Claus Offe – författare

Europa upplever sin förmodligen allvarligaste kris sedan 1945. Den hotar såväl det europeiska integrationsprojektet som den europeiska och globala ekonomin, helt bortsett från den omfattande sociala ödeläggelse som krisen redan orsakat i länder i Europa. Vi upplever i dag en konflikt mellan nord och syd i Europa och på båda sidor om skiljelinjen finns ett missförhållande mellan det som tycks vara ekonomiskt nödvändigt och det som är politiskt görbart inom en demokratisk ordning. De rika ländernas valmanskår ser inte ut att vilja acceptera en långsiktig kollektivisering av skulderna eller andra storstilade former av gränsöverskridande omfördelning av bördorna. I söder vill befolkningarna inte gå med på vad en förbättrad bytesbalans och någorlunda uthärdliga budgetunderskott tycks kräva. Och både i nord och syd försöker populister slå politiskt mynt av krisen. Populisterna i norr avvisar skattefinansierade transfereringar och skuldavskrivningar, medan populisterna i syd häftigt värjer sig mot svångremsdiktat som går ut över löner, pensioner och offentliga tjänster. Finns det en väg ur denna europeiska fälla? I denna bok diskuterar ett antal framstående tyska intellektuella den europeiska krisen som uttryck för ett spänningsförhållande mellan kapitalism och demokrati. Hur kan finansmarknaderna bringas under demokratisk kontroll, finns det en väg tillbaka till en nationalstatlig demokratisk kapitalism eller är det en fördjupad politisk integration i Europa som är lösningen. Den frågan ställs på sin spets i debatten mellan det tyske sociologen Wolfgang Streeck, författare till den på Daidalos utgivna boken Köpt tid, och filosofen Jürgen Habermas. Andra bidragagivare är Claus Offe, Elmar Altvater, Hubert Zimmermann och Stephan Schulmeister. Till boken har Sverker Gustavsson, professor emiritus i statsvetenskap, skrivit ett förord som reder ut debattens positioner. "Den är upplysande, och oväntat underhållande. Alla är urförbannade. De flesta på Wolfgang Streeck som ihärdigt föreslår avveckling av euron för att rädda demokratin. Jag gapar när elefanterna tungt dammar på varandra." /Per Wirtén i Expressen "Runtom i Europa finns de som på allvar diskuterar problemen, och lyckligtvis har en del av det samtalet hittat in även i den svenska offentligheten tack vare boken 'Demokrati eller kapitalism?'" /Lisa Irenius i SvD

The authors of this book have developed a new and stimulating approach to the analysis of the transitions of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia to democracy and a market economy. They integrate interdisciplinary theoretical work with elaborate empirical data on some of the most challenging events of the twentieth century. Three groups of phenomena and their causal interconnection are explored: the material legacies, constraints, habits and cognitive frameworks inherited from the past; the erratic configuration of new actors, and new spaces for action; and a new institutional order under which agency is institutionalized and the sustainability of institutions is achieved. The book studies the interrelations of national identities, economic interests, and political institutions with the transformation process, concentrating on issues of constitution making, democratic infrastructure, the market economy, and social policy.

The authors of this book have developed a new and stimulating approach to the analysis of the transitions of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia to democracy and a market economy. They integrate interdisciplinary theoretical work with elaborate empirical data on some of the most challenging events of the twentieth century. Three groups of phenomena and their causal interconnection are explored: the material legacies, constraints, habits and cognitive frameworks inherited from the past; the erratic configuration of new actors, and new spaces for action; and a new institutional order under which agency is institutionalized and the sustainability of institutions is achieved. The book studies the interrelations of national identities, economic interests, and political institutions with the transformation process, concentrating on issues of constitution making, democratic infrastructure, the market economy, and social policy.

Should the advanced Western democracies, contrary to their prevailing self-image as 'planned' and 'managed', be seen as highly disorganized systems of social power and political authority? If so, what are the symptoms, consequences and possible remedies of these disorganizing tendencies?In this newly translated work, almost all of which has until now been unavailable to English-speaking readers, Claus Offe seeks to provide answers to these questions. Moving beyond the boundaries of both Marxism and other forms of political sociology, he gives particular emphasis to the growth of serious cleavages within the work force (and between the employed and the unemployed), the importance of the 'informal' sector, the severe difficulties faced by trade unions in coping with the present economic crisis, the vulnerability of 'neo-corporatist' mechanisms, and the failures of state policy-making based on either majority rule or bureaucratic administration. In critically examining these and other pressing problems of advanced capitalist democracies, Claus Offe also calls into question such widely-held assumptions of contemporary social science as the fairness and neutrality of liberal democratic mechanisms of participation and representation, the centrality of both the category of work and the irreconcilable division / antagonism between Labour and Capital, and the feasibility and desirability of 'full employment'.Claus Offe is one of the most important social scientists writing today and the author of many well-known and influential essays. This new work makes his ideas available to English-speaking readers in a systematic and comprehensive way. It is bound to become a standard point of reference for discussions of the present state and future prospects of the industrially advanced countries in modern times.

