The extent to which crowdwork platforms enable learning processes and professional development is controversial. This article contributes to resolving this controversy by focusing on a specific occupational field and examining IT crowdwork on freelancing and crowdtesting platforms in Germany. The central questions are how crowdworkers combine digital platform work with other forms of employment and how they use crowdwork for professional development. Based on the concept of hybrid forms of employment, the paper analyzes the specific employment constellations of IT crowdworkers. The empirical basis of the article is 41 qualitative interviews with IT crowdworkers and 3 expert interviews with representatives of platforms. The article identifies three ideal-typical employment constellations in IT crowdwork, depending on the type of platform: (1) a sideline self-employment model, (2) platform-based self-employment and (3) platform-mediated self-employment. These three employment constellations are associated with different forms of learning and a different use of platforms for professional development.
Estimating discriminatory gaps is one of the core topics of Sociology. A large number of studies use observational data to estimate these gaps, typically by controlling for potentially confounding factors and interpreting the coefficient of the group variable (e.g. female) as the degree of discrimination. However, estimations in this manner require choices both with regards to sample selection as well as the selection of variables to control for the stages where researchers assume discrimination to occur. Against the backdrop of the literature on gender wage gaps, this research note discusses these choices, their impact on the interpretation of the results and provides recommendations for applied researchers on how to deal with these choices in practice.
Limited transferability of foreign human capital and limited signaling value of foreign degrees are important explanations for immigrants' labor market disadvantages. While previous scholarship analysed the role of institutional settings in home countries in shaping this limited transferability and signaling value, scholars did not investigate whether similarities between institutional settings of immigrants' host and home countries matter. This article investigates the role of occupation-specific degrees acquired in the educational institutions of the home country for labor market success in Germany, the archetype of an occupation-specific labor market. To minimize unobserved heterogeneity, we employ a rather homogenous sample of foreign-trained immigrants (FTI) from seven EU countries. Using German Micro Census data, the results show a positive association between occupational specificity in the home country and employment probabilities as well as wages in Germany. This association is particularly strong for FTI working in occupation-specific jobs, highlighting the importance of occupation-specific degrees for labor market integration in countries with occupation-specific labor markets. In summary, institutional similarities between home and host countries shape immigrants' labor market success.
In current sociological debates, traditional concepts of infrastructure are increasingly being questioned because they focus too narrowly on permanent and spatially extensive systems that serve a welfare state's idea of the common good. If these assumptions are not taken for granted, the question arises how spatially and temporally diverse infrastructures are coordinated and how the flexible boundaries of efforts for their maintenance are justified. In order to better account for the diversity of infrastructures, this article develops the concept of infrastructural form, building on the neo-pragmatist theory of form investment and orders of worth. Mobile supply in rural areas serves as an exemplary case of flexible infrastructure that is supported by non-state actors under precarious conditions. It is shown that, in addition to the private providers, villagers and local authorities are actively invested in maintaining the supply. The supplier's tour is subject to boundary work and medium for negotiating form investments. Temporal and spatial boundaries continuously regulate expenses, but also cause exclusions. Stabilizing the tour thus becomes a logistical, but above all a moral challenge, in which providers refer to pluralistic orders of worth-in particular market, industry, craft and civic conventions. The concept of infrastructural form thus draws attention to what modernist concepts of infrastructure obscure: precarious and flexible spatial and temporal boundaries, diverse form investments and plural justifications.
The aim of the study is to compare workers and other occupational groups with regard to different dimensions of religiosity. The study is based on cumulated and harmonized data sets (primarily GGSS) from 1953 to 2023. The relationship of workers to religion proves to be ambivalent: on the one hand, Catholic workers in particular are more likely to be church members, and workers participate at least on average in passage rites such as Christian baptisms and funerals. In particular, unskilled and semi-skilled workers also have a higher religious self-assessment, pray frequently, identify more strongly with traditional Christian beliefs such as life after death, believe more strongly in a personal and guiding God, and show greater proximity to traditional spirituality (e.g. superstition and magic). In-depth analyses in this context show that blue-collar workers seek in religiosity a resource for coping with feelings of anomie. On the other hand, and these findings illustrate the ambivalence, workers attend church less frequently, are less likely to deal with religious questions of meaning, report fewer religious-spiritual experiences, and are opposed to popular spirituality (e.g. esotericism and mysticism).
