premier temps que recourir à la précarité énergétique comme catégorie d’action publique constitue une façon de matérialiser une réponse collective à certaines difficultés d’accès à l’énergie pour les ménages. Elle est cependant insuffisante pour comprendre l’organisation de l’action collective. En effet, elle renvoie soit à une collection de dispositifs dans plusieurs catégories d’actions (fourniture d’énergie ; accès aux droits et lutte contre l’exclusion ; rénovation du logement), soit à une situation de risque définie de manière incomplète. Nous proposons d’enrichir la notion de précarité énergétique avec celle de vulnérabilité afin de penser les situations des ménages avec des difficultés d’accès à l’énergie comme un continuum à partir duquel les risques sont évalués et les situations qualifiées de « précarité énergétique ».
Nous nous appuyons sur les travaux d’Olivier Godard et de Robert Salais, pour comprendre d’une part les liens entre les formes de coordination pour définir et prendre en charge un problème social et environnemental, et pour exprimer d’autre part l’articulation des différents acteurs institutionnels et économiques. À partir de l’analyse des conditions énergétiques et financières d’existence des ménages, opérée avec les outils de la statistique sur l’enquête Statistiques Ressources et Conditions de Vie (2017), nous montrons qu’il existe des formes d’insécurité pour les ménages, insécurités (re)qualifiées sur le plan institutionnel. Cette pluralité des situations institutionnelles des ménages est examinée à partir de l’analyse d’entretiens semi-directifs réalisés auprès d’acteurs institutionnels et économiques se réclamant de la « lutte contre la précarité énergétique ». Nous montrons qu’il existe deux formes de coordination à partir desquelles les acteurs institutionnels et économiques évaluent les difficultés d’accès à l’énergie des ménages, se distribuent les ménages qu’ils qualifient de « précaires énergétiques » et organisent leurs activités économiques. Les logiques de ces deux formes reposent sur un  compromis marchand civique fondé sur la figure du consommateur solvable et sur un compromis industriel-civique fondé sur la figure du consommateur responsable.
Mots-clés : précarité énergétique, vulnérabilité, action publique, socioéconomie, Économie des conventions

Abstract. This thesis deals with the difficulties of certain households in accessing energy. Sometimes referred to as “energy insecurity”, sometimes as “energy poverty”, these difficulties in accessing energy are difficult to grasp by a single term. The co-existence of several terms echoes the diversity of issues to which access to energy refers, in particular that of social justice and environmental inequalities. Does “access to energy” refer to a purely technical issue related to production, distribution and supply activities? But in this case, how can we interpret the deployment of public action that does not only concern these activities? What about the notion of fuel poverty, currently used in France to designate part of the public action? Fuel poverty has been defined in France since the Grenelle II law of 2010 as a situation in which a person is unable “to obtain the energy supply necessary to satisfy his or her basic needs because of the inadequacy of his or her resources or housing conditions. It is rooted in an older institutional set-up that took shape in the 1970s and 1980s and is one of the symptoms of the transition from Fordist capitalism to neoliberal capitalism. Is fuel poverty a particular category of social action or a new category at the intersection of social and ecological issues? This thesis questions the processes by which households’ difficulties in accessing energy are “problematized” on social and ecological levels. Drawing on academic, professional and legislative literature, we first show that using fuel poverty as a category of public action is a way of materializing a collective response to certain difficulties of access to energy for households. However, it is not sufficient to understand the organization of collective action. Indeed, it refers either to a collection of measures in several categories of action (energy supply; access to rights and the fight against exclusion; housing renovation), or to a risk situation that is incompletely defined. We propose to enrich the notion of fuel poverty with that of vulnerability in order to think of the situations of households with difficulties in accessing energy as a continuum on the basis of which risks are assessed and situations qualified as “fuel poverty”.
We rely on the work of Olivier Godard and Robert Salais to understand the links between the forms of coordination used to define and deal with a social and environmental problem, and to express the articulation of the different institutional and economic actors. Based on the analysis of the energy and financial conditions of existence of households, carried out with the tools of the Statistics Resources and Living Conditions survey (2017), we show that there are forms of insecurity for households, insecurities (re)qualified on the institutional level. This plurality of households’ institutional situations is examined through the analysis of semi-structured interviews with institutional and economic actors claiming to be involved in the “fight against fuel poverty”. We show that there are two forms of coordination by which institutional and economic actors assess the difficulties of access to energy for households, distribute the households that they qualify as “energy insecure” and organize their economic activities. The logics of these two forms are based on a civic market compromise based on the figure of the solvent consumer and on an industrial-civic compromise based on the figure of the responsible consumer.
Keywords: fuel poverty, vulnerability, public action, socioeconomics, economics of convention

