Wilhelm Heitmeyer

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Wilhelm Heitmeyer (2003)

Wilhelm Heitmeyer (born June 28, 1945 in Nettelstedt ) is a German sociologist , educationalist and professor of socialization at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG) at Bielefeld University , whose founding director he was from 1996 to 2013. Since then he has been working there as part of a research professorship.

Life

Heitmeyer's father was a typesetter and died in World War II, the mother was a worker in a cigar factory and then ran a grocery store. After attending the Wittekind high school in Lübbecke , Heitmeyer studied educational science and sociology in Bielefeld. The doctorate took place in 1977, the habilitation in 1988.

Before his career as a university lecturer, he worked as a typesetter in the printing industry and briefly as a secondary school teacher.

He was a member of the SPD until he left the party in 1992 because of its asylum policy .

Heitmeyer has been married since 1968. He and his wife have two daughters.

Research priorities

Since 1982, Heitmeyer's social science research interests have focused on empirical research on right-wing extremism , violence , xenophobia , ethnic-cultural conflicts , social disintegration and, since 1990, on long-term studies on group-related enmity . To this end, Heitmeyer has implemented numerous projects with funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) . In the mid-1980s, he was one of the first to research right-wing extremist orientations among young people and violence in football stadiums. As early as the mid-1990s, he was investigating fundamentalist orientations among Muslim youth. For several years he has also been interested in violence in the Global South .

Heitmeyer founded the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG) at Bielefeld University in 1996 and headed it until he retired as Director in 2013. Since then, he has been researching there as a Senior Research Professor . In 2008 he founded the International Journal of Conflict and Violence , which he edited as editor-in-chief until 2014 together with Douglas Massey (Princeton), Steven Messner (Albany), James Sidanius (Harvard) and Michel Wieviorka (EHSS Paris).

Social disintegration

The theory that Heitmeyer advocates in his work is the theory of social disintegration , which he developed with colleagues in the 1990s to explain violence, right-wing extremism and ethnic-cultural conflicts. This theory is also known as the “Bielefeld disintegration approach” in the social sciences and a. the theoretical basis for the syndrome of group-related enmity . Under disintegration the unredeemed services of social institutions and communities are understood, which are used in the company to secure the material foundations of social recognition and personal integrity. The basic thesis of the theory is that with the degree of disintegration experiences and fears, the extent and intensity of the conflicts mentioned increase and their ability to regulate decreases.

The concept differentiates between three dimensions of spheres of life and is divided into two levels, an objective (participation etc.) and a subjective, recognition. In the disintegration approach, social or societal integration of individuals and groups is understood to be a successful relationship between freedom and attachment, in which three specific problems are adequately solved:

  • In the socio-structural dimension , participation in material goods (labor, housing and consumer markets) must be ensured in order to guarantee reproduction. This is the individual-functional system integration and creates the opportunity for positional recognition .
  • In the institutional dimension , as socialization, the balance between conflicting interests (fairness, justice, democratic procedures based on the rule of law) must be ensured. This is the communicative-interactive social integration and represents the chances for moral recognition .
  • In the personal dimension , the level of communalization, the creation of emotional, expressive relationships, meaning creation and self-realization must be ensured. This is culturally expressive social integration and represents opportunities for emotional recognition .

Various processes exacerbate the integration problem in modern western societies:

  • In the socio-structural dimension, social polarization reduces the individual's chances of accessing the various social subsystems. The individualization increases the freedom of the individual, but at the same time the pressure also increases, e.g. B. to place on the job market. If the likelihood of success in the job market drops, this leads to frustration for the losers . They are no longer given positional recognition . Competition, economization , competitive thinking and consumerism promote self-interest-oriented behavior (assertion, social distinction and exclusion ).
  • In the institutional dimension, political powerlessness leads to a withdrawal from public affairs such as participation in securing core norms such as justice , solidarity and fairness. This then goes hand in hand with a loss of moral recognition .
  • On the socio-emotional level, ambivalent individualization leads to a destabilization of couple relationships, family disintegration and thus endangers the socialization of children (increased potential for conflict, emotional overload on parents), also visible in the loss of emotional recognition .

Researchers such as Roland Eckert , Helmut Willems and Stefanie Würtz contradict Heitmeyer's approach of the disintegration experience as a trigger for right-wing extremism .

violence

Since the early 1980s, Heitmeyer has been researching right-wing extremist orientations among young people and the function of these orientations as legitimations for violence. The reasons for right-wing extremist terrorism also belong in this spectrum.

