Filtern
Erscheinungsjahr
- 2022 (32) (entfernen)
Dokumenttyp
- Dissertation (25)
- Bachelorarbeit (2)
- Buch (Monographie) (1)
- Teil eines Buches (Kapitel) (1)
- Habilitation (1)
- Masterarbeit (1)
- Bericht (1)
Sprache
- Englisch (32) (entfernen)
Schlagworte
- Einwanderung (1)
- Migrant rights (1)
- Reisen (1)
- Selbstdarstellung (1)
- Tourismus (1)
- Zuwanderungsrecht (1)
Institut
- Fakultät Nachhaltigkeit (13)
- Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften (5)
- Fakultät Management und Technologie (4)
- Institut für Ökologie (IE) (4)
- Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM) (3)
- Institut für Management und Organisation (IMO) (3)
- Institut für Politikwissenschaft (IPW) (3)
- Institut für Produkt und Prozessinnovation (PPI) (3)
- Fakultät Bildung (2)
- Fakultät Kulturwissenschaften (2)
Increased international compliance with human rights and democracy standards is a core issue for both human rights and democratizing actors as well as for victims of human rights abuse. International human rights organizations (IHROs) are expected to make positive contributions to this end, even though they possess low levels of authority. This authority has been renegotiated multiple times in various reform processes. An oversimplified expectation would have us assume that democracies would want to strengthen IHROs, and that autocracies would seek to weaken them. As the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was reformed in 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2011, some autocracies strived to abolish parts of the UNHRC. Other autocracies aimed "merely" to weaken them. Democracies displayed an even larger variance. The question that drives this research work is how we can explain the broad variety of state preferences for strengthening or weakening IHROs. Previous research has mostly concentrated on democracies, leaving autocracies understudied. It also treated countries as black boxes. To account for such shortcomings, first, the author systematically tests the relationship between the UNHRC and its authoritarian and democratic members by means of inferential statistics. Second, he analyzes a bottom-up process inherent to New Liberalism. It scrutinizes the role of domestic societal actors, domestic institutions, as well as pressures on the international stage. The results reveal that societal actors, along with the interplay of wealth and regime type in the international realm, figure as the most important predictors of delegation preferences voiced by autocracies and democracies during the reform of the monitoring bureaucracy Special Procedures of the UNHRC. Societal actors play a more important role in democracies than in autocracies. Institutionalized domestic oversight mechanisms help societal actors to conduct effective lobbying at the domestic level. Oversight mechanisms are more important than the rule of law and electoral institutions. Regarding international coalition building, authoritarian regimes turn out to be better organized than democracies. The author concludes that supporters of strong IHROs shall 1. empower domestic societal actors; 2. disrupt cohesive delegation preferences of authoritarian regimes; and 3. invest in independent domestic oversight mechanisms.oversight mechanisms.
The choice to continue working until or even beyond retirement is a function of the interplay of factors on micro, meso, and macro levels. Research within this area has grown significantly over the last years. I contribute to this line of research with the studies conducted within the scope of this cumulative habilitation thesis. More specifically, the aim of the research presented here is to add to the literature on later life work with the investigation of individual (micro level) as well as job and organizational (meso level) factors that have the potential to contribute to prolonged working lives. I was guided by the general research interest on how individual, job, and organizational factors contribute to later life work, and more specifically to retirement timing and work-related activities beyond normal retirement age. My research was directed by the following research questions: (1) What is the work activity potential of older people in Germany and what characterizes different types of later life work potential? (2) Which role do individual psychological factors such as personality, values, and beliefs play in the context of later life work? (3) How do specific job characteristics interact or align with individual psychological factors with regard to later life work? (4) What characterizes a holistic organizational approach to later life work that helps the alignment of the work environment to older workers’ (individual) needs and abilities?
Following an introduction, I give an overview on the theoretical framework of my research in Chapter 2 (“Theoretical Background”). I describe the conceptualization of later life work before I go into multilevel antecedents of later life work and present key theoretical approaches to a person-environment fit perspective of later life work. In the following four chapters, I present ten studies corresponding to the ten scientific publications that constitute the basis of the cumulative habilitation thesis.