”Maskipakko ja vähän äkkiä ” : Kasvomaskit Helsingin Sanomien mielipidekirjoituksissa vuonna 2020

“Make face masks mandatory, now” : Face masks as a topic in letters to the editor in Helsingin Sanomat during 2020

Riikka Elina Pasanen (2022)

MA thesis. Helsinki: University of Helsinki

Abstract. Tutkielma tarkastelee kasvomaskikeskustelua Helsingin Sanomissa julkaistuissa mielipidekirjoituksissa vuonna 2020. Sen tavoitteena on selvittää, miten kansalaiset argumentoivat kasvomaskien ja niihin liittyvien politiikkatoimivaihtoehtojen puolesta ja niitä vastaan. Covid-19-pandemia on ajankohtainen ja tärkeä tutkimuskohde. Suun ja nenän alueen peittävät henkilökohtaiset suojaimet eli maskit ovat pandemian keskeisiä symboleja. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen viitekehys on Luc Boltanskin ja Laurent Thévenot’n kehittämä julkisen oikeuttamisen teoria ja siihen kuuluvat seitsemän oikeuttamisen maailmaa. Tutkimuksen aineisto koostuu 66 mielipidekirjoituksesta, joita on analysoitu laadullisen sisällönanalyysin keinoin. Analyysissa on selvitetty, mitä oikeuttamisen maailmoja ja argumentteja kansalaiset käyttävät esittäessään kannatusta ja kritiikkiä kasvomaskin käyttöä kohtaan sekä sitä, miten kirjoittajat tuovat esille Suomen maskisuosituksen ja mahdollisen maskipakon etuja ja haasteita oikeuttamisen maailmojen valossa. Helsingin Sanomien mielipidekirjoitukset ovat olleet pääosin maskien käytön kannalla jo ennen virallista maskisuositusta. Helsingin Sanomiin kirjoittaville mielipidekirjoitus on yhteiskunnallisen vaikuttamisen kanava, jonka kautta kirjoittajat yrittävät vaikuttaa päättäjiin. Päättäjille viestivät lehdessä aktiivisesti niin asiantuntijat, edustajat kuin yksilötkin. Analyysin perusteella asiantuntijat kirjoittivat aktiivisemmin kasvomaskeista päättäjille kuin yksityishenkilöt. Kansalaisille osoitetut kirjoitukset tulivat useimmiten toisilta kansalaisilta. Asiantuntijoiden ja yksityishenkilöiden repertuaareissa ovat osin eri oikeutusmaailmat. Aineiston perusteella moni kirjoittaja on kokenut elokuun puolessa välissä voimaan tulleen virallisen maskisuosituksen riittämättömäksi. Solidaarisuuden puutteen tai maskittomien itsekkyyden narratiivi johtaa kansalaisuuden maailman perusteluihin nojaavat kirjoittajat kritisoimaan suosituksia ja kannattamaan kansalaiset tasa-arvoistavaa maskipakkoa. Viranomaisten ristiriitainen viestintä ja muuttuvat linjaukset kasvomaskeista ovat luoneet poikkeustilanteessa otollisen areenan kansalaiskeskustelulle, johon myös asiantuntijat osallistuvat. Tämä poliittisen sosiologian alalle sijoittuva tapaustutkimus on siis myös demokratian toteutumisen tutkimusta ja maskin käyttöön liittyneiden politiikkatoimien vaikutusten arviointia. Kasvomaskeja yhteiskuntatieteellisestä näkökulmasta käsitteleviä tutkimuksia on julkaistu toistaiseksi hyvin vähän Suomessa ja maailmalla. Tämä tutkimus valottaa toistaiseksi erittäin vähän tutkittua aihetta ja lisää tietoa Covid-19-pandemian yhteiskunnallisista vaikutuksista tarjoten kiinnostavia lähtökohtia jatkotutkimukselle.

