Werner Fricke

Werner Fricke

Werner Fricke (born July 23, 1936 in Danzig ) is a German social scientist specializing in work-related action research and the humanization of work.

Life

Fricke came to North Hesse as a refugee from Danzig in 1945, where he attended the secondary school in Bad Sooden-Allendorf . In the 1950s and 1960s he studied German at the University of Göttingen , then economics at the Free University of Berlin with a degree in economics. From 1968 Fricke worked as a research assistant at the research institute of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) in Bonn. There he founded the Labor Force Research Department (later Labor and Technology Department) in 1971, of which he was head until 1989. In 1975 he did his doctorate with Heinz Hartmann in Münster with the sociological dissertation “Work organization and qualification. An industrial sociological contribution to the humanization of work ”. In this book, which appeared in the 2nd edition in 1978 and was discussed intensively in industrial sociology, Fricke developed his concept of innovative qualifications in addition to a criticism of the concepts and research results of the industrial sociology of the time (including Kern / Schumann "Industrial work and workers' consciousness"). From 1996 to 2001 Fricke was an honorary professor at the University of Bremen for the teaching and research area “Work and Technology Design in International Comparison”. Today he lives as a pensioner in Emern near Uelzen .

On January 12, 2018, Fricke was awarded the Badge of Honor of the Lower Saxony Youth Fire Brigade. For more than 30 years, he has provided the Emern youth fire brigade with free storage space for the team transport vehicle .

Professional background

In 1968 Fricke began his research as a research assistant in the RKW project A 33 "Economic and social aspects of technical change in the Federal Republic of Germany". In 1971 he became head of the newly established “Labor Force Research” department (later Labor and Technology Department) at the Research Institute of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Bonn. After an EGSC- funded empirical study on the connection between work organization, qualifications and activities of technical employees in underground coal mining operations, he designed and implemented an action research project in what was then Peiner AG from 1975 to 1979 with an interdisciplinary research group (three sociologists, one psychologist, one engineer) ( today Salzgitter AG ), financed from the program of the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (BMFT) for the humanization of working life (HdA). This Peiner participation project brought Fricke and his colleagues into contact with the British / Scandinavian tradition of action research for the first time. Together with Werner Fricke's considerations in his dissertation on the potential of innovative qualifications (Fricke 1975, 1978), action research formed the theoretical basis for the development of the Peine participation procedure. The research group learned a lot from the experience of the Norwegian research program " Industrial Democracy ". Fricke made contact with Scandinavian action researchers (Einar Thorsrud, later Björn Gustavsen, Per Engelstad and Oyvind Palshaugen) and the British Tavistock Institute in London (Eric Trist, Lisl Klein). Based on his own research, he maintained intensive research contacts with them and their institutes for three decades. Among other things, the international journal "Concepts and Transformation" emerged from contacts in particular with the Work Research Institute in Oslo. International Journal of Action Research and Organizational Renewal ”, later International Journal of Action Research ( Verlag Barbara Budrich ), of which Fricke was editor-in-chief from 2001 - 2009, and on which he worked as editor emeritus until 2016.

Between 1985 and 1990 Werner Fricke headed a project group of three experienced company trainers and three industrial sociologists who, together with a group of Chinese engineers , developed and implemented the educational, technical and structural concept for a Chinese vocational training center in Nanchang , 800 km west of Shanghai. Three training halls were built, one each for fitters, toolmakers and electricians; the vocational training center later became a technical college for engineers and skilled workers.

Activity in scientific advisory boards

Fricke was a member of various scientific advisory boards for state research programs in the federal and state levels. From 1975 to 1979 he was a member of the steering committee of the BMFT- financed action and research program Humanization of Working Life , in the following years member of various advisory boards of the federal program work and technology, the state program North Rhine-Westphalia "Man and technology - socially compatible technology design" as well as the Bremen State Program Work and Technology. In addition, there have been many years of advisory activities in scientific project advisory boards of the Hans Böckler Foundation .

Editorial activity

In addition to his work as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Action Research, Fricke was the editor of the “Jahrbuch Arbeit und Technik” from 1990 to 2001, which was initially annually and later every 2 years on key topics such as “Future technologies and social responsibility” and “Time experience - Time Policy ”or“ Future of the Welfare State ”each combined around 30 contributions by prominent and technically competent authors. From 1978 to 1989 Fricke published the series Arbeit with 21 volumes and 15 special issues on social science topics; After 1990, this resulted in the Future of Work Forum, all three series in the Neue Gesellschaft publishing house, since 1988 JHW Dietz Nachf. , Bonn. In 1996 Fricke became co-founder and co-editor of the book series "Dialogues on Work and Organization", Verlag John Benjamin, Amsterdam & Philadelphia.