One focus was the violence among young people in different social contexts in connection with integration-disintegration experiences. This also includes analyzes of homicides in school shootings by adolescents and young men.

An early research topic was violence in football stadiums .

In an international context, Heitmeyer has dealt with the control and loss of control of violence and has published the International Handbook of Violence Research with John Hagan (Chicago) . This also includes leading an international research group on “Control of Violence”.

For some time he has been interested in violence in the Global South.

Group-related misanthropy

Escalation model according to Heitmeyer (onion pattern), "Escalation continuum in the right spectrum"

Wilhelm Heitmeyer developed the concept and the term of group- related enmity and studied it with a research group from 2000 onwards. Group-related misanthropy refers to the devaluation and discrimination of people solely on the basis of their actual or ascribed belonging to groups - regardless of individual behavior. These include a. Migrants , Jews, Sinti and Roma, Muslims, homosexuals, homeless, (long-term) unemployed, people with disabilities or people with a different skin color. Research was carried out on this and a. in a 10-year project with annual representative population surveys between 2002 and 2011, which was funded by the Volkswagen Foundation and the DFG Research Training Group . He headed the DFG Graduate School from the beginning of 2004 to 2010 together with Ulrich Wagner (University of Marburg). The results have been published in the annual editions of the German states in Suhrkamp-Verlag and over many years in the period .

With the help of the escalation model, Heitmeyer illustrates the spread of different levels of authoritarian worldviews within the population. The intensity of authoritarian worldviews increases from the outside in, with the outer layers lending legitimacy to the inner ones. This refers to the fact that it is not only right-wing groups that pose a threat. Even those people who only partially agree to this worldview represent a source of legitimation for more radical groups.

In February 2017, Heitmeyer wrote that normality in society has shifted:

“This is particularly explosive with regard to two basic norms of this society that are non-negotiable - and yet are repeatedly threatened by shifts in normality. Firstly, it is the equality and secondly, the mental and physical integrity of all people who live in a society. "

- Heitmeyer 2017

These shifts in normality are generated by an aggressive style of language used by right-wing populist actors. The media use these provocations to be more present on the market. Invisible group-related misanthropy is “ transformed into public manifestations by mobilization experts from Pegida and AfD, among others ”. "The named mechanisms and groups of actors create new normalities, such as group-related misanthropy". The AfD is making its “authoritarian national radicalism” successful, which aims to destabilize institutions that are important for society.

According to Heitmeyer, this creation of new normalities "results in a precarious civility." The civilization that has been achieved is destroyed again by the named actors.

In a guest post on Spiegel online , Heitmeyer commented on the use of the term “right-wing populism”, which he regards as trivializing. An “authoritarian national radicalism” differs from both right-wing populist and violent right-wing extremist tendencies in that it aims “at the destabilization of social and political institutions in order to achieve a system change. System change does not mean dictatorship, but within the framework of previous legal procedures the conversion to a closed society and an illiberal democracy ”. It is "primarily about penetrating the institutions, that is, the judiciary, the police, the media, schools, the cultural sector, political education, memorials, sports, the armed forces, unions, theaters and, and, and". At the same time, he refers to "the existing escalation continuum across the right spectrum". According to Heitmeyer, “the dedifferentiation through the ubiquitous use of the term right-wing populism is dangerous”.

Awards

Heitmeyer received a research professorship from the Volkswagen Foundation from 2003 to 2005. In 2012 he was awarded the Göttingen Peace Prize. In 2014 he received the honorary award of the innovation award of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for his services to conflict and violence research .

Publications (selection)