Abstract. The study examines the face mask debate in opinion pieces published in Helsingin Sanomat in 2020. It aims to explore how citizens argue for and against face masks and related policy options. The Covid-19 pandemic is a timely and important research topic. Personal protective masks covering the mouth and nose are key symbols of the pandemic. The theoretical framework of the study is the theory of public justification developed by Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot and its seven worlds of justification. The data consists of 66 opinion pieces analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The analysis has explored which worlds of justification and arguments are used by citizens to express support and criticism of the use of face masks, and how the authors present the advantages and challenges of the Finnish mask recommendation and a possible mask ban in the light of the worlds of justification. Helsingin Sanomat’s male-bias articles have been largely in favor of mask use even before the official mask recommendation. For those writing for Helsingin Sanomat, opinion writing is a channel of social influence through which writers try to influence decision-makers. Experts, representatives and individuals alike actively communicate with decision-makers in the paper. Based on the analysis, experts were more active in writing about growth issues to decision-makers than individuals. Writing to citizens was most often from other citizens. The repertoires of experts and private individuals are in part based on different worlds of legitimacy. The material suggests that many authors felt that the official mask recommendation, which came into force in mid-August, was inadequate. The narrative of a lack of solidarity or the selfishness of the masked leads authors who rely on the arguments of the world of citizenship to criticize the recommendations and to advocate a masquerade that equates citizens. The contradictory communication and changing policies of the authorities on growth masks have created an exceptional arena for civil debate, in which experts are also involved. This case study in the field of political sociology is thus also a study of the implementation of democracy and an evaluation of the effects of policy measures associated with the use of the mask. So far, very few studies on growth masks from a social science perspective have been published in Finland and abroad. This study sheds light on a topic that has been very little studied so far and adds to the knowledge on the social impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, providing interesting starting points for further research.

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Von “Kritik” zu “Engagement durch Experimentalismus” – Ungewissheit als epistemische Grundlage einer alternativen Kritikform

From “critique” to “engagement through experimentalism”. Uncertainty as the epistemic basis of an alternative form of critique

Damaris Lehmann (2022)

Master thesis. Siegen: University of Siegen

Auszug: “Einleitung
[…] Das Verhältnis Soziologie-Kritik ist keins, welches ein für alle Mal bestimmt werden könnte, hier ist die eigene Position der Soziologin maßgebend für ihr Verständnis von der Aufgabe der Soziologie. Den Ausführungen auf den kommenden Seiten liegt die Annahme zugrunde, dass die Soziologie, ob nun intendiert oder nicht. durch ihre Theorien und Forschung, auch wenn einige davon betont deskriptiv sind, an der Konstruktion gesellschaftlicher Wirklichkeit maßgeblich mitwirkt und nicht nur als Zaungast am gesellschaftlichen Leben teilnimmt. Sobald dieser relativ neutrale Boden verlassen wird, in der die Einflussnahme der Soziologie nicht intendiert ist und der Weg zu einer kritischen und intervenierenden Soziologie bewusst beschritten wird, sieht sich die Soziologie ihrerseits mit kritischen Fragen konfrontiert, die ihre epistemologische Befugnis, ihre normativen Bezüge und deren Rechtfertigungen betreffen. Denn weder können normative Maßstäbe im wissenschaftlichen Kontext letztgültig begründet werden, noch kann sich Sozialkritik durch eine „wissenschaftliche Neutralität“ legitimieren (Boltanski und Thévenot 2007: 26).” (S. 2/3)

Extract: “Introduction
[…] The relationship sociology-criticism is not one that could be determined once and for all; here the sociologist’s own position is decisive for her understanding of the task of sociology. The explanations on the following pages are based on the assumption that sociology, whether intentional or not, through its theories and research, even if some of them are emphatically descriptive, plays a decisive role in the construction of social reality and does not merely participate in social life as an onlooker. As soon as this relatively neutral ground is left, in which sociology’s influence is not intended and the path to a critical and intervening sociology is consciously taken, sociology for its part is confronted with critical questions concerning its epistemological authority, its normative references and their justifications. For neither can normative standards be ultimately justified in a scientific context, nor can social criticism legitimize itself through a “scientific neutrality” (Boltanski and Thévenot 2007: 26).” (p. 2/3)

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Verteilte Zurechenbarkeit. Die Bearbeitung von Störungen im Öffentlichen Verkehr

Distributed Accountability. The processing of disruptions in public transport

Tobias Röhl (2022)

