Established and outsiders

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Established and Outsiders is a book by Norbert Elias and John L. Scotson, which was first published in English ( The Established and the Outsiders ) in 1965. It is a basic work of process sociology on the “theory of established-outsider relationships” and describes the inherent dynamic basic structure of the long-term development of social inequalities or power differences within a figuration .

In the book, the results of an empirical study on the neighborhood relationship of residents of a suburb of the growing English industrial city of Leicester with a relatively old core district and two younger districts are analyzed and described in terms of power theory. The study shows that social inequalities did not only develop according to class , race or ethnicity, but especially according to the length of time people lived in the community: the established "long-time residents" and the outsiders who moved into the community after the Second World War formed an "established outsider figuration".

The book consists of a basic theoretical part, a presentation of the study results and three theoretical excursions. The theoretical parts go back to Norbert Elias, who taught sociology at the University of Leicester from 1954 to 1962 and lived in the suburb examined. John L. Scotson studied sociology and conducted the empirical research under the guidance of Elias. The study period was between 1958 and 1961.

Outlines of the study

The starting point of the study was the observation that the established ones distanced themselves from the new roommates and did not enter into any private contact with the “new ones”. Instead, there was massive stigmatization of the new residents. Elias and Scotson try to explain this in the book.

According to the authors of the book, “unequal balances of power ” are decisive for such strange distances between actually equal groups of people . The established have greater power because they form a homogeneous group that has developed over a longer period of time, while the outsider group is more heterogeneous because the “newcomers” have only recently known each other. Because of this, the established are able to stigmatize the new. This social process is represented by the authors as follows:

The “old families” have “developed a common way of life and a canon of norms” over generations in their community. These are unconsciously disturbed by the new families because they do not know the local behavior patterns and the associated canon of norms. Therefore, the old families unconsciously feel threatened in their accustomed way of life - they become insecure.

The established are getting closer and closer together, cohesion is increasing, brought about by a “ carrot and stick ” mechanism . Those who adhere to the norms of the ancients are rewarded . They can rise in the social ranking of the established. Anyone who gets involved with the new, for example, is punished by a social decline among the established. There are therefore various compulsions that people are subject to: Compulsions that the individual imposes on himself (self-compulsions), caused by a group opinion and the associated threat of social decline (external compulsions). “Participation in the superiority and unique charisma of a group is, as it were, the reward for following group-specific norms”. There is also a connection here to the long-term process of civilization described by Elias : people internalize more and more external compulsions into self-compulsions in the course of the development of generations.

"Of course it then looks like the members of an outsider group do not obey these norms and constraints." The established ones perceive them as something foreign and threatening and the outsiders naturally also notice the difference and the stigmatization by the established ones. They are driven into an opposition, "without really understanding what was happening, and certainly through no fault of their own." Interestingly, some of the outsiders actually behave as the established ones condemned. They were apparently unreliable, undisciplined, lawless, and unclean. "Give a group a bad name and it will follow suit." The behavior of the established and the outsider is interdependent . The outsiders measure themselves against the standards of their oppressors. But the self-esteem and self-image of the established are also dependent on the existence of the outsider.

When the balance of power between the two groups is evened out or the outsiders even gain more power, counterstigmatization can arise. The outsiders take revenge on the established. If the balance of power shifts in favor of the outsider, the traditional self-coercion patterns, the behavioral patterns of the established, also begin to collapse. There is no reward for this behavior, so that the established ones have to learn other behavior patterns in order to be able to be successful again.

Transferability of the theory

According to Elias, the social dynamics observed in this English place are to be regarded as typical for figurations with an established-outsider relationship. At the core of such a figuration is an unequal balance of power , the greater cohesion that enables the established to reserve socially higher positions for the members of their own group, which in turn strengthens cohesion and excludes members of other groups. With such an established-outsider figuration, the established group tends to attribute the worst characteristics of their “worst” members to the outsiders, while the established ones, conversely, identify with the characteristics of the “best” of their group.

Elsewhere, the authors point out that “growing up in a group of stigmatized outsiders can lead to certain intellectual and emotional deficits.” The outsider group suffers from a deficiency that is not of an economic but of a social nature: “How should one name him? Lack of value? Or sense? In terms of self-love and self-esteem ? ”From this, a human need for self-worth can be derived.

The authors also point to other figurations of established and outsider relationships. For example, the Burakumin in Japan , the lowest caste in India, feudal lords and serfs, whites and blacks, non-Jews and Jews, Protestants and Catholics, men and women, figurations of social classes, parties or prisoners, but also powerful nations against weak Nations.

Research based on theory

Studies in a wide variety of areas are based on the theoretical approach of the established and outsiders and confirm the explanatory model, for example, in the following figurative contexts:

  • Migration & Flight
  • Jews in Germany
  • Residential quarters
  • family
  • Nation and parenthood (network of relationships on and between different figurative levels: parent-child, mothers & fathers, parents & national institutions such as courts, schools, daycare centers, etc.)
  • Gender relations

expenditure

  • The established and the outsiders. A sociological inquiry into community problems. F. Cass, London 1965.
  • Established and outsiders. Translated by Michael Schröter, Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1990, ISBN 3-518-58058-2 (as Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch 1993, ISBN 3-518-38382-5 ).
  • Established and outsiders. In: Collected Writings. Volume 4. Frankfurt / M. 2002, ISBN 3-518-58318-2 .
  • The established and the outsiders. University College Dublin Press, Dublin 2008, ISBN 978-1-904558-92-7 .

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, ISBN 3-518-38382-5 , p. 14.
  2. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 16.
  3. ↑ On the connection between group charisma and group shame in Norbert Elias compared to Max Weber see Erik Jentges: Charisma in Max Weber and Norbert Eias. In: Erik Jentges (ed.): Group charisma and group shame . Marbach 2014, pp. 49-72.
  4. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 18.
  5. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 18.
  6. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 247.
  7. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 24.
  8. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 22.
  9. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 15.
  10. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 46 f.
  11. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 12.
  12. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 13.
  13. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 26.
  14. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 32.
  15. ↑ Norbert Elias, John L. Scotson: Established and Outsiders. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2002, p. 8.
  16. ↑ Julia Reuter, Paul Mecheril (ed.): Key works of migration research: pioneering studies and reference theories . Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3-658-02115-3 .
  17. ^ Matthias Hambrock: The establishment of the outsiders: The Association of national German Jews 1921-1935. Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-412-18902-2 .
  18. ↑ Carsten Keller: Life in the prefabricated building: To the dynamics of social exclusion. Frankfurt / Main 2005. ISBN 3-412-18902-2 .
  19. ^ Jutta Ecarius: Family and public education: theoretical concepts, historical and current analyzes. Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-15564-7 .
  20. ^ Désirée Waterstradt: Process-Sociology of Parenthood. Nation-building, figurative ideals and generative power architecture in Germany. Münster 2015, ISBN 978-3-95645-530-8 .
  21. ↑ Stefanie Ernst: Gender relations and leadership positions: a figuration-sociological analysis of the construction of stereotypes. Opladen 1999, ISBN 3-531-13322-5 .
  22. ↑ Anke Barzantny: Mentoring programs for women: Measures for structural changes in science? A figuration-sociological investigation into academic medicine. Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 978-3-531-16123-5 .