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PhD Research Projects
Ongoing Doctoral Dissertations
abstract
Social recognition is a key concept in social theories that negotiate the relation between justice and society. For the individual, recognition is elementary in order to build a positive self-relationship, and for groups, recognition is important in order to ensure a minimum level of peacefulness. My research project examines experiences of recognition and the resulting attitudes towards one's own recognition behavior using the example of young female football players in Germany and Poland. They all have in common their choice of team sport and the high time commitment to football, their age and the associated challenges and developmental tasks in adolescence, as well as their gender. However, the orders of recognition in which girls' and women's football is embedded in the two countries differ. Embedded in the research style of grounded theory, qualitative problem-centered guided interviews are used to investigate which recognition experiences shape the players, which forms and sources of recognition are relevant to them, and what influence the experienced recognition, or lack of recognition, has on their actions.
Marij Duhra works for the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Football Association and is responsible for social issues, incidents of violence, as well as their prevention.
First supervisor: Prof. Mona Motakef Second supervisor: N.N.
Contact
Social Responsibility LFVMV-V, Kopernikusstraße 17a, 18057 Rostock
marij@duhra.de
abstract
Under the banner of promoting equality and reducing long-term unemployment as well as alleviating the need for skilled workers, German job centers have found themselves increasingly confronted with the task of activating parents, predominantly mothers (over 90 percent), at an early stage of parenting. More specifically, this concerns mothers with young children under the age of three who are receiving basic benefits (SGB II). According to Paragraph 10, Section 1, Sentence 3 of the German Social Code II, it is not obligatory for a parent to take up work during the first three years of a child's life if this would pose risks for the child's upbringing - e.g., if there is no daycare available. However, according to legislation, this exemption period shall be used to identify and utilize existing potentials for labor market integration of the parent. During this period, the job center workers are supposed to activate skilled workers, and people without school or vocational qualifications should use this time to get training. At the same time, activating the parents of young children in benefit recipiency may undermine the social protection of parenting. This can be interpreted as a step of commodification of this phase of life, which has been under protection by the German welfare state, a step which fits into the picture of a market liberal/neoliberal policy (see Lessenich 2009; Dörre et al. 2013). In my dissertation, I will focus on the increased "activation efforts" on mothers of young children in benefit recipiency from a perspective of gender-sociological precarization research (Castel/Dörre 2009; Völker/Amacker 2015; Motakef/Wimbauer 2020). Given this background, I will pursue the question of which practices, attitudes, and positions the prevailing dogma of work in society (specifically, in the Federal Employment Agency) produces among those "involved in activation" (job center clients and job center employees) and, in turn, to what extent these shape "activation practices." With the help of a Grounded Theory methodology (Clarke 2005), which has been extended to include situational analysis, I plan to create an approach to this field as well as an overview of the practice of activation. The qualitative study focuses primarily on interviews and ethnographic field data. There will be a a special focus on the discrepancies and negotiations between the meanings and significance of motherhood and gainful employment in the context of receiving social benefits. The data for the study will be collected under the direction of Prof. Dr. Markus Promberger within the IAB project ‚Frühzeitige Aktivierung in Bedarfsgemeinschaften mit Kindern bis zu drei Jahren‘, running from 2021-2024 under funding by the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
Information
Elena Höpfner is a research associate in Research Department Joblessness and Social Inclusion (ET)
First supervisor: Prof. Mona Motakef, TU Dortmund
Second supervisor: Prof. Markus Promberger, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
Contact
Elena Höpfner, IAB Nürnberg, Regensburger Straße 100, 90478 Nürnberg
abstract
My PhD project examines the relationship between shame, shaming, sexuality and violence from a gender and power critical perspective. For this purpose, I combine discourse theory, sociology of affects, and feminist materialism. In terms of social theory, I ask how discourses on shame structure the un-speakable, i.e. how they regulate and govern the effects of shame which stabilize a system of sexual-sexualized violence. Furthermore, I examine whether the processing of shame, for instance by transforming it into pride, holds emancipatory potential or rather is embedded in dominant discourses of affect control. The affect-sociological approach to shame and the praxeological analysis of shaming practices soften the often-criticized dichotomy between survivors and perpetrators. Instead, it attempts to focus on shame, processing of shame, or shaming practices of all those involved, while accounting for their fundamentally different positions and experiences. My empirical data is based on the legal changes in German sexual criminal law in 1997 (›rape in marriage‹) and 2016 (›no means no‹), and consists largely of visual campaign material against sexualized violence. Following Adele E. Clarke's (2012) Situational Analysis of discourses, other discourse data such as parliamentary debates, media and fictional adaptations are also included in the data corpus. Methodologically, I combine Situational Analysis (mainly Clarke, Friese, Washburn 2018) and Image Analysis (mainly Breckner 2010, 2012, 2018).