Habilitation thesis. Frankfurt: Campus

Über das Buch. Störungen des öffentlichen Verkehrs sind nervenaufreibend. Doch wo beschwert man sich, wenn der Zug ausfällt? Beim Personal vor Ort oder gleich beim Unternehmen? Der ethnographische Blick ins Störungsmanagement der Verkehrsbetriebe zeigt: Jeweils für sich genommen ist keine der beiden Strategien hilfreich. Mit Rückgriff auf Forschungen zu Accountability und technischen Infrastrukturen zeichnet die organisationsethnographische Studie nach, wie Fragen der Verantwortlichkeit technisch vermittelt und zwischen verschiedenen Akteuren hin- und hergeschoben werden. Diese “verteilte Zurechenbarkeit” lässt sich nicht in einzelnen Individuen verorten, sondern findet sich im Zusammenspiel unterschiedlicher Akteure, in den Prozessen und Praktiken des Störungsmanagements.

Auszug: “Accounts sind Rechtfertigungen, die antizipierend oder retrospektiv auf die Abweichung von einer erwarteten Relevanztegel reagieren (Robinson 2016). Für Marvin B. Scott und Stanford M. Lyman (1968) liegt hierin ein Bindeglied zwischen der mikrosoziologischen Beobachtung von Gesprächen und grundlegend makrosoziologischen Fragen. Wofür und mit welchen Argumenten wir unser Handeln rechtfertigen, zeigt grundsätzlich, welchen gesellschaftlichen Sinn wir unserem Tun beimessen — und zwar jenseits lokaler Idiosynkrasien, denn die Argumente müssen sich nicht nur vor alter ego, sondern auch vor einem Tertius bewähren, um gesellschaftliche Geltung beanspruchen zu können (siehe hierzu Lindemann 2010). Damit sind auch hier Abweichungen dankbare Einfallstore für die soziologische Analyse gesellschaftlicher Seibstverständlichkeiten, die oft »seen but unnoticed« (Garfinkel 1967b, 36) bleiben. Einen bekannten Versuch, diese Repertoires des accounting za systematisieten, findet sich in Luc Boltanskis und Laurent Thevenots Überlegungen zur Rechtfertigung als soziale Praxis (Boltanski und Thévenot 2007). Die dort entwickelte Soziologie der Konventionen findet — mit reichlich zeitlicher Verzögerung — seit einigen Jahren auch in der deutschsprachigen Soziologie einigen Nachhall (siehe etwa Diaz-Bone 2011; Bogusz 2018). Zentrales Merkmal dieses Programms ist die Rehabilitierung der Kritikfähigkeit aller Akteure (Boltanski und Thévenot 2007). Im Rückgriff auf Ethnomethodologie und Pragmatismus begegnen uns hier kompetente Akteure, die in der Lage sind, die eigenen Handlungen zu rechtfertigen und die Handlungen Dritter zu kritisieren. Damit verfolgen Boltanski und Thévenot eine Soziologie der Kritik, die sich von einer kritischen Soziologie im Sinne Pierre Bourdieus abgrenzt (siehe hierzu Potthast 2004). Statt der Kritik der Soziologinnen steht nun die Kritik durch alle sozialen Akteure gleichermaßen im Mittelpunkt.” (S. 47/48) 

About the book. Public transportation disruptions are nerve-wracking. But where do you complain when the train is cancelled? To the staff on the spot or straight to the company? An ethnographic look at the disruption management of public transport companies shows: Neither strategy is helpful on its own. Drawing on research on accountability and technical infrastructures, the organizational ethnographic study traces how questions of responsibility are technically mediated and shifted back and forth between different actors. This “distributed accountability” cannot be located in single individuals, but is found in the interplay of different actors, in the processes and practices of incident management.

