Volume 33, Issue 1

Pleading for a resumption of systems theoretical concepts of interference (‘Steuerung’) in the age of governance, needs further explanation. The core question of these concepts was: How can one steer different societal spheres into certain directions despite their idiosyncrasy? The initial hypothesis of this contribution is that this question remained unanswered by following approaches and that it is gaining even more importance regarding the paradigm shift towards governance: Governance is characterized by negotiation systems, in which politics and those parts of society affected by a decision are asked to collaborate. But how could such negotiations work, if it is assumed (also beyond systems theory), that the participants talk at cross-purposes? The thesis that a resumption of systems theoretical concepts of interference would be rewarding, can only be uphold, if communication theoretical models can explain the success of intersystemic negotiation. Case studies will show, that although this is generally possible, it still demands further theoretical adjustment in terms of empirical adequacy. If one can thereby explain the success of negotiation systems (retrospectively), the question arises, if such models could also be applied in a rather shaping manner (prospectively). The contribution at hand therefore does not focus on the limits of interference (Luhmann), but instead fathoms the limits of a theory of interference. This is of special concern for the sociology of law, as the idea of reflexive law was at the core of the very first systems theoretical concepts. My proposal also considers law playing a crucial part, whereas not in a reflective but rather in a securing function.

According to the German Protection of Children and Young Persons Act, an “Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body” (USK) is mandated to assign age-ratings to computer games in order to protect children and adolescents from detrimental or harmful effects on their education and development. From the perspective of ethnomethodology, this contribution analyzes the classification procedure as a specific, institutionally-conducted knowledge process. Specifically, the article shows how Membership Categorization Devices (MCDs) are used in the practice of classifying games in order to plausibly and reproducibly argue decisions. After a short overview of Membership Categorization Analysis and the analytical concept of MCDs as well as the classification procedure, the article describes the use of MCDs in the classification reports which are produced as a part of the procedure. In particular, the article shows how categories and categorizations are used systematically to argue a division of players into “harmed” and “unharmed” ones that overlaps exactly with the age groups provided for by the law, while at the same time giving plausible reasons for such a division in the face of the various participants’ different bodies of knowledge. The analysis thus also brings into view how different ways of knowing are combined, along with the practical work necessary to do so.

The sensual turn has not yet arrived in Sociology of Law. Therefore, a discussion on “multisensory law” will be reported. This discussion does not offer a systematic approach but at least an interesting collection of topics.

This study presents first results from a survey of 1343 young lawyers from Frankfurt/Main and Berlin. The primary objective of this study is to compare the effects of legal training and occupational structures on professional careers between female and male lawyers. The results show no gender differences in experiences of legal training and career goals. Similarly, for work places and employment status (self-employed vs. private or public sector employment), no significant gender differences are found. Yet, differences occur in the occupational structure, which reveal significant discrepancies between young female and male lawyers. Job-specific expectations such as long working hours associated with the need for constant professional availability result in more role conflict between work and private spheres for women, especially women with children, than for men. Although the professional qualifications of the lawyers are very similar, the opportunities of female lawyers are limited primarily by child care responsibilities. This leads to genderspecific differences in the areas of work, which consequently impact professional careers and the advancement of women in legal careers. Women lawyers who try to reconcile the demands of work and family face special conflicts.

This article deals with the role of dismissal protection in the power relation between employer and employee. We define this relationship as an exchange were the actors have access to and control of different resources and we complement this perspective with behaviour-oriented approaches. How dismissal protection contributes to the balance of asymmetrical relation between employer and employee will be investigated. The basis of analysis are qualitative data from the research project ‘labour law in the organizational application’, which had a focus on the exploration of the organizational handling of labour law issues in Germany. An investigation of different questions about dismissal protection as well as the reflection of the relevance of trust in the working relationship, allows an assignment of HR managers to five different types. This typology reflects the heterogeneous handling of dismissal protection and different attitudes to the dismissal protection law in the organizational practice in Germany.

The article deals with functional changes of penalties (or fines) in the evolution of law. It is highlighted that penalties in the first place, and especially before statehood entered the stage of history, had a mainly a pacifying function. Secondly, the difficulties in placing penalties within the grid of classical modern motives of punishment are emphasized. Thirdly, the paper analyses the socio-structural and moral effects of monetary sanctions. It is argued that they not only represent but also enforce a transformation of a largely ‚protestant‘ capability to feel guilty into morally less demanding, market-oriented forms of self-government.

As part of the Complete Edition of Max Weber’s works, a volume has appeared in 2010 dedicated to his “sociology of law”. The present article evaluates the achievements of its editors Werner Gephart und Siegfried Hermes and critically places the volume into the context of Weber’s works and of Weber scholarship in general. Emphasized are the close relation to Weber’s “categories article”, Weber’s research interest and methods.