corporation

Corporations ( Latin corpus "body") are historical forerunners of modern organizations . They functioned since the late Middle Ages as institutions that brought new knowledge and skills into society. This took place within the framework of religious orders or brotherhoods, cities, universities and professions. Individual corporations were formed from voluntary associations of male people who distinguished themselves through their professional competence. The approval of authorized religious and political institutions was required for the establishment of corporations.

Corporate structure

Corporations or corporate actors meanwhile refer to legal persons who represent the interests of their founders, i.e. H. of natural persons. Both “persons” together have an impact on social structures. Both are dependent on each other, which, together with social changes, creates new social structures.

In the course of the dissolution of the God-given social order of the Middle Ages , the place of every individual was shaken, so James Coleman . The importance of the individual increased and the desire for its effectiveness grew. Corporations were the autonomous entities that could be controlled from below, which enabled individuals to want, act, negotiate and establish relationships.

Professional life

Professions could be organized in corporations. So z. B. academic professions such as lawyers, doctors, clergy and occupations in craft and trade. The academic corporations were, in the broadest sense, united under the umbrella of the universities. It was learned, institutionalized knowledge that set them apart from that of handicrafts and commerce. The academic corporations thus acquired a reputation for acting independently of personal interests in the interests of the cause.

The growth of corporations and the freedom of their formation varied in the western world. Everywhere they developed into basic elements of the social fabric and contributed to democratization.

In the course of time, corporations became between positions rather than connections between persons: persons fill positions, but positions are not tied to persons.

Student affairs

For the educated bourgeoisie from 1870 to the 20th century, student corporations had to carry on a basic attitude that can be characterized as German-national. Academics who passed their exams during this period had a major impact on society and politics of the time.

Student corporations pledged to encourage their members to lead an honorable and moral life, to promote their interest in science, and to facilitate friendship and sociability among them. In the course of time, the statutes were expanded: "At the end of the empire, there were regulations and fixed penalties for non-compliance with the regulations for every area of ​​life, for every event and all eventualities ..."

User cooperatives

In Switzerland , forest, field, pasture (see Bergschaft ) and similar user cooperatives are also referred to as corporations . In most cantons, they are organized under private law in accordance with the provisions of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB; Art. 52 ff.) And the cantonal introductory laws to the Swiss Civil Code (e.g. Zurich EG ZGB §§ 48–56).

In Central Switzerland, in Glarus and St. Gallen, on the other hand, corporations are publicly recognized, community-like bodies whose task is to manage corporate goods (forest, Allmend, Alp), in the cultural sector (libraries) or in public services (water supply, street lighting). consists. Some of them go back to pre-state organizational forms and can therefore be older than the cantons themselves. For example, the Oberallmeindkorporation Schwyz is more than 900 years old ; In any case, in 1114 an early chronicler reported disputes between the Allmeind and the Einsiedeln monastery. For these public corporations, see the article Corporative Community .

See also

• Corporatism
• Corporation
• corporation

literature

• James Samuel Coleman : Power and Social Structure . Tuebingen 1979.
• Rudolf Stichweh : Sociology of the association. Structure formation between locality and globality . In: Emil Brix , Rudolf Richter (Ed.): Organized private interests. Associations in Austria , Passagen Verlag. Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-85165-402-1 , pp. 19–31.
• Hans Stadler: Corporations. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rudolf Stichweh: Professions in the system of modern society . In: Roland Merten (Ed.): System theory of social work . Opladen 2000, p. 29 f.
2. ↑ James Samuel Coleman: Power and Social Structure . Tübingen 1979, pp. 1-4, 15.
3. ↑ See Stichweh ibid.
4. ↑ See James Samuel Coleman: Power and Social Structure . Tübingen 1979, p. 19.
5. ↑ See James S. Coleman ibid, p. 22.
6. ↑ Cf. Martin Biastoch: Tübingen students in the Kaiserreich . Sigmaringen 1996, p. 13.
7. ↑ Martin Biastoch, ibid., P. 137.