Economic Sociology

Does the tendency to aim for virtue and meaningfulness – despite challenges – or the inclination to focus on short-term pleasure lead to more ethical consumption? In a new research article by Makiko Hashinaga, Patrick Schenk, and Jörg Rössel, the authors investigate the motivational foundations for ethical consumption in Switzerland and Japan.

How did elites in 17th and 18th century Basel change their approach to marriages to secure and maintain their social, economical, and political power during a period of institutional reform? Niccolò Armandola, Malte Doehne and Katja Rost analyze 14,841 marriages in Basel between 1648 and 1848 to examine how elites adjusted their marriage strategies to institutional change and how these adjustments affected family social status.

Why do so few Swiss men transition to part-time work even when they would prefer to reduce their working hours? A new study by Jan Müller (SUZ) and Youngjoo Cha (Indiana University) shows that occupational cultures play an important role.

This article by Patrick Schenk, Makiko Hashinaga, and Jörg Rössel examines ethical consumption as a social phenomenon and asks under what conditions it becomes associated with social class. Using survey data from Switzerland and Japan, the authors analyse how different forms of capital shape consumers’ tendency to buy ethically produced goods. The study introduces the concept of "classness" to capture the extent to which ethical consumption is structured by social class.

We are excited to announce that the Swiss Job Market Monitor dataset has been updated to cover the period from 1950 to 2025. The dataset offers invaluable insights into job market trends in Switzerland over more than seven decades, making it a rich source for researchers and policymakers.

Im Frühstücksfernsehen des deutschen Senders SAT.1 ordnet Malte Doehne aus soziologischer Perspektive den Wandel von Körperidealen ein. Er erläutert, wie der Körper gezielt formbar geworden ist und dadurch als Statussymbol sowie als Möglichkeit der individuellen Abgrenzung dient. Zudem erklärt er, dass die hochoptimierten Algorithmen Sozialer Medien diese Entwicklung zusätzlich beschleunigen.

Under the motto Advancing Legitimacy Frontiers: New Perspectives and Challenges, 74 participants from 54 universities gathered in the South of France for the 4th international workshop on organizational legitimacy. Janis Jäger shares his experiences in Aix-en-Provence during his first PhD adventure!

The new article examines public support for high-brow culture using the 1994 referendum on funding for the Zurich Opera as a case study. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of fields, Valentina Petrović and Jörg Rössel analyse the prevalence of autonomous and heteronomous arguments in public discourse. The study is based on a quantitative content analysis of media articles published in the lead-up to the referendum. It sheds light on how cultural funding is justified and contested in public debates.

Das neue Buch «Bumerang Frauenquote» untersucht die Wirksamkeit und Nebenwirkungen von Geschlechterquoten in Führungspositionen. Die Autorinnen zeigen, warum Fortschritte oft stagnieren und diskutieren mögliche unbeabsichtigte Effekte der Quotenpolitik.

Katja Rost zeigt, wie soziale Lücken der Spätmoderne - entstanden durch Individualisierung, Selbstbestimmung und Unverbindlichkeit - zunehmend von digitalen Angeboten gefüllt werden.