Vital politics
Vitalpolitik is a term coined by the German economist and social scientist Alexander Rustow after the Second World War , which calls for an expansion of traditional regulatory policy with regard to the concrete living situation (“vital situation”) of people.
More detailed definition of "vital politics"
The concept was inspired, according to Riistow's own statement, by his Heidelberg colleague Erich Preiser , whose book “The Württemberg Economy as a Model” (1937) shows the semi-rural settlement and housing conditions of Württemberg industrial workers in the 19th century in positive contrast to the inhumane living and living conditions of the English proletariat, as described by Friedrich Engels in “The Situation of the Working Classes in England” (1845). The fields of employment in one's own house or garden provide opportunities for meaningful work for people who cannot work “in the factory” due to being too old or too old or because of temporary unemployment: “The children who are not yet able to go to work, the old people who no longer go to work do not feel superfluous, they do not sit around pointless and disturbing. As far as their strength is already or still sufficient, they can be useful. Unemployment loses its horror, because after the subsistence level has been taken care of by unemployment benefits, the man can finally repair his roof again, build the long-planned shed, finally dig up his land again thoroughly [...] He is out in nature , The children have a healthy and happy childhood, all educational problems, insofar as they arise at all, are immensely simplified, whereas in the big city they are insoluble. In short, the result is an incomparably much happier vital situation. That is why one is also prepared to accept any loss of wages or other measurable disadvantages. "
That is why, unlike most of the contemporary neoliberals and “fathers of the social market economy ”, to strengthen “company solidarity”, Riistow advocates the expansion of internal co - determination : deserves, and that one should leave all internal regulations in which this is possible without directly damaging the primary business purpose to the self-administration of the employees [...] Of course, this internal right of co-determination finds its limit in the responsible economic management of the company [...] ] But even then, with good will, something can still be done, and I know companies where this is done with success. "
Riistow criticizes the large number of newly founded economic and social science institutes after the Second World War and complains about the lack of research into the “vital situation”: “But in addition to 10 start-ups that may be dispensable, there is an eleventh that would be all the more necessary [... ], that of an institute [...] that takes care of these things full-time and ex professo, of the problems of the vital situation, of vital politics. "Rüstow (1952, p. 19) also hoped that the concept of vital politics would be implemented in the Let the aggravating Cold War be used as an important contribution to “avoiding the third world war”, but without going into detail. He agrees with the other contemporary liberals in their skepticism towards state social policy , which, according to the principle of subsidiarity - as it is also the basis of the later Federal Social Welfare Act - is subordinate to decentralized forms of self-help and family help as well as neighborhood help and security considered a subsistence level limited. Riistow's demand for the greatest possible fairness at the start goes well beyond the liberalism of his time through highly progressive taxation of inherited (as opposed to earned) wealth, which, in theory and history, follows the corresponding demands of the English liberal John Stuart Mill in the 19th century.
reception
The concept of vitality politics , which was repeatedly mentioned as an example but never systematically developed, as a contrast to state-mandated social policy , found only a hesitant and reserved reception in politics and science in the 1950s, most likely by the neoliberal economist Wilhelm Röpke, who was friendly with Rustow . For many it seemed too imprecise, the ideas behind it were often viewed as socially romantic. Obvious objections to the vital politics, such as above all the increased immobility of the workers due to their own home, were countered by Riistow himself by not further quantifying the reference to their in his opinion predominant social advantages. After the concept had been almost completely forgotten since the mid-sixties, it has been taken into consideration again to a limited extent in recent years in connection with more recent economic and social science developments, such as happiness research and the discussion about new welfare measures . In particular, the Vital policy approach can be understood as the ability, that is in the traditional life situation concept and similarity to the current capability approach of Amartya Sen has.
literature
- Friedrich Engels : The situation of the working classes in England. According to his own view and authentic sources [1845]. MEW 22, pp. 237-506, Berlin: Dietz Verlag 1972.
- Erich Preiser: The Württemberg economy as a model. (The investigations of the East Prussia - Württemberg working group.) Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 1937.
- Alexander Rüstow : Social Policy or Vital Policy? Communications from the Dortmund Chamber of Commerce and Industry. November 15, 1951, pp. 453-459.
- Alexander Riistow: The Man in Business. Outlines of a vital politics. [Extended version of the Dortmund contribution] Frankfurt a. M .: August Lutzeyer undated [1952].
Individual evidence
- ↑ Julian Dörr: Chapter 2 Alexander Rustow and the vital politics, in: The European cohesion policy. An economic perspective . De Gruyter, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-11-048012-2 , pp. 9-63 .
- ^ Riistow (1951), p. 456
- ^ A b Riistow (1951), p. 457
- ↑ Julian Dörr: Chapter 2 Alexander Rustow and the vital politics, in: The European cohesion policy. An economic perspective. De Gruyter, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-11-048012-2 , pp. 9-63 .