Extract: “Accounts are justifications that respond anticipatively or retrospectively to deviation from an expected rule of relevance (Robinson 2016). For Marvin B. Scott and Stanford M. Lyman (1968), this is a link between the micro-sociological observation of conversations and fundamentally macro-sociological questions. What we justify our actions for and with which arguments fundamentally shows what social meaning we ascribe to our actions – and this beyond local idiosyncrasies, because the arguments must prove themselves not only before alter ego but also before a tertius in order to be able to claim social validity (on this, see Lindemann 2010). Thus, here too, deviations are grateful gateways for the sociological analysis of social self evidences, which often remain “seen but unnoticed” (Garfinkel 1967b, 36). A well-known attempt to systematize these repertoires of accounting can be found in Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot’s reflections on justification as social practice (Boltanski and Thévenot 2007). The sociology of conventions developed there has also found some resonance – with ample delay – in German-language sociology in recent years (see, for example, Diaz-Bone 2011; Bogusz 2018). The central feature of this program is the rehabilitation of the critical capacity of all actors (Boltanski and Thévenot 2007). Drawing on ethnomethodology and pragmatism, we encounter here competent actors who are able to justify their own actions and criticize the actions of others. In this way, Boltanski and Thévenot pursue a sociology of critique that is distinct from a critical sociology in the sense of Pierre Bourdieu (on this, see Potthast 2004). Instead of criticism by sociologists, the focus is now on criticism by all social actors alike.” (p. 47/48) 

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Adult Education at Auction: On Tendering-Based Procurement and Valuation in Swedish Municipal Adult Education

Diana Holmqvist (2022)

PhD thesis. Linköping: University of Linkööping. Open access.

Abstract. Our understanding of adult education’s purpose and value is linked to how we think ‘good’ education should be organised and provided. This thesis explores the interplay between organisation and values by looking at how conceptualisations and valuations of adult education are affected when private providers become involved in public education.

For this purpose, the study draws on the example of Swedish municipal adult education (MAE). On the one hand, Swedish adult education is organised to compensate for structural inequalities and mitigate barriers to participation in education for citizens. On the other hand, private providers are allowed to make profits from their involvement in public education. Sweden’s combined commitment to universal welfare and the market make this a particularly interesting case to examine. Mainly contracted through tendering-based procurement, for-profit companies (and to a lesser extent non-public organisations) now service almost half of all MAE course participants. The thesis explores how municipalities construct the value and purpose of MAE when placing orders with private providers, and how teachers working in MAE reflect upon the purpose and value of MAE.

Drawing on empirical data from both procurements and interviews, the study shows that municipalities use tendering-based procurement to shape the public-private partnership and promote different values. On a national level, this creates a heterogenous landscape of adult education provision and valuations. Furthermore, the study shows that there are tensions between MAE teachers’ professional self-conceptualisations and the realities put forth by policy or constructed in the procurement process. Analysing how teachers navigate these tensions, the study shows that teachers work to resist reformation, while they also become complicit in enforcing values promoted through policy and procurement.

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Bildung und Soziale Ungleichheit. Deutungen und Erfahrungen von Lehrer:innen an Gesamtschulen

Education and Social Inequality. Interpretations and Experiences of Teachers at Comprehensive Schools

Laura Behrmann (2022)

PhD thesis. Frankfurt: Campus

Über das Buch. Lehrer:innen sind zentrale Akteure im Bildungssystem: Sie vermitteln Inhalte, gestalten Bildungsprozesse und bewerten Leistungen. Aber spielen sie auch eine Rolle für die Reproduktion sozialer Ungleichheiten im deutschen Schulwesen? Dieser weitgehend ungeklärten Frage geht die vorliegende Grounded-Theory-Studie anhand von Interviews mit Lehrer:innen an drei Gesamtschulen in Ost- und Westdeutschland nach. Die ungleichheitsreproduzierenden und -transformierenden Handlungsstrategien der Lehrer:innen werden rekonstruiert und die soziokulturellen, organisationalen und biografischsozialisatorischen Bedingungen ihres Auftretens erläutert. Die Studie füllt nicht nur eine Leerstelle in der Bildung- und Ungleichheitsforschung, sondern sie hält auch den bildungspolitischen Bedingungen für ein chancengerechtes Handeln von Lehrer:innen einen Spiegel vor.