Lilian Hümmler works as a research assistant at the Institute for Sociology with a focus on Women's and Gender Studies (Prof.in Sarah Speck) at the Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main.
First supervisor: Prof.in Elisabeth Tuider, University of Kassel
Second supervisor: Prof.in Mona Motakef, TU Dortmund University
Contact
Lilian Hümmler, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Institute for Sociology, HPF 55, 60629 Frankfurt am Main E-Mail: lilian.huemmler@soz.uni-frankfurt.de
Completed Doctoral Dissertations
Stefanie Aunkofer: Väter in Elternzeit – (Nicht-)Anerkennung von Familien- und Erwerbsarbeit im Paar
abstract
Mit der Umgestaltung des Elternzeitgesetzes und der Einführung des Elterngeldes im Jahr 2007 wächst die Zahl elternzeitnehmender Väter in Deutschland stetig. Wandlungsprozesse des Familienernährer- und Zuverdienerinnen-Modells lassen das Elternzeit- und Vereinbarkeitsmanagement zunehmend als Aushandlungsprozess von Eltern erscheinen. Doch wie wirken sich historisch und kulturell institutionalisierte Geschlechtervorstellungen und das ungleichheitsrelevante „asymmetrisches Anerkennungsverhältnis“ der Familien und Erwerbssphäre auf die Aushandlungsprozesse aus? Welche Muster intersubjektiver
(Nicht-)Anerkennung von Familien- und Erwerbsarbeit können im Kontext väterlicher Elternzeitnahme im Paar zum Vorschein kommen? Die Dissertation verortet sich in einer subjektorientierten, sinnrekonstruktiven Perspektive. Sie analysiert sechs narrative Interviews mit Paaren, bei denen der Vater Elternzeit nimmt, anhand der Dokumentarischen Methode in einer komparativen Sequenzanalyse unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Diskursorganisation.
Die Daten wurden im Projekt „Väter in Elternzeit – Aushandlungs- und Entscheidungsprozesse zwischen Paarbeziehung und Betrieb“ erhoben. Methodischer Beitrag der Arbeit ist die Diskussion und Erweiterung der Dokumentarischen Methode um das Erhebungsinstrument des Paarinterviews. Die Dissertation wendet Honneths Anerkennungstheorie aus einer ungleichheits- und geschlechtersoziologischen Perspektive auf das empirische Material an. Sie nimmt daneben eine kritische Diskussion von Ansätzen aus der Väterforschung vor, die eine mögliche Aberkennung familienorientierter Väterlichkeit (z.B. durch die Partnerin oder in sozialen Kontexten) in den Blick nehmen und verweist auf die ungleiche Anerkennungsrelevanz sowie auf die Berücksichtigung paarinterner Aushandlungen.
Untersucht werden die Vereinbarkeits- und Elternzeitarrangements, konsensuelle und nicht konsensuelle (Be-)Deutungen des Elternzeitarrangements, Anerkennung(srelevanz) von Familien- und Erwerbsarbeit, paarinterne Anerkennung sowie die Anerkennung von Elternsein, z.T. auch in sozialen Kontexten. Wesentliches Ergebnis ist, dass Familienarbeit in ihrer Anerkennungsrelevanz hinter Erwerbsarbeit steht, eine geringere Quelle von Anerkennung darstellt, geschlechterdifferenzierend oder auch per se unsichtbar sein kann und oftmals weiterhin weiblich konnotiert ist. Auch wenn Hinweise auf sich egalisierende Anerkennungsverhältnisse zu finden sind, weicht keines der Paare durchweg vom „asymmetrischen Anerkennungsverhältnis“ ab. Beruf und Erwerbsarbeit sind die zentralen Quellen von Anerkennung und meist ausschlaggebend für die Elternzeitarrangements. Familienarbeit ist im Gegenzug keine oder nur eine äquivalente Anerkennungsquelle, sofern beides zur Verfügung steht. Die geschlechterdifferenzierende Aufteilung und ungleiche Bewertung von Erwerbs- und Familienarbeit ändert sich nicht zwangsläufig durch die väterliche Elternzeitnahme. Vielmehr integrieren Paare, die ohnehin egalitäre Vorstellungen haben, die Elternzeit in ein egalitär ausgerichtetes Paararrangement. Traditionelle Geschlechterbilder wirken
auch weiterhin in Paararrangements sowie in betrieblichen und sozialen Kontexten.