In Germany, social origin has a particularly strong impact on success in school and secondary school-leaving certificates are crucial for occupational opportunities. Due to these social and institutional conditions, cognitive learning potentials often remain unnoticed during the transition from school to vocational education and training (VET). Focusing on the dual apprenticeship system and the level of cognitive requirements of training occupations, we investigate the extent to which the transition to VET provides new opportunities to develop cognitive skills further. Our analyses are based on a sample of over 3,000 apprentices of the Starting Cohort 4 of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). We find that cognitively more demanding training occupations are predominantly reserved for those with at least intermediate school-leaving certificates. Moreover, a higher parental socio-economic status is beneficial for young people with intermediate secondary school-leaving certificates, but not for those with lower levels of schooling. Institutional barriers, manifested in school-leaving certificates and their importance as employer selection criteria, impede the further development of cognitive skills. Although individual cognitive abilities are generally positively associated with the chances of entering occupations with higher requirements, this relationship is very weak for young people with lower levels of schooling.
This article addresses an urgent problem in current secularization research. While this body of research reveals what secular people do not believe in, it shows little about what they do believe in. Secularity is often understood negatively as the opposite of religion and is not defined substantially. To address this issue, the article focuses on experiences of contingency. The article presents a secular practice in which dealing with contingency plays a central role: contemporary survivalism. The main finding is that dealing with contingency does not necessarily mean coping with it. Instead, forms of striving for or blocking of contingency experiences are to be considered as well.
In response to the current agricultural and food system crisis, alternative food provision methods are emerging. Critics argue that these systems are the privilege of a white, high-income middle class, creating new social distinctions. This study explores in a Bourdieusian perspective how consuming food from alternative systems expresses distinction. Qualitative interviews with consumers reveal that they shape their identity as reflective, environmentally, and health-conscious individuals through ideals and implicit moral and cultural differences. Interviewees see themselves as knowledgeable, educated, and morally upright, attributing deviant consumer behavior in others to a lack of these qualities, while citing structural obstacles for their shortcomings. This perspective risks overlooking the lived realities of many individuals, thereby reproducing social inequalities. Additionally, respondents justify behavior they criticize in others by adopting a conscious, reflective, and self-critical attitude themselves. If the practical implementation of ideal concepts takes a backseat to adopting a critical and reflective stance, it can significantly impact the transition to a socially and ecologically sustainable food system.
This article deals with the self-positioning of (long-term) unemployed under the conditions of current social labeling from the perspective of a sociology of knowledge. Based on a qualitative interview study, the relationship between individual-biographical experiences of unemployment and collective representations of unemployment and how these shape the self-positioning of the unemployed are examined. Three types of self-positioning could be reconstructed, which are based on different interpretative logics and can be further differentiated based on the level of affiliation or distinction with the social category of the "unemployed". What all types have in common is that the idea of the "good" and "worthy" unemployed per-son is drawn on for the unemployed in various forms to define their situation.
People constantly perform everyday categorisation tasks. Among other things, they differentiate and categorise the people around them. The significance of such everyday differentiations has not yet been sufficiently investigated. This article shows that an analysis of subjective perceptions and descriptions, in this case of the residential environment, is informative for an understanding of attitudes towards diversity and migration. It is based on surveys conducted in 2010 and 2019-20 that provide data allowing a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses. The study examines how growing social diversity is reflected in residents' perceptions of the population in their neighbourhood. Migration-related differentiations are in the foreground, but alongside other aspects of diversity. Where migration is salient, this does not correlate with certain assessments of diversity. Our analyses thus suggest no generalisable relationship between salience and negative political attitudes in this field. The terms used to describe migration-related difference also say little about the acceptance of diversity and participation. Such 'symbolic boundaries' remain surprisingly ambiguous. The analyses show a picture of 'diffuse diversity' in perceptions, in which sharp boundaries lose relevance. The findings are relevant with regard to the analysis of everyday perceptions and categorisations, the analysis of symbolic boundaries and for the assessment of the salience of migration. They are also telling with regard to possible developments in the self-conception of a diverse society.