Auszug: “2.3.3 Deutungsmuster und Konventionen
[…] „An die Fragen nach den handlungsleitenden Orientierungen und Deutungen schließen sich nun im Rahmen der Etablierung der Konventionensoziologie einige neue, kleine Studien an. Die Soziologie der Konventionen hat […] auch in die Bildungssoziologie Eingang gefunden (Leemann/Imdorf 2019). Konventionen meinen dabei „kulturell etablierte Koordinationslogiken“, die als Wertlogiken dem handeln von Akteuren in verschiedenen Welten situationsübergreifend, Wertsysteme anbieten […]. Das „Herausfallen“ der Spannung von „Fördern und Selektieren“ führt zum einen an einer aus randständigen Hauptschule zu einem Orientierungsdilemma, das zu entscheiden Lehrer:innen (und Schüler:innen) beschädigt (Straehler-Pohl 2019), zum anderen, so in Interviews mit Lehrkräften (2016/2017), zu der „Unmöglichkeit“ des Umgangs mit Begabung innerhalb der gängigen Konventionen (Horvath 2018).“ (S. 37)“

About the book. Teachers are central actors in the education system: they teach content, shape educational processes, and evaluate performance. But do they also play a role in reproducing social inequalities in the German school system? This largely unanswered question is addressed in this grounded theory study based on interviews with teachers at three comprehensive schools in East and West Germany. The strategies of teachers that reproduce and transform inequality are reconstructed and the sociocultural, organizational, and biographical-socializational conditions of their occurrence are explained. The study not only fills a gap in educational and inequality research, but also holds up a mirror to the conditions of educational policy for teachers to act in a way that provides equal opportunity.

Extract: “The questions about action-guiding orientations and interpretations are now being joined by some new, small-scale studies in the context of the establishment of the sociology of conventions. The sociology of conventions has […] also found its way into the sociology of education (Leemann/Imdorf 2019). Here, conventions mean “culturally established logics of coordination” that, as value logics, offer value systems to the actions of actors in different worlds across situations […]. The “falling out” of the tension of “promoting and selecting” leads, on the one hand, at an from marginalized Hauptschule to an orientation dilemma that damages to decide teachers (and students) (Straehler-Pohl 2019), on the other hand, according to interviews with teachers (2016/2017), to the “impossibility” of dealing with giftedness within the established conventions (Horvath 2018).” (p. 37)

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Ausbildungsqualitäten – andersartig, aber gleichwertig? Ein Vergleich konkurrierender Gesundheitsausbildungen in der Schweiz

Training qualities – different, but equivalent? A comparison of competing healthcare training programs in Switzerland

Raffaella Simona Esposito (2022)

PhD thesis. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. Open access

ABOUT THIS BOOK. Am Beispiel zweier konkurrierender allgemein- und berufsbildender Gesundheitsausbildungen – die Fachmittelschule mit Berufsfeld Gesundheit und die berufliche Erstausbildung Fachfrau/-mann Gesundheit – zeigt diese Open Access Studie, wie Qualität von Bildung sozial konstruiert wird. Die Ergebnisse veranschaulichen die Andersartigkeit der Lehr- und Wissenskulturen und tragen damit zur Erklärung ausbildungsprogrammspezifischer Bildungsverläufe sowie stark differierender Übergangsquoten in tertiäre Bildungsgänge bei. Ausgehend davon wird die Frage der Gleichwertigkeit allgemein- und berufsbildender Gesundheitsausbildungen in den Fokus gerückt und die daraus resultierenden Herausforderungen für die Rekrutierung des Fachkräftenachwuchses in verschiedenen Gesundheitsberufen diskutiert. Konzeptionell schlägt die Studie eine neue Perspektive auf die institutionelle Segregation von Allgemein- und Berufsbildung vor. Mit dem theoretischen Originalbeitrag der empirischen Rekonstruktion einer feldspezifischen Ausdifferenzierung der häuslichen Konvention wird das Konzept der Qualitätskonventionen im Hinblick auf den Bedarf einer konventionensoziologisch angeleiteten (Berufs-)Bildungsforschung weiterentwickelt.

About this book. Using the example of two competing general and vocational health education programs – the Fachmittelschule with Berufsfeld Gesundheit and the initial vocational training Fachfrau/-mann Gesundheit – this open access study shows how quality of education is socially constructed. The results illustrate the diversity of teaching and knowledge cultures and thus contribute to the explanation of educational trajectories specific to educational programs as well as strongly differing transition rates to tertiary educational programs. Based on this, the question of the equivalence of general and vocational health education is brought into focus and the resulting challenges for the recruitment of the next generation of specialists in various health professions are discussed. Conceptually, the study proposes a new perspective on the institutional segregation of general and vocational education. With the original theoretical contribution of the empirical reconstruction of a field-specific differentiation of the common convention, the concept of quality conventions is further developed with regard to the need for (vocational) education research guided by the sociology of conventions.

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