Fonts (selection)

Selected book publications

• On the way to the service industry? Volume IV of the RKW project "Economic and social aspects of technical change in the FRG" , Frankfurt / Main 1971, European Publishing House (with H. Lindner, A. Mohr, G. Stümpfig, P. Thelen, K.-H. Weimer )
• Work organization and qualification. An industrial sociological contribution to the humanization of work. Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn 1975, 2nd edition 1978
• Forms of work of technical intelligence in hard coal mining. An empirical study on the relationship between work organization, qualifications and activity in underground coal mining operations. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1976 (together with E. Fricke, G. Portmann, W. Schmidt, M. Schönwälder)
• Vocational training and employment system. An empirical analysis of the placement and use of qualifications in five large companies in the metal industry. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1976 (together with E. Fricke)
• Qualification and participation. Detailed research report HA 80-026 , Leopoldshafen 1980, digitized: Volume 1 :; Volume 2:
• Qualification and participation. The Peiner model for the humanization of work. Campus, Frankfurt / Main 1981 (together with E. Fricke, M. Schönwälder, B. Stiegler)
• Participate, help shape, have a say. Employees change their working conditions. (Ed. With G. Peter , W. Pöhler ), Bund-Verlag, Cologne 1982
• Participation as an element of trade union labor policy. Experience from Norway, Italy, Sweden and the Federal Republic. Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn 1984 (Ed. With W. Schuchardt)
• Innovative qualifications - an opportunity for union labor policy. Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn 1985 (Ed. With W. Schuchardt)
• Participation in an industrial company. Middle management problems. Campus, Frankfurt / Main 1985 (together with H. Wiedenhofer)
• Work and technology as a political task. A report from a social science perspective (for the Bremen Senator for Education and Science). Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn 1985 (together with K. Krahn, G. Peter )
• Possibilities for the design of work and technology in theory and practice. Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn 1986 (ed. With K. Bartölke, J. Bünnig, G. Hobbensiefken, U. Höfkes, H.-G. Ridder)
• Social sciences and industrial democracy. Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn 1988 (Ed. With W. Jäger )
• (Ed.) (1994): Work and technology programs in the federal and state governments 1993. A sociological balance sheet. Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn
• (Ed.) (1997): Action Research and Industrial Democracy. Forum Future of Work 6, Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn
• Action Research in Workplace Innovation and Regional Development. John Benjamin, Amsterdam / Philadelphia 2004 (Ed. With P. Totterdill)
• Democratization of work. New approaches to humanization and economic democracy. VSA, Hamburg 2012 (Ed. With H. Wagner)

