Module 30-M-Soz-M4a Sociology of Work and Economics a

Non-official translation of the module descriptions. Only the German version is legally binding.

As part of the General Competence Concept for the MA Sociology (see https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/soziologie/studium/master/pdf/Kompetenzkonzept_Masterstudiengaenge.pdf), students acquire basic theoretical and empirical knowledge based on the latest findings in the sociology of labour and/or economic sociology.

Students acquire the ability to work on issues relating to the sociology of labour and economic sociology. The module enables theoretical reflection and methodically controlled empirical analysis of problems in the sociology of work and economic sociology.

The sociology of labour and economic sociology are particularly close to each other in relevant dimensions. Their closely interwoven subject areas, their overlapping theoretical references, as well as their related topics and specialised classics suggest that both sub-disciplines should be studied in conjunction. On the other hand, the diversity of their perspectives on subjects also offers the opportunity to explore and sharpen their own specialised profiles.
The Sociology of Labour and Economics course is divided into three areas:
(a) Sociology of work and the economy (common theoretical foundations and topics of the sociology of work and economic sociology), (b) Upheavals in social work (with a focus on the sociology of work) and (c) Dynamics of capitalism (with a focus on economic sociology).
In the first area (a), courses are offered in which, on the one hand, the common theoretical foundations of the sub-disciplines are dealt with (such as the classics of labour and economic sociology) and, on the other hand, common topics (such as the labour market, industrial relations, production regimes) are focused on. The integrated courses offered here also aim to highlight the special features of a sociological perspective on labour and the economy compared to other (e.g. economic or psychological) perspectives.
The courses on upheavals in social work (area b) take a sociological perspective on the changing forms of work and the interactions between social organisation (labour markets; regulatory models), organisational formation (company strategies for the use of labour; company division of labour) and the cultural and lifeworld significance of work (working time patterns, career choices, employment histories). At the centre of this thematic area is the erosion of the regulatory model of industrial society, which was mainly based on the nation state, the Fordist model of mass production, strong assumptions of continuity and progress and traditional forms of gender-specific division of labour, as well as the development of new constellations of forms of work and references to meaning, the employment system and the welfare state (keywords here are, for example: Career choice, subjectification of work, dissolution of boundaries in work, precarization).
Courses on the dynamics of capitalism (area c) focus on the economy of modern society, its institutions (e.g. markets) and current economic transformation processes (e.g. globalisation, the emergence of financial market capitalism) from an economic sociology perspective. In particular, the tension characteristic of modern market economies between the inherent dynamics and claims to autonomy of the economic system on the one hand and its social embedding and attempts at political control on the other is focussed on here. From a comparative perspective, this thematic area also examines the institutional forms in which this tension is dealt with in different nation states and which regimes emerge in the process.
The module "Sociology of Work and Economics" can be studied with a focus on the sociology of work or economic sociology by choosing the appropriate seminars.

Students with little prior knowledge of both sub-disciplines are recommended to choose at least one of the seminars from thematic area a.

The module programme is always completed with a written assignment. This always takes the form of a term paper.

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