Kenneth Horvath

National numbers for transnational relations? Challenges of integrating quantitative methods into research on transnational labour market relations

Abstract Research into transnational labour markets requires qualitative as well as quantitative research data. Yet there is little discussion on how to integrate quantitative methods into existing – overwhelmingly qualitative – approaches to transnational research. This article seeks to identify some of the key challenges for the use of quantitative methods in research on transnational social relations. Selected problems regarding (1) sampling procedures and (2) questionnaire design are discussed using examples from emergent transnational labour markets in the Central European region, arguing that a transnational perspective necessitates a mixed-methods design. The ethnosurvey is identified as a starting point for an appropriate research design. Multi-sited ethnography and respondent-driven sampling methods are discussed as crucial complementing elements of transnational mixed-methods research.

Migration and Social Transformation: Interdisciplinary Insights and European Perspectives

Over the past few decades both migration policies and practices of migration and mobility have undergone significant changes. This introductory chapter argues for a social-transformation perspective to contextualize and analyze these dynamics. The chapter emphasizes the manifold ways in which migration and borders are linked to changing political-economic constellations, to orders of power and inequality, to political discourses, and to institutional contexts. It introduces the four main parts of this volume that in their interplay reflect the complexity that this understanding entails. First, from this perspective, the analysis of migration requires a profound anchoring in social theory. Second, the social-transformation-approach forces us to take into account shifts in the political regulation of migration and borders. Third, the social-transformation perspective points to dynamic changes of individual migration patterns themselves and to the agency of mobile subjects. Finally, it leads us to consider how both policies and practices of migration are linked to struggles over identity and belonging. Furthermore, the chapter provides insights into manifold ways, in which the chapters collected in this volume, reflect on the European project, which on its part is embedded in profound societal transformation processes.

Ausgangspunkte und Perspektiven einer sozialwissenschaftlichen Begabungsforschung

Nimmt man die von Emile Durkheim (1984) formulierte Forderung ernst, Soziales nur durch Soziales zu erklaren, stellt der Begriff der Begabung fur die Sozialwissenschaften eine fundamentale Provokation dar. In seinem Alltagsgebrauch scheint er auf all das zu verweisen, was ein Individuum in seiner Einzigartigkeit, seinen Talenten, Vorlieben und Bedurfnissen ausmacht – jenseits gesellschaftlicher Pragungen und Verhaltnisse. Entsprechend waren die Themen Begabung und Begabtenforderung lange Zeit weitgehend padagogischen, bildungspolitischen und psychologischen Auseinandersetzungen vorbehalten. In sozialwissenschaftlichen Diskussionszusammenhangen waren sie von marginaler Bedeutung oder wurden als fur eine soziologische Auseinandersetzung irrelevant eingestuft.

Die Illusion der Andersartigkeit: mit Bourdieu zu einer rassismuskritischen Bildungsforschung?

Als Abdelmalek Sayad 1998 nach langer Krankheit starb, hinterlies er eine Fulle an (grosteils unpublizierten) Manuskripten zum breiten Th emenfeld der Migration. Pierre Bourdieu, der seit fruhen gemeinsamen Forschungsarbeiten in Algerien mit Sayad befreundet gewesen war und viel Zeit an Sayads Krankenbett verbracht hatte (vgl. Puwar 2009), editierte Teile dieses Nachlasses und gab schon im Folgejahr La double absence (Sayad 1999) heraus, eine erste von einer ganzen Reihe postumer Publikationen Sayads. Der lange und verworrene Publikationsweg von Sayads Schriften steht symptomatisch fur die Schwierigkeiten, die das Phanomen der Migration Sozialwissenschaftler/innen bis heute bereitet.

„Wir können fördern, wir können fordern, aber begaben können wir nicht.“

Logiken und Praktiken padagogischen Unterscheidens spielen fur die Reproduktion von Bildungsungleichheiten eine zentrale Rolle. Das gilt nicht zuletzt fur die Diagnose von „Begabungen“ und die Bewertung von „Leistungsfahigkeit“. Ausgehend vom sozialtheoretischen Annahmen der Soziologie der Konventionen und gestutzt auf eine qualitative Interviewstudie mit Lehrkraften aus dem Elementarbereich argumentiert dieser Beitrag dafur, padagogische Unterscheidungen als Koordinationsleistungen in den Blick zu nehmen: Mit von Ungewissenheiten und Komplexitat gepragten Situationen und widerspruchlichen Anforderungen konfrontiert, bringen Lehrkrafte in ihrer Unterscheidungspraxis verschiedene Klassifikations- und Evaluationsweisen in Bezug zueinander. Die Kategorie der Begabung wird in diesem Kontext weniger im Sinne einer Diagnose oder eindeutigen Kategorisierung eingesetzt, denn als Markierung eines bestimmten Typus genutzt. Ungleichheitseffekte ergeben sich dabei unter anderem aus den Formen, in denen Lehrkrafte auf „auserpadagogische“ Wissensbestande zuruckgreifen.