Selected essays

• (1973) (with Else Fricke and Manfred Schönwälder) Qualification and company work organization. On the problem of analyzing qualifications in the work process. In: Soziale Welt, issue 2/3, p. 219 ff
• (1974/1979) (with Else Fricke) On the way to a dynamic theory of qualifications. On some methodological problems in qualification research. In: Soziale Welt, Heft 4, p. 426 ff. Reprinted in Lutz Zündorf (Ed.) Industrial and Business Sociology, Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1979
• (1977) Organizational Development and Professional Autonomy of Workers. In: Jürgen Gohl (Ed.) Work in Conflict. Problems of the humanization debate, Goldmann Verlag, Munich
• (1977) (together with Else Fricke) industrial sociology and humanization of work. In: Soziale Welt, Heft 1/2, p. 91 ff
• (1977) Humanization of Work - An Opportunity for Workers to Design their Work Self-Determined. In: Ulrich Borsdorf , Hans O. Hemmer, Gerhard Leminsky, Heinz Markmann (eds.) Trade union policy: Reform out of solidarity. For the 60th birthday of Heinz O. Vetter , Bund Verlag, pp. 311–336
• (1977) Humanization of work as an autonomy-oriented design of work and production processes. In: Christian von Ferber , Franz-Xaver Kaufmann (ed.) Sociology and Social Policy, special issue 19 of the Cologne journal for sociology and social psychology
• (1978) On the relationship between production technology, work organization and qualification structure - overview of the state of research and discussion. In: Karl Martin Bolte (Ed.) Materials from sociological research. Negotiations of the 18th German Sociological Conference 1976 in Bielefeld, DGS, Munich 1978, pp. 864–877
• (1978) Autonomy-oriented organizational development as a shared learning process between scientists and workers. In: Klaus Bartölke u. a. (Ed.) Quality of work in organizations, Gabler, Wiesbaden
• (1979) (together with Else Fricke and Barbara Stiegler) Conditions for imparting and applying innovative qualifications in industrial operations. Experiences and results from the Peine research project on the humanization of work. In: WSI-Mitteilungen, Issue 6
• (1979) Possibilities for the development and systematic application of a participation process at company level. In: Willi Pöhler (Ed.)…. So that work becomes more humane. Five-year action program humanization of working life. Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn, pp. 84-102
• (1979) The unused possibilities of the action and research program for the humanization of work. In: Bernd Biervert, Günter Buchholz and Jürgen Gohl (Eds.) Institutional Reforms in the Crisis, Campus, Frankfurt / Main
• (1980) (together with Else Fricke and Barbara Stiegler) Conditions for imparting and applying innovative qualifications in industrial operations. In: Ulrich Beck , Kurt Hörning and Wilke Thomssen (eds.) Education policy. Current development trends in connection with education and employment. Campus, Frankfurt / Main
• Fricke, Werner (1982) On the connection between interest, qualifications and company work situation. In: Gert Schmidt u. a. (Ed.) Materials on industrial sociology, special issue of the Cologne journal for sociology and social psychology, Cologne 1982, p. 457 ff.
• (1982) Peine II. Experiences from an operational implementation project. In: Gerd Peter , Bruno Zwingmann (ed.) Humanization of work. Problems of implementation. Bund Verlag, Cologne
• (1982) Participation, Codetermination and Humanization of Work. The example of the Peiner works agreement on the participation of employees in the structuring of working conditions. In: Zeitschrift für Arbeitswissenschaft, Heft 2 (1982), pp. 72-76
• (1982) Vocational Education and Social Capability. Considerations and suggestions for imparting innovative qualifications in vocational training. In: Dieter Mertens, Matthias Rick (ed.) Vocational training research. Nuremberg 1982
• (1983) Participatory Research and the enhancement of workers' innovative qualifications. In: Journal of Occupational Behavior, Vol 4, pp. 73-87
• (1983) Industrial Sociology and Participation. In: Peter Mambrey, Reinhard Oppermann (Ed.) Involvement of those affected in the development of information systems, Campus, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 86–115
• (1992) Technology design and industrial sociological research. In: Hans-Jürgen Daheim, Helmut Heid, Karl Krahn (eds.) Social opportunities. Research on the change in the working society, Campus, Frankfurt / Main, pp. 277–310
• (1994) Scientific knowledge, social change and action research. In: Finnish Labor Ministry (ed.) National Action Research Programs in 1990s. Labor Policy Studies, vol. 86, p. 47-69
• (1995) On the future of the trade unions. In: Klaus Zwickel (Ed.) Future profiles. Bund Verlag, Cologne, p. 176 ff.
• (1998) The Societal Context of Social Science. In: Jürgen Howaldt, Ralf Kopp (eds.) Social science organizational advice, edition sigma, Berlin, pp. 21–40
• (1997) The Constructive Task of Social Science. Inaugural lecture at the University of Bremen. In: Hellmuth Lange, Eva Senghaas-Knobloch (ed.) Konstruktiv Sozialwissenschaft, LIT, Münster, pp. 13–26
