Jean-Claude Kaufmann

Jean-Claude Kaufmann at the 2010 Brive-la-Gaillarde Book Fair

Jean-Claude Kaufmann (born April 12, 1948 in Rennes ) is a French sociologist .

He works at the Center national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) of the Paris Sorbonne and has been dealing with topics related to couple relationships and everyday life for years.

Life

Jean-Claude Kaufmann began his professional career as a sociologist in 1969 with a research assignment. He has been working at the CNRS since 1977, initially as a research officer, and since 2000 as research director. He is a member of the Center de Recherche sur les Liens Sociaux (CERLIS), a CNRS institute at the University of Paris V - Sorbonne , where he also teaches.

method

Kaufmann developed new tools and working methods for sociological research. His preference for the concrete is not limited to the empirical. For him, the field is the raw material that enables him to develop theory step by step and with a view to the facts. This inductive method of sociological theory formation was presented by Kaufmann in The Understanding Interview ( L'entretien compréhensif , 1996, German 1999): In contrast to the classical method, the theory is derived from the facts and continuously checked.

Work

Kaufmann's research subjects reveal social mechanisms about which little was previously known. The topic of his investigation always refers to questions of more general importance, it is the starting point from which further horizons can be opened up: The investigation of "couple relationships" using laundry in dirty laundry ( La Trame conjugale , 1992, German 1995), the Sociology of the bare breasts on the beach in women's bodies - men's eyes ( Corps de femmes, regards d'hommes , 1995, German 1996), the logic of household activity in With Body and Soul ( Le Cœur à l'ouvrage , 1997, German 1999) , the development of single life in single woman and prince charming ( La Femme seule et le Prince charming , 1999, German 2002), the creation of love stories in The Morning After ( Premier matin , 2002, German 2004).

Dissemination of research results

In the 1980s and 1990s, Jean-Claude Kaufmann had developed expertise and recommendations for the French Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of Culture, for the European Union, the Council of Europe and numerous public administrations and private companies. For several years he has concentrated on researching, writing and presenting his research results.

In ego. Pour une sociologie de l'individu (2001), Kaufmann summarized his theory, with Die Invention de soi ( L'invention de soi , 2004, German 2005) he made it accessible to the German-speaking audience using examples from everyday life.

Works

• Dirty laundry. For the conjugal construction of everyday life . Constance: UVK, 1995. ISBN 978-3-89669-831-5 .
• Woman body - man looks . Constance: UVK, 1996. ISBN 978-3-89669-860-5 .
• With body and soul. Household Activity Theory . Constance: UVK, 1999. ISBN 978-3-89669-886-5 .
• Single woman and prince charming. About the loneliness of modern women . Constance: UVK, 2002. ISBN 978-3-89669-944-2 .
• The understanding interview. Theory and practice . Constance: UVK, 1999. ISBN 978-3-89669-885-8 .
• The morning after. How a love story begins . Constance: UVK, 2004. ISBN 978-3-89669-752-3 .
• Dirty laundry. An unusual look at ordinary couple relationships . Constance: UVK, 2005. ISBN 978-3-89669-523-9 .
• The morning after. How a love story begins . Munich: Goldmann, 2005. ISBN 978-3-442-15363-3 .
• The invention of the self. A theory of identity . Constance: UVK, 2005. ISBN 978-3-89669-533-8 .
• Woman body - man looks. Sociology of the topless . Constance: UVK, 2006. ISBN 978-3-89669-556-7 .
• Cooking passion. Sociology of Cooking and Eating . Constance: UVK, 2006. ISBN 978-3-89669-558-1 .
• Single woman and prince charming. Why many women prefer to live alone . Munich: Goldmann, Munich, 2006. ISBN 978-3-442-15362-6 .
• What loves itself is annoying . Constance: UVK, 2008. ISBN 978-3-89669-646-5 .
• L'étrange histoire de l'amour heureux . Paris: Armand Colin. ISBN 978-2-200-24275-6 .
• When I am someone else . Constance: UVK, 2010. ISBN 978-3-86764-207-1 .
• Sex @ mour. How the internet is changing our love life . Constance: UVK, 2011. ISBN 978-3-86764-283-5 .
• Handbag private matter . Constance: UVK, 2012. ISBN 978-3-86764-333-7 .
• C'est arrivé comme ça . Paris: JC Lattès, 2013. ISBN 978-2-253-17483-7 (novel).

literature

Newspaper article about Jean-Claude Kaufmann:

• Antje Korsmeier: The everyday understander . In: the daily newspaper , December 22, 2007.
• Melanie Mühl: Why is it always so irritable? In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , February 11, 2008.
• Andrea Seibel: Always trouble with your loved one . [Interview with Jean-Claude Kaufmann]. In: Die Welt , February 15, 2008.
• Jan Feddersen: "Those looking for consolation should read novels" . [Interview with Jean-Claude Kaufmann]. In: the daily newspaper , March 22, 2008.
• Michael Rutschky: The Latest Love Disorder . In: Friday , January 24, 2012.

Web links

• Literature by and about Jean-Claude Kaufmann in the catalog of the German National Library
• List of publications