While there is considerable evidence indicating that attractiveness confers advantages in various areas of life, we know little about the social determinants of perceived physical attractiveness. This holds in particular with respect to (ethnic) group boundaries and social distance. To address this gap, this paper investigates if ethnic boundaries impact how attractive individuals with a migration background are perceived by individuals without a migration background. Why should ethnic boundaries and social distance affect perceptions of physical attractiveness? A potential explanation can be derived from the literature on ethnic boundaries and social identity theory, which postulates that individuals group their others into either belonging to the in-or the out-group. Salient markers of ethnicity may make it more likely for individuals with a migration background to be categorized as belonging to the out-group. These categorizations go hand in hand with devaluations of out-groups, which may lead to individuals with a migration background being perceived as physically less attractive by individuals without a migration background. To explore the mechanisms empirically, data from the first and eleventh wave (refreshment sample) of the German Family Panel (pairfam, N = 16,760) is used, estimating linear regression models with interviewerfixed effects. The results show that ethnic boundaries and social distance are not related to perceived physical attractiveness.
The recent wave of solidarity for Ukrainian refugees after Russia's fullscale invasion is reflected in the massive taking in of refugees into private households in European countries. This is also true for Poland and Switzerland: In Poland, strong private housing assistance and broad mobilisation of the society helped a smooth resettlement and avoided a humanitarian crisis on the border. In Switzerland, for the first time in recent history, private accommodation formed a key element of the official policy for accepting refugees and helped to prevent overburdening of the asylum system. What have been the motives of hosts, what are the underlying socio-cultural boundary processes and how do different civil society traditions impact on motivation and activation? To answer these questions, we compare two countries with strong yet diverging civil society traditions. We describe and compare motivations for taking in Ukrainian refugees as well as experiences of both refugees and hosts. A broad social mobilization and a sense of solidarity and moral commitment developed in both countries specifically for Ukrainians. Boundaries were shifted so the Ukraine becomes part of the "We", however this was stronger for Poland. Civil society activation was supporting and helping state institutions-rather spontaneously and autonomously in Poland and to a smaller degree in Switzerland where lacking state support and coordination has been criticized as an "offloading " of state duties. Our quantitative and qualitative data comes from partnership projects on societal support and social integration of Ukrainian refugees. It consists of a (Swiss) online survey of host families, about 50 narrative and experts interviews with hosts, refugees, civil society organizations and officials.
The number of refugees in Germany has increased noticeably since 2022. In addition to the rising number of asylum seekers from countries such as Syria and Afghanistan, in February 2022, war-related refugee migration from Ukraine began. Against this backdrop, the main research question is whether the willingness to accept refugees varies along their characteristics. Participants particularly show solidarity with Ukrainian, Christian, highly educated and female refugees who intend to return to their country of origin. Furthermore, certain nuances are shown depending on the country of origin. In addition to the characteristics of the refugees, personal characteristics of the respondents are also relevant to their willingness to help. Particularly political attitudes of the participants in conjunction with the refugees' countries of origin are related to the willingness to help: Those with (more) left-wing political views do not differentiate between different origin groups and show a high level of solidarity overall. Participants with (more) rightwing political views are less willing to help overall. In addition, they differentiate between Ukrainian refugees on the one hand and refugees from geographically and culturally more distant countries on the other hand.
This article examines continuities and changes in volunteer support for refugees from 2015 to the current situation in Ukraine. It focuses on the question whether motives of volunteers have shifted since their involvement in the 2015 refugee crisis. Moreover, the article examines the extent to which civil society involvement in refugee aid has expanded and whether this engagement is shaped by underlying political motives. It draws on findings from a research project conducted by the International University (IU) in cooperation with a church-based charitable organization in south-west Germany which examines how volunteers themselves perceive and interpret their engagement. The study finds that volunteers are driven by a diverse set of motives. Against prevailing assumptions, the motivations for supporting Ukrainian refugees do not differ significantly from those for supporting refugees from other countries. Similarly, engagement for Ukrainian refugees does not appear to be more politically motivated than that for other refugee groups. Instead, a consistent commitment to address social and political inequities constitutes a key factor throughout all stages of voluntary engagement.