In recent years the countries of eastern Europe have been undergoing a process of rapid social and political transformation. This process has brought with it common problems experienced on different levels: economic crisis, growing social insecurity and injustice, ethnic conflicts and civil strife. In addition, post-communist societies have encountered political, legal and social difficulties in coming to term with their own past. In this book, Claus Offe provides a lucid and insightful account of this complex process of transformation. In a wide-ranging discussion he analyses the problems brought about by the creation of new political and economic orders in the countries of central and eastern Europe, and argues that the way forward is to build and consolidate a new democratic polity, a new economy, and a new conception of nationhood capable of absorbing ethnic conflict.He examines the comparatively straightforward - but nonetheless extremely rocky - 'special path' to capitalism followed by the former German Democratic Republic, and analyzes the effects which the collapse of communism has had on western democracies.Varieties of Transition will be welcomed by students and researchers in a wide range of disciplines including politics, sociology, European Studies, German Studies and modern history.

In recent years the countries of eastern Europe have been undergoing a process of rapid social and political transformation. This process has brought with it common problems experienced on different levels: economic crisis, growing social insecurity and injustice, ethnic conflicts and civil strife. In addition, post-communist societies have encountered political, legal and social difficulties in coming to term with their own past. In this book, Claus Offe provides a lucid and insightful account of this complex process of transformation. In a wide-ranging discussion he analyses the problems brought about by the creation of new political and economic orders in the countries of central and eastern Europe, and argues that the way forward is to build and consolidate a new democratic polity, a new economy, and a new conception of nationhood capable of absorbing ethnic conflict.He examines the comparatively straightforward - but nonetheless extremely rocky - 'special path' to capitalism followed by the former German Democratic Republic, and analyzes the effects which the collapse of communism has had on western democracies.Varieties of Transition will be welcomed by students and researchers in a wide range of disciplines including politics, sociology, European Studies, German Studies and modern history.

This volume addresses the problem of how modern societies politically cohere and poses one of the most fundamental questions of contemporary political analysis: how can legitimate authority coexist with effective governing capacity? In addressing this question, Offe draws on a wide variety of material in both political theory and empirical sociology. The book is divided into four parts. In the first of these, Offe explores general questions concerning the nature and stability of modern societies and critically examines contemporary approaches to political theory. In the second part he examines new developments facing the state and assesses new departures in state theory. In the third part, problems and policy prescriptions which have emerged in connection with developments in Western welfare states are addressed. In the final part, Offe seeks to illuminate through comparative analysis many of the new questions facing political sociology in the light of the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. The result is a highly original account of developments in contemporary society both in the West and in the East.Modernity and the State will be welcomed by students and scholars in social and political theory, political sociology and East European studies.

At a time when so many cracks have emerged within the imagined community of ‘the West', this important new book, by one of the leading social scientists in Europe, examines the intellectual history of comparing Europe and the United States. Claus Offe considers the perspectives adopted by three of Europe’s greatest social scientists – Alexis de Tocqueville, Max Weber and Theodor W. Adorno – in their comparative writings on Europe. While traveling, studying and working in the US, all three constantly looked back to their European origins, trying to decipher from their American experience what the future may hold for Europe, be it for better or worse. Alexis de Tocqueville, the French aristocrat, observed the functioning of American democracy with a mix of admiration, envy and deep concerns about the fate of liberty in the ‘democratic age'. Max Weber, the German sociologist, reported enthusiastically about the youthful energy he found in the United States, which, however, he saw as gradually succumbing to the stifling tendencies of European bureaucratization. Theodor W. Adorno, the critical theorist and refugee from Nazi Germany, observed with a sense of despair the workings of the American ‘culture industry’ which he equated to the totalitarian experience of Europe, only to switch to a much more favorable picture upon his return to Germany.Europe and the US are conventionally assumed to share the same trajectory and develop according to some common pattern of ‘occidental rationalism', with the observed differences resulting from mere lags and relative advances on one side or the other. In this insightful book, Offe questions the relevance of this paradigm to transatlantic relations today.

