Anselm Eder

Anselm Eder (born March 24, 1947 in Vienna ) is an Austrian sociologist .

Life

Anselm Eder spent his childhood and youth in Vienna and Grünau in Upper Austria. In 1967 he began studying sociology at the University of Vienna . Two years later he switched to the subject of social and economic statistics, which he completed in 1972 with a master's degree. In 1973 he began his work as a university assistant at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Vienna, which at that time was still part of the law faculty. In 1986 Eder completed his habilitation in medical sociology and empirical social research at the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at the University of Vienna. In 1988/1989 he spent a guest semester at the University of Bergen in Norway as part of the project “Health Behavior of School Children”. From 1989 to 2012 he researched and taught as ao Univ.-Prof. at the Institute for Sociology of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Vienna. Together with Hans Strotzka, he worked on the multi-year HBSC project on the health of students. Anselm Eder was married and has three children.

Focus in research and teaching

Social interactions and empirical social research are at the center of Anselm Eder's scientific work. These include different areas of activity depending on the phase of life. It started with the medical-sociological consideration of health in schoolchildren. A long-term focus is the examination of body language as a field of observation. Eder's more recent work deals with the aging society and the economic effects of conflicts in companies.

Important scientific works

The first book Risk Factor Loneliness was written in 1990 at the time of the HBSC project. With this work he put the focus on health and illness on social systems. This is in contrast to many other thematically comparable disputes that focused on the functioning or disorders of certain organs. On the one hand, Eder gives an overview of theories on the psycho- and sociogenesis of diseases. On the other hand, it summarizes the results of studies carried out in 11 countries. 3600 questionnaires were sent for each study, of which more than 3000 were answered. The core result of this study showed a direct connection between health, satisfaction and social integration. Loneliness experienced by students also has a direct impact on their behavior. For example, they are significantly more prone to drug addiction than others.

The treatise Das Böse deals historically with the concept of evil. Eder refers to original sin as well as the terms law, guilt and truths. He also supports his thoughts with summaries of interviews, for example with Kurt Krenn .

As an expert in social and economic statistics, Eder also wrote a textbook on this subject, which was published in several editions.

In 2008 Eder published his basic work on sociology . In this work he states that the family is not the nucleus of society, but interaction as a goal-oriented action. Due to the fact that people have to organize their lives together with others, there is a need for order. Eder defines sociology as the art of recognizing the rules behind what people do by which they do it . He describes two approaches here. On the one hand, it is about the transparency of existing rules of coexistence, on the other hand, their creation and control is also important.

Eder's last published book is about the Aging Society . Building on the demographic development, the authors summarize relevant studies on the topic and carried out their own study with 520 people between the ages of 50 and 65. A core result of this work is the assessment of this group of people with regard to their job opportunities. 90% of unemployed and 61% of employed people felt that their chances of finding a new job were low. In the case of employed people, there are clear differences in terms of hierarchical classification. People in lower positions in the hierarchy have the greatest unmet need; H. most of the wishes and demands that the employer only fulfills to a very limited extent. Basically, there is a great desire for measures to promote older employees and a high willingness to use them. The recommendations for action proposed by the authors include a change to a flexible retirement age, a reduction in working hours and the promotion of further training.

Published stories and essays

In addition to his scientific works, Eder also implemented his findings in stories and essays. For example, in the article Near Nowhere he deals with loneliness. It is a story about the inhabitants of a village in which a stranger suddenly appears. Although this does not harm anyone, it creates a lot of irritation because it just stands around in the village square. Many residents of the village talk about what can possibly happen, but not a single one tries to talk to the stranger.

Eder also published a number of spiritual texts in the magazine Cause and Effect. His best-known work in this context is the dispute about happiness for two and lonely misery. In this post, Eder ponders how people used to organize their happiness. Above all, he turns against the obsession that only two people can find happiness. In his opinion, it is not always a victory to overcome the hurdle of finding a partner. In some cases it is also a refusal to go to war.

Web links

• Anselm Eder as an employee of the Institute for Sociology at the University of Vienna
• Literature by and about Anselm Eder in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hauska: On the art of peace. Novum Verlag 2015, p. 47 ff.
2. ^ Eder: Risk factor loneliness , Springer Verlag 1990
3. ↑ Eder: Das Böse - Where it comes from and what it's good for , Edition Va Bene, 1999
4. ↑ z. B. Eder: Statistics for social scientists , Facultas Verlag, 3rd edition 2007
5. ↑ Eder: What is sociology? Confessions of someone who doesn't know either , Facultas 2008.
6. ^ Eder, Hager, Hudler-Seitzberger, Wimmer: Aging Society - A Challenge for Society and Economy , publisher Zukunftsforum Österreich, LIT Verlag 2009
7. ↑ Eder: Nahe bei Nirgendwo , Edition Va Bene, 2001, pp. 133–142
8. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.