070051 SE Research Seminar - The History of Great Transformations (2021S)

The seminar takes Karl Polany´s opus magnum “The Great Transformation” as a point of departure to reflect critically about the economic and social transformations since the 1980s. Polanyi stands one the one hand for a socio-historical and almost anthropological view on the impact of „global laissez faire capitalism“, on the other hand he warned against the dangers for democracy resulting from social disruptions and insecurity.
After a brief introduction into Polanyi´s opus magnum „The Great Transformation“ students can cover various countries and social groups, which were especially affected by economic reforms and changes. The specific choice of research topic depends on the students´ interest. You may focus on postcommunist countries (depending on your language abilities, you may write the research paper in other languages than German), among them Germany, but you are also welcome to concentrate on regions in western countries such as Italy, the UK and the US, which were especially affected by structural changes and a “co-transformation” (Ther 2019 and 2016). I would recommend to focus on cases among specific social groups such as the service sector proletariat (also in Austria), self-employed people, industrial workers or labor migrants. Working in small research groups is encouraged. The research seminar will introduce in oral history, social history and social science methods needed for the research.
The students are asked to read basic literature and develop their ideas already before the start of the semester. We will then discuss the research proposals already in the first session so that you can soon start your research.
The research seminar is tied with the Research Center for the History of Transformations (RECET, for details see recet.univie.ac.at) and its research fields 1) economic thinking and reform politics, 2) Transformation from below, 3) Labour Migration, and 4) Social Movements and Volunteerism.
The official opening of RECET on April 20-23 with many prominent speakers will be part our seminar
For more details about the seminar requirements, place, time and literature see the bottom of the German version.