• (2003) Social science research in social contexts. In: Hans-Werner Franz, Jürgen Howaldt, Heike Jacobsen, Ralf Kopp (eds.) Research - learn - advise. The change in knowledge production and transfer in the social sciences, edition sigma, Berlin 2003, pp. 151–173
• (2003) Research in Dialogue Instead of Science Transfer. In: Christiane Färber, Klaus Kock, Frank Mußmann, Irmtraud Schlosser (eds.) Cooperation Science Working World. Westfälisches Dampfboot, Münster, pp. 32–42
• (2004) Three decades of research and practice on the humanization of work in Germany - a balance. In: Wolfgang Weber, Pier-Paolo Pasquolini, Christian Burtscher (eds.) Economy, Democracy and Social Responsibility, Göttingen, 144–168
• (2005) Social Scientist in Development Processes. On the function of 'scientific support' in model tests from the perspective of an action researcher. In: Heinz Holz, Dorothea Schemme (Ed.) Scientific support in the redesign of learning, pp. 40–51, Bonn: Federal Institute for Vocational Training
• (2006) General Reflexions on how to Practice and Train for Action Research. In: International Journal of Action Research 3, pp. 269-282
• (2007) Work Research and Action Research. Prospects of a desirable productive relationship. In: Joachim Ludwig, Manfred Moldaschl u. a. (Ed.) Labor research and innovation in Germany, Rainer Hampp Verlag, Munich, pp. 285–296
• (2008) Democratic Participation. Foundation of a corporate culture from below. In: Rainer Benthin, Ulrich Brinkmann (eds.) Corporate culture and co-determination. Campus, Frankfurt / Main, pp. 373-390
• (2009) Interorganizational Participation and Innovation: Introduction to Nordic Labor Research. In: Wirtschaftspsychologie, 4, pp. 32–42
• (2009) Innovative Qualifications. Their development and application in the process of learning and acting in work situations. In: Axel Bolder, Rolf Dobischat (ed.) Eigen-Sinn and Resistance, Wiesbaden, pp. 179–206
• (2010) Case Study Research as Action Research. In: Hans J. Pongratz , Rainer Trinczek (ed.) Industrial sociological case studies, edition sigma, Berlin, pp. 257–276
• (2010) Action Research - Science and Practice in Dialog. In: Contributions to labor policy and labor research. IG Metall (ed.), Frankfurt / Main, pp. 107–118. Reprinted in: Christina Meyn, Gerd Peter u. a. (Ed.) Work situation analysis, Volume 2, practical examples and methods, VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2011, pp. 406–421.
• (2011) What are reliable ergonomic findings from the perspective of action research? , in: Lothar Schröder , Hans-Jürgen Urban (Eds.) Good job. Consequences of the crisis. Intensification of work, restructuring, Bund Verlag, Frankfurt / Main
• (2011) Socio-political perspectives on Action Research. In: International Journal of Action Research 3 , pp. 248-261
• (2012) Innovatory Qualifications at Work. In: Wolfgang G. Weber, Michael Thoma, Annette Ostendorf, Lynn Chisholm (eds.) Democratic Competences and Social Practices in Organizations, Springer, VS, Wiesbaden, pp. 162–182
• (2012) Democratization of work is a matter for the employees themselves. In: Werner Fricke, Hilde Wagner (Ed.) Democratization of work. New approaches for humanization and economic democracy, VSA, Hamburg, pp. 39–52
• (2012) Contribution of action research to the democratization of work. In: Werner Fricke, Hilde Wagner (ed.) Democratization of work. New approaches for humanization and economic democracy, VSA, Hamburg, pp. 39–52
• (2013) A realistic view of the participative utopia. Reflections on participation. International Journal of Action Research, 9 (2), pp. 168-191
• (2014) Action Research in Troubled Times. In: Milena Jostmeier, Arno Georg, Heike Jacobsen (eds.) Shaping social change. Wiesbaden, pp. 213-235
• (2014) Where do the new production concepts come from? In: Detlef Wetzel, Jörg Hofmann, Hans-Jürgen Urban (eds.) Industrial work and labor policy. Fields of cooperation between science and trade unions, VSA, Hamburg, pp. 40–41
• (2014) The History and Future Perspectives of German Work Life Programs. In: Helena Strzeminska, Marek Bednarski (Ed.) Working Time. Trends and Prospects in the New Economy, Warsaw, pp. 116-142
• (2015) Ricercazione. Concetti, valori e nueve perspettive. In: Everardo Minardi, Nico Bartoletto (eds.) Ricercacione, Innovazione Sociale, Sviluppo Locale, FrancoAngeli, Milano, pp. 29-40
• (2019) From the subjectification trap to an actor capable of acting - The promise of action research. In: Fritz Böhle, Eva Senghaas-Knobloch (Ed.) Other perspectives on subjectivity. Impulses for critical work research, Springer VS, Wiesbaden, pp. 73-105

Web links

• Literature by and about Werner Fricke in the catalog of the German National Library
• http://www.vsa-verlag.de/index.php?id=6576&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=13938

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://edok01.tib.uni-hannover.de/edoks/e01fbdigf/533026113.pdf
2. ↑ http://edok01.tib.uni-hannover.de/edoks/e01fbdigf/533026385.pdf