In Chapter 3 (“Later Life Work: Work Activity Potential”) I present research on the extent as well as different types of later life work potential in Germany to describe the context for most of my research. With the two studies presented here (Büsch, Zohr, Brusch, Deller, Schermuly, Stamov-Roßnagel, & Wöhrmann, 2015; Mergenthaler, Wöhrmann, & Staudinger; 2015), I also intend to provide answers to the research question on the later life work potential in Germany and the characteristics of different later life work potential constellations. In Chapter 4 (“Later Life Work: Individual Psychological Factors”) the role of stable as well as malleable individual psychological factors for later life work is explored in two studies (Fasbender, Wöhrmann, Wang, & Klehe, 2019; Wöhrmann, Fasbender, & Deller, 2016). Thus, with the studies presented in this chapter, I contribute to the research question on the role of individual psychological factors in the context of later life work. In Chapter 5 (“Later Life Work: Job Characteristics Corresponding to Older Workers’ Needs and Abilities”) I present three studies exploring the interplay of individual factors and job characteristics for later life work to address the research question on the interaction or alignment of specific job characteristics with individual psychological factors with regard to later life work (Pundt, Wöhrmann, Deller, & Shultz, 2015; Wöhrmann, Brauner, & Michel, 2020; Wöhrmann, Fasbender, & Deller; 2017). Chapter 6 (“Later Life Work: A Holistic Organizational Approach”) reports the development of the Later Life Workplace Index (LLWI) as a multidimensional tool to holistically assess organizational practices and working conditions targeted at the promotion of later life work through the maintenance and enhancement of older employees’ health, work ability, and motivation (Wilckens, Wöhrmann, Adams, Deller, & Finkelstein, 2020; Wilckens, Wöhrmann, Deller, & Wang, 2020; Wöhrmann, Pundt, & Deller, 2018. With the LLWI, I intend to provide an answer to the research question on the characteristics of a holistic organizational approach to later life work that helps the alignment of the work environment to older workers’ (individual) needs and abilities. Finally, in Chapter 7 (“General Discussion”) I discuss the contributions, implications, and limitations of my research presented here.
Consisting of three articles and a framework manuscript, this cumulative dissertation deals with sustainable compensation of chief executive officer (CEO) with a focus on climate-related aspects. Against the backdrop of the European action for sustainability and the EU Green Deal, the dissertation pays special attention to the consideration of climate-related aspects of corporate performance in CEO compensation. In this context, sustainable compensation is characterized by the consideration of long-term interests and sustainability of the company as well as by the inclusion of financial and non-financial aspects of environmental, social and governance performance (ESG) in compensation agreements. While this novel instrument of corporate governance aims to incentivize the implementation of sustainability-oriented corporate strategy, it is particularly important to unfold this incentive effect at the individual CEO level in view of their managerial discretion. The framework manuscript discusses the research objectives, the regulatory and theoretical background, the results of the dissertation and their implications in the context of regulation, research, and business practice. The essence of the dissertation are the three articles. The first article examines the current state of empirical research based on 37 articles that were published between 1992 and 2018. Based on a multidimensional research framework, the structured literature review compiles past research findings, identifies contentual and methodological foci in the research area, and derives questions for future research. The second article addresses the topic from a conceptual perspective. Taking the existing work as a starting point, a conceptual framework is derived, which organizes the determinants of carbon-related CEO compensation at societal, organizational, group and individual levels of analysis. On this basis, eight propositions are presented that seek to distinguish between the determinants which support and challenge the implementation of carbon-related CEO compensation. The third article focuses on the use of CO2-oriented performance indicators in CEO compensation. The empirical-qualitative study analyzes corporate disclosure of the 65 largest companies in the EU for the years 2018 and 2019. The study addresses the use of CO2-oriented performance indicators in corporate strategy and CEO compensation. It also examines which compensation components are determined with the help of CO2-oriented performance indicators, which type of performance indicators are used, and whether CO2-intensive and less CO2-intensive companies differ in this regard.
The question whether representation of travel experience actually leads to personal prestige enhancement has been widely neglected so far. The study of prestige benefits of travel is a necessary endeavour to develop suitable methodological approaches toward the concept, in order to close critical knowledge gaps and enhance scientific understanding. The present thesis lays out the rationale and results of three research projects which shed light onto the relationship between touristic self-presentation and its effects on personal prestige evaluations of the social environment. The empirical studies conclude in the following main findings: (1) Leisure travel is a useful means for people to self-express in a positive way, and material representations of travel are frequently displayed to others. Tourists make use of travel experience to self-present in a positive way by uploading photos on social media, collecting and displaying souvenirs, wearing jewellery and clothing from their last trip, or talking about their trips to others. They express positive self-messages about personal character traits, affiliation to social in-groups and proof of having travelled somewhere. The findings ascertain the utility of travel representations for positive self-expression, showing that travel experience is an effective vehicle for conspicuous consumption and self-expression as an antecedent for personal prestige enhancement. (2) Personal prestige is an element of social relations, and holds capacity to affect perceptions of social inclusion and social distinction, so it has to be conceptualised as a multidimensional construct. In a tourism context, personal prestige is reliably measurable along the four dimensions of hedonism, social inclusion, social distinction and prosperity. The herein developed Personal Prestige Inventory (PPI) is a valid, reliable and parsimonious measurement tool which substantially enhances methodological approaches toward empirical research into personal prestige. (3) The way in which people represent travel experience to others measurably affects how their personal prestige is evaluated by social others. Empirical evidence of a series of experimental studies provides support for the assumption that representation of travel experience has an effect on the social evaluation of tourists' personal prestige. Experimental variance suggests small to moderate effects on personal prestige depending on the amount of leisure information given about a person, participation in tourism, and the destination and type of travel represented. This evidence is reasonable basis to conclude that whether and how people travel, and whether and how they share travel experience with others, does measurably affect social other's evaluation of their personal prestige.