  • (Together with M. Freiheit, P. Sitzer): Right threat alliances. Signatures of Threat II. Suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2020, ISBN 978-3-518-12748-3
  • Authoritarian temptations. Signatures of the threat. suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-518-12717-9
  • (Ed. With Nils Böckler, Thorsten Seeger, Peter Sitzer): School Shootings: International Research, Case Studies, and Concepts for Prevention. New York, Springer 2013.
  • (Ed. With Andreas Grau): Misanthropy in cities and communities. Weinheim, BeltzJuventa Verlag 2013.
  • (Ed. With Peter Imbusch ): Disintegration dynamics: Integration mechanisms on the test stand. Wiesbaden, VS Verlag 2012.
  • (Together with D. Borstel): Misanthropic mentalities, radicalized milieus and right-wing terrorism. In: Malthaner, Waldmann (Ed.) Radikal Milieus. Frankfurt a. M., Campus 2012, 339–368
  • (Eds.) Heitmeyer et al. Control of Violence. New York, Springer 2011
  • (as ed.): German conditions . Series 1–10, Frankfurt a. M./Berlin, Suhrkamp 2002 to 2011
  • Loss of control. On the future of violence. In: Heitmeyer / Soeffner (ed.): Violence. Frankfurt a. M., Suhrkamp 2004. pp. 86-103.
  • (Ed. With John Hagan): International manual of violence research. Westdeutscher Verlag, Wiesbaden 2002. / (with John Hagan): International Handbook of Violence Research. Dordrecht. Kluwer Academic Publishers 2003.
  • Authoritarian capitalism, the emptying of democracy and right-wing populism. An analysis of development tendencies. In: Heitmeyer / D. Loch (Ed.): The dark side of globalization. Right-wing radicalism, right-wing populism and regionalism in Western democracies. Frankfurt a. M., Suhrkamp 2001. 497-534.
  • (with R. Anhut): Disintegration, conflict and ethnicization. A problem analysis and theoretical framework . In: W. Heitmeyer, R. Anhut (Ed.), Threatened City Society. Social disintegration processes and ethnic-cultural conflict constellations. Weinheim / Munich, Juventa 2000.
  • (as Ed.) The Crisis of Cities: Analyzes of the Consequences of Disintegrative Urban Development for Ethnic-Cultural Coexistence Frankfurt a. M., Suhrkamp 1998.
  • (Ed. With Heiner Bielefeldt): Politized religion. Causes and manifestations of modern fundamentalism. Frankfurt a. M., Suhrkamp 1998.
  • (with J. Müller, H. Schröder): Tempting Fundamentalism. Turkish youth in Germany. Frankfurt a. M. Suhrkamp 1997. ISBN 3-518-11767-X , partial document Islamic fundamentalist orientations among Turkish youth (homepage of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung) .
  • (as ed.) What is driving society apart? Frankfurt a. M., Suhrkamp 1997.
  • (as ed.) What holds society together? Frankfurt a. M., Suhrkamp 1997.
  • Unlocking. Disintegration processes and violence. In: Beck, Beck-Gernsheim (Ed.): Risky Freedoms. Frankfurt a. M., Suhrkamp 1994. 376-401.
  • (with colleague) The Bielefeld right-wing extremism study. First long-term study of the political socialization of male adolescents . Weinheim / Munich, Juventa Verlag 1992.
  • (with JI Peter) Young football fans. Social and political orientations, forms of society, violence. Weinheim / Munich, Juventa Verlag 1988.
  • Right-wing extremist orientations among young people Weinheim / Munich, Juventa Verlag 1987.

Reporting on the person

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gabriele Goettle : Save yourself who can. In: the daily newspaper , February 28, 2012.
  2. ↑ Gunter Hofmann: Wilhelm Heitmeyer researches what holds society together and how violence develops. Its results are uncanny for many: the politicians, the friends of multiculturalism, the Islamists . In: Die Zeit , No. 2/1998.
  3. ^ Michael Tonn: Individualization as a cause of right-wing extremist youth violence ; in Jürgen Friedrichs (Ed.): The Individualization Thesis , Leske + Budrich, Opladen, 1998, page 263 ff.
  4. ^ Wilhelm Heitmeyer: Authoritarian temptations . 1st edition. Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2018, p. 356 f .
  5. ↑ a b c The creeping danger. How right-wing populists are shifting normality . In: Der Tagesspiegel , February 3, 2017
  6. ↑ Sociologist on AfD and causes of right-wing attitudes - "The term 'right-wing populism' is far too trivialized" . In: 'Deutschlandfunk Kultur' . ( deutschlandfunkkultur.de [accessed on November 11, 2018]).
  7. ^ Wilhelm Heitmeyer: Language and Politics: Why the term "right-wing populism" is trivializing. In: Spiegel online. August 24, 2019, accessed August 28, 2019 . (Emphasis in the original.)
  8. ↑ Innovation award winner 2014 in the category "Honorary Award" . Ministry for Innovation, Science and Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia; accessed on March 5, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Heitmeyer, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German educator, university professor and author
DATE OF BIRTH June 28, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Nettelstedt