At a time when so many cracks have emerged within the imagined community of ‘the West', this important new book, by one of the leading social scientists in Europe, examines the intellectual history of comparing Europe and the United States. Claus Offe considers the perspectives adopted by three of Europe’s greatest social scientists – Alexis de Tocqueville, Max Weber and Theodor W. Adorno – in their comparative writings on Europe. While traveling, studying and working in the US, all three constantly looked back to their European origins, trying to decipher from their American experience what the future may hold for Europe, be it for better or worse. Alexis de Tocqueville, the French aristocrat, observed the functioning of American democracy with a mix of admiration, envy and deep concerns about the fate of liberty in the ‘democratic age'. Max Weber, the German sociologist, reported enthusiastically about the youthful energy he found in the United States, which, however, he saw as gradually succumbing to the stifling tendencies of European bureaucratization. Theodor W. Adorno, the critical theorist and refugee from Nazi Germany, observed with a sense of despair the workings of the American ‘culture industry’ which he equated to the totalitarian experience of Europe, only to switch to a much more favorable picture upon his return to Germany.Europe and the US are conventionally assumed to share the same trajectory and develop according to some common pattern of ‘occidental rationalism', with the observed differences resulting from mere lags and relative advances on one side or the other. In this insightful book, Offe questions the relevance of this paradigm to transatlantic relations today.

Today Europe finds itself in a crisis that casts a dark shadow over an entire generation. The seriousness of the crisis stems from one core political contradiction at the heart of the European project: namely, that what urgently needs to be done is also extremely unpopular and therefore virtually impossible to do democratically. What must be done - and almost everyone agrees in principle on the measures that would be needed to deal with the financial crisis - cannot be sold to the voting public of the core member states, which so far have been less affected by the crisis than those on the periphery, nor can the conditions that core members try to impose be easily sold to voters in the deficit countries.The European Union is therefore becoming increasingly disunited, with deepening divides between the German-dominated ‘core’ and the southern ‘periphery’, between the winners and the losers of the common currency, between the advocates of greater integration and the anti-Europeans, between the technocrats and the populists. Europe finds itself trapped by the deepening divisions that are opening up across the Continent, obstructing its ability to deal with a crisis that has already caused massive social suffering in the countries of the European periphery and is threatening to derail the very project of the European Union.In this short book, Claus Offe brings into sharp focus the central political problem that lies at the heart of the EU and shackles its ability to deal with the most serious crisis of its short history.

Today Europe finds itself in a crisis that casts a dark shadow over an entire generation. The seriousness of the crisis stems from one core political contradiction at the heart of the European project: namely, that what urgently needs to be done is also extremely unpopular and therefore virtually impossible to do democratically. What must be done - and almost everyone agrees in principle on the measures that would be needed to deal with the financial crisis - cannot be sold to the voting public of the core member states, which so far have been less affected by the crisis than those on the periphery, nor can the conditions that core members try to impose be easily sold to voters in the deficit countries.The European Union is therefore becoming increasingly disunited, with deepening divides between the German-dominated ‘core’ and the southern ‘periphery’, between the winners and the losers of the common currency, between the advocates of greater integration and the anti-Europeans, between the technocrats and the populists. Europe finds itself trapped by the deepening divisions that are opening up across the Continent, obstructing its ability to deal with a crisis that has already caused massive social suffering in the countries of the European periphery and is threatening to derail the very project of the European Union.In this short book, Claus Offe brings into sharp focus the central political problem that lies at the heart of the EU and shackles its ability to deal with the most serious crisis of its short history.

Originally published in 1984, Contradictions of the Welfare State is the first collection of Claus Offe’s essays to appear in a single volume in English. The political writings in this volume are primarily concerned with the origins of the present difficulties of welfare capitalist states, and he indicates why in the present period, these states are no longer capable of fully managing the socio-political problems and conflicts generated by late capitalist societies. Offe discusses the viability of New Right, corporatist and democratic socialist proposals for restructuring the welfare state. He also offers fresh and penetrating insights into a range of other subjects, including social movements, political parties, law, social policy, and labour markets.

Originally published in 1984, Contradictions of the Welfare State is the first collection of Claus Offe’s essays to appear in a single volume in English. The political writings in this volume are primarily concerned with the origins of the present difficulties of welfare capitalist states, and he indicates why in the present period, these states are no longer capable of fully managing the socio-political problems and conflicts generated by late capitalist societies. Offe discusses the viability of New Right, corporatist and democratic socialist proposals for restructuring the welfare state. He also offers fresh and penetrating insights into a range of other subjects, including social movements, political parties, law, social policy, and labour markets.