The worldwide decline of plant and insect species during the last decades has far-reaching consequences for the functionality of ecosystems and their inherent processes. Pollination as one of them is an indispensable ecosystem service for human wellbeing. However, an increasing number of pollinator and plant species are threatened by multiple, interacting, and sometimes synergistic causes that are becoming a growing threat to ecosystem functioning. Given the loss of plant species diversity, it is increasingly difficult for pollinators to find food throughout the year. Therefore, this study analyses the influence of plant diversity on pollinators. The study was conducted in the course of the Jena Experiment, which is a long-term biodiversity experiment (since 2002) with 60 plant species, common to Central European Arrhenatherum grasslands. With a plant diversity gradient of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 60 plant species per plot, time-series data resulted from a wide range of ecosystem processes, ranging from productivity, decomposition, C-storage, and N-storage to herbivory, and pollination. These were studied to investigate the mechanisms underlying the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Chapter 2 studies the spatio-temporal distribution of pollinators on flowers along an experimental plant diversity gradient. In particular, the spatial pollinator behaviour was examined. Chapters 3 and 4 continues on the chemical composition of flower nectar (nectar) of various plant species. The chemical composition of the nectar was analysed for the two most important macronutrients, carbohydrates (C) and amino acids (AA), using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Subsequently, their contents were analysed in terms of concentration, proportional content and the ratio of carbohydrates to amino acids (C:AA). In Chapter 3, the nectar of 34 plant species from the grasslands of the Jena Experiment was compared. In Chapter 4, nectar was investigated in the context of diversity effects on the example of the plant species Field Scabious, Knautia arvensis. It was analysed to what extent the nectar quality (nutrient content) differs between plant individuals of one species. Overall, these studies indicate how fragile plant-pollinator interactions are but also how important plant species-rich grasslands are to support plant-pollinator interactions. Increased plant species diversity is essential to ensure the availability of flowering resources throughout the year. Pollinators, such as honeybees, bumblebees, solitary bees, and hoverflies can use the niches in time and in vertical space complementarily. However, in plant species-poor grasslands there may be more niche overlaps, which is probably due to a reduced availability of resources. This points to the need to include different plant species belonging to different plant families, whose nectar may have evolved in response to morphological flower traits and metabolic pathways. Therefore plant species diversity can supply pollinators with nectar differing in carbohydrate and amino acid content and thus differing in quality. Also C-AA ratios have proven to be a useful measurement to reveal differences between plant species. In addition, C:AA ratios were not differing in nectar of K. arvensis individuals growing in different plant species richness levels, although their nectar seemed to be more attractive in mixtures with 16 plant species, likely due to higher content of essential and phagostimulatory amino acids than in plant species-poor mixtures.
Crowdfunding is considered a promising instrument for transforming existing socio-technical regimes by financing radical innovations of such entrepreneurs. However, this potential has not yet been fully explored. Therefore, this dissertation addresses the overarching research question of how sustainable entrepreneurs can exploit the full potential of investment-based crowdfunding to develop from niche operators to actors in the socio-technical regime. Five journal articles and one book chapter are included in this PhD project, which use a wide range of quantitative methodologies. In the framework paper, the findings are conceptually evaluated on a meta-level by applying the multi-level perspective. The key insights can be assigned to four categories, including the financing and marketing function, the target group, and the project presentation. The analysis shows that investment-based crowdfunding is suitable to equally fund and market the business ideas of environmental entrepreneurs, since the quest for entering the mass market is highest for such ventures. In contrast, purely social entrepreneurs tend to conduct crowdfunding projects on a smaller scale and probably aim to stay in the niche. Nevertheless, profit-oriented social entrepreneurs are still encouraged to use investment-based crowdfunding for funding and marketing purposes. The prominent display of environmental effects (e.g. the amount of compensated greenhouse gases) and financial incentives (e.g. high interest rates) has a high impact on the investment decision of individuals on investment-based crowdfunding platforms. The case of fairafric is used as a best practice example to demonstrate how crowdfunding can be a stepping stone for sustainability-oriented niche actors to enter the mass market. The fair-trade and organic chocolate manufacturer has undergone six crowdfunding campaigns which enabled it to grow and build a strong community of supporters. The outcomes of this dissertation clarify how sustainable entrepreneurs can unleash the potential of investment-based crowdfunding for financing and marketing purposes.