Stefanie Aunkofer ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin im Gleichstellungsbüro der Hochschule Rhein-Waal
Erstgutachterin: Prof. Christine Wimbauer, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Zweitgutachterin: Prof. Mona Motakef, TU Dortmund
Disputation: 22.10.2021
Kontakt
Stefanie Aunkofer, Gleichstellungsbüro Hochschule Rhein-Waal, Marie-Curie-Straße 1, 47533 Kleve
stefanie.aunkofer@hochschule-rhein-waal.de
abstract
The recognition of same-sex relationships and non-normative families, coupled with greater access to reproductive technologies, has increased over the past two decades. Surrogacy presents a viable route for gay couples towards parenthood, yet it is banned in many countries. Research shows that gay couples circumvent national legal restrictions by accessing reproductive services abroad. In doing so, they must navigate the specific legal, political, and sociocultural contexts of both their country of residence and the country of destination. Previous research has not conducted a cross-country comparison addressing how such different contexts shape the reproductive practices of gay couples. In my presentation, I compare Germany and Israel, where gay couples face starkly different challenges: Germany prohibits surrogacy in general, while Israel allows it— but not for gay men. Drawing on interviews with couples from both countries, all of whom contracted a surrogate in the US, I analyze the couples’ struggles for legal recognition and social visibility as gay father families. In both countries, the couples handle the legal, political, and sociocultural contexts differently in a process that I frame as becoming a gay father family, which involves concealing the surrogacy and appropriating heteronormative family narratives.
Julia Teschlade ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin im DFG-Projekt "Ambivalente Anerkennungsordnung: Doing reproduction and doing family jenseits der heterosexuellen Normalfamilie, Projektleitung: Prof. Mona Motakef, Prof. Dr. Almut Peukert, Prof. Dr. Christine Wimbauer
Erstgutachterin: Prof. Christine Wimbauer, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Zweitgutachterin: Prof. Mona Motakef, TU Dortmund
Disputation: 19.01.2021
Kontakt
Julia Teschlade, Universität Hamburg, Fakultät für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften Sozialökonomie Soziologie, Welckerstraße 8, 20354 Hamburg
julia.teschlade@uni-hamburg.de
abstract
The aim of this thesis is to analyze the discursive gender order in the field of indie rock. Due to their anchoring in everyday life, musical popular cultures are considered particularly significant for the negotiation and transformation of gender discourses. This paper focuses on the research field of indie rock, as it has received little attention in scholarly discussions of music and gender.
Theoretically, my investigation is framed by the model of ‚hegemonic masculinity‘ conceptualized by Raewyn Connell and further developed by Michael Meuser. I transfer Meuser's considerations to discourse level and argue that ‚hegemonic masculinity‘ also functions here as an ideal-typical orientation pattern. In this context, I focus on two different modes and ask whether the symbolic-cultural gender order in indie rock is established via egalitarian modes of construction or whether the hegemonic mode continues to dominate. In doing so, I am particularly interested in those gender constructions that cannot be clearly categorized as hierarchizing or egalitarian mode, but can be interpreted as ambivalent, since both modes come into play at the same time.
Methodologically, the analysis is framed by the knowledge-sociological discourse analysis developed by Reiner Keller. The project focuses on the analysis of patterns of meaning and the narrative structures in which they are embedded. Methodologically, I examine discourse through the analysis of relevant music journals. For practical research reasons, materials on a limited number of bands are analyzed. Time-wise, the thesis examines discourses between 2001 and 2014.
I will show that authenticity is the central pattern of meaning of the symbolic-cultural gender order, through which recognition or devaluation is attributed. I will discuss this by looking at the different discursive dimensions of the authentic (honesty, independence, control) and the various subjects (vocals, fans, producer, drums and division of labor within the band).
First supervisor: Prof. Paula-Irene Villa Braslavsky, LMU München
Second supervisor: Prof. Mona Motakef, TU Dortmund
Defense: 22.02.2024
Contact