Sachweh, Patrick
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Item type:Publication, Why Do the Affluent Find Inequality Increasingly Unjust? Changing Inequality and Justice Perceptions in Germany, 1994–2014In the wake of rising inequality in Germany during the last 20 years, we document a corresponding increase in perceptions of injustice among the population. Based on data from the cumulated German General Social Survey (ALLBUS), we show that this increase in perceived injustice is driven mainly by a rising share of affluent respondents who find society unjust, resulting in a convergence across income groups towards more critical attitudes. We try to explain this puzzling development based on outcome-related justice assessments and perceptions of procedural justice. We find that outcome-related justice assessments cannot explain the trend over time, but affect the overall level of injustice perceptions. The influence of perceptions of procedural justice, however, is more pronounced among affluent respondents and partly explains the increase in injustice perceptions within this group. These results are robust for different operationalizations as well as model specifications and are not due to compositional effects. Since we cannot account entirely for the rise in injustice perceptions among the affluent, explanatory factors not covered by our data are likely to exist. We conclude with a discussion of potential explanations that future research should address.journal article126 286 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Unequal by origin or by necessity? Popular explanations of inequality and their legitimatory implicationsAccording to an implicit assumption underlying stratification theory and research, citizens in modern societies are supposed to regard inequality as caused by social factors, and therefore in need of legitimation. Based on qualitative interviews with people from both lower and upper social classes in Germany, the article questions this assumption. From the interviews, I reconstruct two divergent interpretive frames that are used to understand the causes of inequality. While one indeed highlights social origin as a prominent social-structural factor and suggests critical normative orientations towards the status quo (‘inequality by origin’), at the same time explanations regarding inequality as an inevitable element of social order exist which suspend legitimatory pressures (‘inevitable inequalities’). Importantly, both interpretive frames co-exist and are used simultaneously within respondents’ reasoning; to the extent that this is the case, the critique evoked by the ‘inequality by origin’ interpretation is eventually undermined.journal articleBand:1Heft:4134 89 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Criticizing Inequality? How Ideals of Equality Do – and Do Not – Contribute to the De-Legitimation of Inequality in Contemporary Germany(2017)»Kritik der Ungleichheit? Gleichheitsideale und ihr Beitrag zur Delegitimation sozialer Ungleichheit in Deutschland«. Social inequality in modern societies requires legitimation. Yet, while ideals of equality are ascribed a central role in philosophical and public debates about inequality and social justice, less is known about how ordinary people draw on principles of equality in criticizing and justifying social inequalities in the current era of a “crisis of equality.” From the perspective of the sociology of critique, this article asks how different social classes refer to beliefs about equality of outcomes and opportunity when criticizing and justifying inequality in contemporary Germany. Based on qualitative interviews with respondents from upper and lower social classes, I show that the ideal of equality is inherently ambivalent and contested: On the one hand, respondents across classes reject the idea of equalizing outcomes but criticize unequal opportunities. However, only upper-class respondents demand greater state intervention to bring about equality of opportunity, indicating that this ideal does not serve as a normative point of reference for the lower classes. At the same time, due to its individualist undertones, the ideal of equality of opportunity also contains a legitimizing potential. Paradoxically, then, ideals of equality appear to contribute little to the de-legitimation of inequality in contemporary Germany.journal articleBand:42Heft:3193 159 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Die Gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz der Sozialhilfe. Eine Untersuchung aus moralökonomischer PerspektiveIm vorliegenden Beitrag wird untersucht, auf welche Gründe und Motive sich die Akzeptanz eines sozialpolitischen Minderheitenprogramms wie der Sozialhilfe innerhalb der deutschen Bevölkerung stützt. Hierzu werden auf der Basis eigener Umfragedaten Hypothesen zum Zusammenhang des Eigeninteresses der wohlfahrtsstaatlichen Adressaten an der Sozialhilfe, ihrer Gerechtigkeitsüberzeugungen und ihrer victimisierenden Wahrnehmungen von Sozialhilfeempfängern mit zwei verschiedenen Indikatoren für die Akzeptanz der Sozialhilfe mittels linearer Regressionsanalysen empirisch überprüft. Ein zentrales Ergebnis ist dabei, dass sich die beobachteten Effekte im Sinne des Konzepts der ‚Moralökonomie’ interpretieren lassen, da sowohl die Gerechtigkeitsüberzeugungen der Adressaten wie auch die Wahrnehmungen der Sozialhilfeempfänger mit den in der Sozialhilfe institutionalisierten normativen Prinzipien korrespondieren. This article examines on which grounds the German population is willing to support a social policy program targeted towards minorities such as social assistance. Using our own survey data and applying linear regression analysis, we test several hypotheses concerning the influence of self-interest, justice-orientations, and victim-blaming attitudes towards welfare re-cipients on two indicators of support for social assistance. A central finding is that the effects can be interpreted in line with the concept of a ‘moral economy’, in that the justice orientations of the respondents as well as their attitudes towards welfare recipients correspond with the norms incorporated in the institutional architecture of social assistance.journal articleBand:58Heft:3149 161 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Sind Armut und Reichtum ein Problem? Eine qualitative Untersuchung von Deutungsmustern materieller UngleichheitVor dem Hintergrund wachsender sozialer Ungleichheiten analysiert der Beitrag auf der Grundlage von zwanzig leitfadengestützten Interviews mit Menschen aus privilegierten und benachteiligten sozialen Lagen, mit welchen Argumentations- und Begründungsmustern die Extrempole sozialer Ungleichheit – Armut und Reichtum – kritisiert werden. Armut erscheint dabei aufgrund der damit einhergehenden Einschränkungen im materiellen Lebensstandard, der mit ihr verbundenen Unsicherheit und den entsprechenden psychischen Belastungen als problematisch. Reichtum dagegen wird besonders dann kritisiert, wenn bestimmte Konsum- und Verhaltensmuster nicht (mehr) über die Erfordernisse einer als allgemeingültig anerkannten Lebensweise gerechtfertigt werden können, sondern ausschließlich durch Distinktionsbestrebungen motiviert zu sein scheinen.journal articleBand:57Heft:9208 129 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Conditional Solidarity: Social Class, Experiences of the Economic Crisis, and Welfare Attitudes in EuropeThe aftermath of the Global Financial and Economic Crisis of 2007/2008 turned out as a veritable “stress test” for European welfare states. Aiming to stabilize citizens’ living conditions and mitigate socio-economic hardship, European governments have engaged in active crisis management. Yet, the protective capacities of European welfare states vary, as does individuals’ exposure to crisis-induced social risks. Hence, the crisis has impacted countries and the members of different social classes unequally. Against this backdrop, this paper asks how Europeans’ perceptions of the personal impact of the crisis are associated with their welfare attitudes, focusing on variations between social classes and across nations. Using cross-sectional Eurobarometer survey data from 2010 for 27 European countries, I find that perceived crisis impact is associated with greater support for welfare state responsibility and redistribution. However, this association is not homogeneous but moderated by an individual’s class position as well as national economic conditions and social spending levels. More specifically, on the individual level, perceived crisis impact is associated with more favourable welfare attitudes not only among its traditional supporters—such as the working class or the unemployed—but also among its traditional opponents, notably the self-employed. Furthermore, where social spending is higher, welfare state support is less strongly related to perceived crisis impact, suggesting that more encompassing welfare states mitigate the subjective impacts of the crisis. However, redistribution appears to be slightly more contested between those affected and those not affected by the crisis under better economic conditions. Given the challenges facing welfare states across Europe, it remains to be seen how stable a basis of popular support can be formed on these grounds.journal article103 185