Woman, Stand Straight: An Integrated Lutheran Feminist Theological Concept of Human Flourishing
(2022)
Beginning with the theology of Martin Luther and drawing on a selection of feminist theologians, this thesis proposes a relational, agential model of human flourishing. It is rooted in Luther's doctrines of the hiddenness of God and of God’s alien and proper work in the lives of believers. Such an approach gives rise to questions concerning human freedom and agency, sin, and the nature of our relationship with God and with other persons. Many feminist theologies provide an inadequate account of sin and its effects on the person and their relationships. This thesis asserts that taking sin and its effects seriously is essential to developing a secure and healthy self, and a healthy relationship with God and other persons. It therefore proposes a reworked understanding of religious incurvature as a relational model of sin which supports the goal of human flourishing. This concept of the self curved either inwards, or towards another, speaks to the nature of sin in its traditional understanding of sin as pride, as well as addressing feminist criticisms that the notion of sin as pride is not relevant to the needs and experiences of women. The model of human flourishing proposed here is specifically Christian in its assertion that we do not exist as persons, are not fully human, without our being in relationship with the triune God and other created persons. We flourish in community. Further, it supports the idea that true Christian freedom consists of a life dedicated to service of God and others.
Considering the recent success of right-wing populist candidates and parties in the United States and across Europe, there has for some years now been talk among scholars (and the wider public) about a worldwide democratic recession. The younger generations appear to be especially unsupportive of democracy’s liberal principles and more willing to express support for authoritarian alternatives. What these authors overlook, however, is that the publics of advanced industrial societies have experienced an intergenerational value shift. In fact, populations in industrial democracies have become more liberal overall, but not everyone’s mindset is changing at the same speed. It is mainly – but not exclusively – the members of the lower classes that do not keep up. While societies have generally become more liberal, there is increasing alienation between the social classes over these liberal values. Drawing on a more recent trend in social class research with a social cognitive approach, this dissertation contributes to the study of growing anti-democratic tendencies around the world by analyzing the interplay between inequality dynamics and value orientations. The focus lies on investigating the effect socio-cultural polarization (i.e., ideological polarization between social classes) has on civic culture in the mature democracies of the West. The findings suggest that it is not ideological polarization between the social classes that has the greatest negative effect on civic culture, or general civic attitudes and behavior, for that matter. It is the increasing dissent in society about whether the country’s elites are still to be trusted with making the right decisions to increase the average citizen’s quality of life. This difference in opinion manifests itself in a decline in some civic attitudes.
Who is taken into consideration when we talk about the citizens, about the people or the activists? Often it is a rather unquestioned privileged positionality, which is taken to be the standard that most of the time it is actually not. In this quote, the activist Madjiguène Cissé, from the transnational Sans-Papiers movement, raises that just because someone or something is not visible—to the broader public or a particular public—it does not mean that they have not been there for a long time. Migrant rights activism is not a new phenomenon but has intensified and become more networked and visible over the past years (Eggert & Giugni, 2015). This study explores group contexts of activism by, with and for refugees and migrants in Hamburg, the claims, interactions, challenges and processes that activists experience, discuss and deal with. I have approached activists experiencing political organizing in this context from a constructivist grounded theory perspective. This allowed me to develop conceptual perspectives grounded in activist groups’ realities and was advanced through existing literature on this social movement but also theories from other research fields. Solidarities emerged throughout the research process as a more concrete focus. This research sets out to answer the questions: What does solidarity mean in social movements, and how do migrant rights activist practices result in negotiating, enacting and challenging it?
This publication is a revised version of my dissertation thesis.
In contrast to the U.S., little research on the impact of structural racism in education in Germany has been conducted so far. Also, the Critical Race Theory (CRT) has little to no relevance in education. As school significantly influences the further life of children and young people, equal opportunities must be ensured to prevent the reinforcement of the social division in Germany. Therefore, this work will examine whether findings from studies in the U.S. can be transferred to the German educational system since both countries struggle with a substantial rise in racism, racially motivated violence, and hate.Hence this work aims to answer the following research question: How does the CRT influence the U.S. educational system and to what extent can these findings be transferred to the German context? First, key terms and the Critical Race Theory will be defined, which are at the core of education reforms and controversies in the US. Then, the history of the U.S. will be examined to contextualise the status quo of the educational system in the U.S. With this background knowledge and drawing from the theoretical framework of CRT, recent educational reforms and their impact will be analysed. Lastly, based on these findings, possible implications for Germany will be formulated.