Constructing and Imagining Labour Migration: Perspectives of Control from Five Continents by Elspeth Guild and Sandra Mantu (eds). Farnham: Ashgate, 2011. 311pp., £65.00, ISBN 9781409409632

accommodating internal divisions. Drawing upon the literature of conflict regulation in divided societies and on a wide range of important cases (primarily Northern Ireland, South Africa and Israel/Palestine), Guelke provides us with lucid and insightful analysis of ethnic, religious and class struggles in these societies and the political conflicts they produce. External mediation and the role of external powers in conflict management in deeply divided societies are also examined in this study. Aimed at policy makers and academics, the book argues that ‘agreements that are reached by the parties themselves (i.e. internal parties) with a minimum of outside interference stand the best chance of taking root’ (p. 160). Guelke’s approach in this study is thematic, but it is linked to consideration of individual polities throughout. In Chapter 2, he identifies various sources of division in deeply divided societies; nevertheless, he contends that, for the most part, the divisions that give rise to deeply divided societies and violence are binary ones. Themes covered in Chapters 3 and 4 are violence, order and justice. Linking these themes to individual polities, Guelke competently connects the sources of division in these societies to the level of violence, maintenance of order and the existence of justice to understand when and under what conditions divided societies adopt methods of managing or eliminating differences. In the ensuing three chapters Guelke examines the ways in which divisions in deeply divided societies can be eliminated or managed. Integration, partition, population transfer, power sharing and political accommodation are five mechanisms or elements that are studied in detail. Although different approaches to conflict management are discussed, internally generated consociationalism is Guelke’s preferred model for deeply divided societies. This is a captivating and provocative book that offers new and important insights into how to establish order and justice in these politically unstable societies, as well as democratic institutions that promote integration. The chapters in the book are empirically rich and detailed enough to back the author’s claims. Politics in Deeply Divided Societies is a model of original and engaging scholarship that anyone interested in the dynamics of ethnic conflict and nationalism, democracy promotion, and management of ethnic, religious and class struggles will want to read.

Book Review: Comparative: Constructing and Imagining Labour Migration: Perspectives of Control from Five Continents

accommodating internal divisions. Drawing upon the literature of conflict regulation in divided societies and on a wide range of important cases (primarily Northern Ireland, South Africa and Israel/Palestine), Guelke provides us with lucid and insightful analysis of ethnic, religious and class struggles in these societies and the political conflicts they produce. External mediation and the role of external powers in conflict management in deeply divided societies are also examined in this study. Aimed at policy makers and academics, the book argues that ‘agreements that are reached by the parties themselves (i.e. internal parties) with a minimum of outside interference stand the best chance of taking root’ (p. 160). Guelke’s approach in this study is thematic, but it is linked to consideration of individual polities throughout. In Chapter 2, he identifies various sources of division in deeply divided societies; nevertheless, he contends that, for the most part, the divisions that give rise to deeply divided societies and violence are binary ones. Themes covered in Chapters 3 and 4 are violence, order and justice. Linking these themes to individual polities, Guelke competently connects the sources of division in these societies to the level of violence, maintenance of order and the existence of justice to understand when and under what conditions divided societies adopt methods of managing or eliminating differences. In the ensuing three chapters Guelke examines the ways in which divisions in deeply divided societies can be eliminated or managed. Integration, partition, population transfer, power sharing and political accommodation are five mechanisms or elements that are studied in detail. Although different approaches to conflict management are discussed, internally generated consociationalism is Guelke’s preferred model for deeply divided societies. This is a captivating and provocative book that offers new and important insights into how to establish order and justice in these politically unstable societies, as well as democratic institutions that promote integration. The chapters in the book are empirically rich and detailed enough to back the author’s claims. Politics in Deeply Divided Societies is a model of original and engaging scholarship that anyone interested in the dynamics of ethnic conflict and nationalism, democracy promotion, and management of ethnic, religious and class struggles will want to read.

EUROSCHOOLS 2008: the difficult relationship of culture, nation and anti‐racism in UEFA’s campaign work

As part of the preparatory campaign for the European Championship 2008, UEFA sponsored five ‘social responsibility’ campaigns. One of these projects – EUROSCHOOLS 2008 – focused on school children aged 12–17 years and ventured to combine work on three problem areas: fair play, gender equality and anti‐racism. Based on the outcomes of an evaluation study, a rather negative balance has to be drawn with regard to the anti‐racist part of the campaign. Examining the reasons for this obvious failure leads to a complex combination of ideological and ‘practical’ factors. Our article discusses some of these factors and their implications for future anti‐racist work. As will be shown, one of the most important, and at the same time most complex, reasons is the ambivalence inherent to an anti‐racist campaign emphasizing both cultural difference(s) and national(ist) thought patterns. The article is summed up by a cursory discussion of the possibilities and problems involved in using institutional actors such as the UEFA for anti‐racist initiatives. How can the ideological background and institutional interests of UEFA & Co. be dealt with? Is a credible anti‐racism‐campaign coherent with UEFA’s self‐conception? Are campaigns such as EUROSCHOOLS 2008 bound to falter? What might viable alternatives look like?