Der Band verdeutlicht Umbruche der Transformationsphase in der politischen Theorie. In einigen Bereichen, etwa der Modernisierungs-, der Demokratietheorie oder der Theorie des Systemwechsels, ist der Einfluss konkreter Ereignisse wie der von 1989, betrachtlich. Das gilt auch fur neuere Entwicklungen der internationalen Politik. In anderen Bereichen, wie den Theorien des Feminismus, der neuen sozialen Bewegungen, der Theorien von citizenchip und Legitimationstheorien scheint der Zusammenhang schwacher zu sein, hier wirkte eher der Niedergang des Marxismus in den 80er Jahren als der Zusammenbruch des realen Sozialismus 1989 auf den Wandel der Theorien. Dennoch zeigen sich auch hier bedeutende Einflusse des Wandels zu post-sozialistischen Gesellschaften. Der Band ist eine umfassende Wurdigung aller Bereiche der Theorie - bis hin zu neuen Ansatzen wie rational choice und Chaostheorie.

Im ersten Band der „Ausgewählten Schriften von Claus Offe“ sind wichtige Arbeiten zu Arbeitsmarkt und Arbeitsgesellschaft sowie deren Zusammenhang mit der kapitalistischen Wirtschaftsordnung zusammengestellt.

Im zweiten Band der Ausgewählten Schriften von Claus Offe sind theoretische Arbeiten zu Wohlfahrtsstaat und Sozialpolitik versammelt. Wie weit tragen unter gegebenen Bedingungen die normativen Ressourcen der Solidarität, die für die politische Bewältigung von Armut, Arbeitslosigkeit und Prekarität benötigt werden?

Der dritte Band der Ausgewählten Schriften von Claus Offe enthält sozialtheoretische Studien und Essays zu Problemen der sozialen Integration. In diesem Band sind Arbeiten zum Zusammenhang von Institutionen, Normen und zivilgesellschaftlichen Aktivitäten versammelt. Damit werden aktuelle Diskussionen zu sozialen Bewegungen, bürgerschaftlichem Engagement und gesellschaftlichem Fortschritt historisch und systematisch fundiert.Der Inhalt·         Institutionen·         Vertrauen, Verantwortung, Solidarität, Selbstbeschränkung·         Soziale Bewegungen und Zivilgesellschaft·         Sozialwissenschaft und Gesellschaftskritik Die Zielgruppen·         Sozialwissenschaftler·         PolitikwissenschaftlerDer AutorDr. Claus Offe ist emeritierter Professor für Politische Soziologie an der Humboldt-Universität sowie an der Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.

Der sechste Band der ausgewählten Schriften von Claus Offe konzentriert sich auf die Lösung von Problemen (und die Probleme der Lösungen), die nach 1989 im historisch einmaligen Übergang von einer autoritärstaatssozialistischen Ordnung industrieller Gesellschaften zu einer demokratisch-kapitalistischen aufgetaucht sind.

Im vierten Band der Ausgewählten Schriften von Claus Offe sind demokratietheoretische Aufsätze aus fünf Dekaden zusammengestellt, die sich mit dem Spannungsverhältnis zwischen den organisierten Konfliktgruppen kapitalistischer Gesellschaften und den Institutionen der liberalen Demokratie befassen.

Im fünften Band der Ausgewählten Schriften von Claus Offe geht es um soziologische Aspekte politischer Herrschaft in Gesellschaften mit kapitalistischer Wirtschaftsordnung. Dabei steht die Frage im Mittelpunkt, wie die Ausübung staatlicher Gewalt durch das Handeln von Gesetzgebern und Regierungen beide Gleichgewichtsbedingungen zugleich erfüllen kann: die der Legitimität politischer Herrschaft und die der Erhaltung und Förderung einer profitgesteuerten Ökonomie. Genauer: Ob und ggf. aus welchen systematischen Gründen Staaten an dieser ihrer zweifachen Funktionsbestimmung scheitern und dann Symptome unzulänglicher Reformpolitik, misslingenden Krisenmanagements, sogar von manifester Unregierbarkeit und „Staatsversagen“ aufweisen. Diese Fragen drängen sich heute gleichermaßen auf der nationalstaatlichen wie auf der EU-Ebene auf und finden mit gängigen Verweisen auf „Governance“ und „Nachhaltigkeit“ nur unzulängliche Antworten. Der Inhalt·         ​​Staat, Kapitalismus, Legitimation·         Regieren mit prekärer Staatskapazität·         Die europäische Integration und ihre Krisen Der AutorDr. Claus Offe ist emeritierter Professor für Politische Soziologie an der Humboldt-Universität sowie an der Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.