This article examines how mass media in Germany attributed characteristics to refugees from Syria and the Middle East in 2015 and to Ukrainian refugees in 2022, particularly in terms of their perceived ability-or inability-to integrate into society and the labor market. Media coverage in 2015 was heavily shaped by assumptions of cultural foreignness, anti-Muslim sentiment, and perceptions of inadequate education and qualifications among arriving refugees. In contrast, narratives in 2022 emphasized similarity and portrayed Ukrainians as already well-qualified for the German labor market. However, in both cases, refugees were framed as potential skilled workers and economic resources essential to Germany's labor market. Thus, discussions at both points in time were marked by concerns of "getting to grips" and "fitting in" in order to productively integrate the arriving refugees into the German economic model. The content analysis of media attributions is preceded by a comparative overview of asylum policies in 2015 and 2022, highlighting not only discursive differences but also the unequal institutional treatment of both refugee groups in Germany.
The influx of refugees to Germany, particularly from Syria and Ukraine, has significantly increased over the past decade due to wars and political tensions in the Middle East and Europe. These refugee groups vary not only in their demographic composition but also in their cultural similarity to Germany. Drawing on theoretical frameworks related to threat perception, social identity, and socialization, this paper explores the influence of cultural distance on the acceptance of immigrants in Germany. The study examines the interplay between cultural and social distance and investigates whether the impact of cultural distance differs based on individuals' socialization experiences. Using data from a factorial survey experiment implemented in the 63rd wave of the German Internet Panel, we examine cultural distance in a multidimensional way. Our analyses confirm the significant role of cultural distance and highlight that its impact is more pronounced in interactions with lower social distance. Additionally, we find notable differences based on the dimension of cultural distance as well as between respondents depending on their educational level and between birth cohorts.
The war in Ukraine triggered a significant wave of support in neighboring countries and in Germany. The DeZIM.panel, the online access panel of the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM), conducted a survey one week after the outbreak of the war, revealing strong solidarity with Ukrainian refugees. More than half of the German population expressed willingness to donate money or volunteer. Although this willingness had slightly decreased compared to the early days of the war, it remained generally high and stable. Using data from the DeZIM.panel, this study examines the relationship between willingness to support and actual support for Ukrainian refugees. We focus on two dimensions of support: monetary donations and volunteering. It is assumed that factors such as socio-economic status, educational background, personal experiences of displacement or migration, and general attitudes towards migration influence the level of support.
This study focuses on the prevalence of the rejection of refugees in the German population and the factors that contribute to such negative attitudes. According to Integrated Threat Theory, people aim to protect their status in society by devaluing and rejecting outgroups that are perceived as threatening. Using data from a German population survey (N = 1,461), we address the extent to which the rejection of the influx of asylum seekers is influenced by the subjective perception that refugees pose a threat to the German economy, culture, security, or social coherence. We differentiate between refugees from Arab, Central African, and Eastern European countries and analyze to what extent threat perceptions and the rejection of immigration differ depending on refugees’ home region. Results show that a) different threat perceptions relate to the rejection of different refugee groups, with refugees from Arab countries being the most affected group, and b) the extent to which people perceive threats by refugees is dependent on respondents’ social circumstances such as financial difficulties and experiences of marginalization. The implications of these findings for communication efforts to improve the social integration of refugees into the German society are discussed.
Building upon recent debates on the (a)political qualities of refugee support, this article draws from a quantitative survey among refugee supporters in Germany (n=2000) to assess the prevalence of political motivations and practices, the existence of a distinct “political” type of refugee supporters and potential dynamics of politicization during engagement. Our data document a) a diverse field of action with widespread political and non-political motivations and practices; b) notable attitudinal differences between politically active or motivated volunteers and those that are not; and c) our findings tentatively suggest that involvement in supporting refugees brings about political implications for those involved. Essentially, however, our study documents the need for a nuanced perspective on the motivations and forms of engagement to gain a fuller understanding of this multifaceted and dynamic field of civic action.
