Team Jörg Flecker

12/2016 - 12/2022

The research project “Paths to the Future” is a longitudinal study using a variety of methods. Over the next 5 years (at least), the study will accompany young people in Vienna on their course through life and on their transition from an Austrian so-called new secondary school to other educational institutions, vocational education, labour market training measures and professional life. The observation of young people during these important stages of life enables us to identify opportunities and obstacles, significant events and actions of the participants. The survey focuses on different, interconnected stages during adolescence: educational system and vocational training, professional life and labour market training measures, family relationships and social networks as well as identity-forming processes and dynamics of youth culture. On the one hand, the project analyses lives in relation to social origin, educational success and labour market opportunities, as well as the conceived or promised, desired or dreaded future of young people in Vienna on the other hand. This project run by the Department of Sociology takes a holistic approach and involves all research areas of the Department, such as migration, work, family, culture, city or social inequality.

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10/2017 - 09/2020

ÖAW Doc-team-Scolarship - Dominik Klaus and Benjamin Herr

Our world of work is constantly changing. The transformation from an industrial society to a service society is closely linked to developments in the area of information and communication technology (ICT) and has far-reaching implications for individuals: Life gets faster, more flexible and more complex. The use of ICT allows us to complete tasks when and where we like – especially in knowledge and office work. Mechanisms of acceleration and flexibilisation lead to the blurring of boundaries (dissolving boundaries) between gainful employment and private areas of life, such as family and household.This research project is an interdisciplinary cooperation between the Work and Organisational Psychology group and the Occupational Sociology group at the University of Vienna. It aims at investigating the influence of ICT-based flexible working on identity development, self-control, well-being and relaxation, as well as on the employee’s household organisation (including family responsibilities, such as childcare) in the dimensions of time, space, effort and cooperation. In addition, it explores the resources and skills that employees who work flexibly need or should acquire to experience their life as organised and controllable in general. The project takes into account employees working under different flexible working conditions and crowd workers, who experience the dissolution of boundaries in its extreme form, and compares these employees.

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11/2018 - 01/2020

10/2016 - 12/2019

The recent economic crisis has severely affected the living and working conditions of citizens all over Europe, leading to high levels of insecurity and declining trust in public institutions. The project aims at investigating the impact of the intensified socio-economic change following the recent economic crisis on political orientations. How did working and living conditions changed after the crisis? How do individuals perceive changes in society in recent years? How do those changes affect individual perceptions, social cohesion and political orientations?
The project will focus on the symbolic struggles between different formations of solidarity. It is assumed that solidarity, social cohesion and the question who should be supported are dynamic configurations with a continuous struggle over the boundaries of the solidarity community.
The project will focus on Austria and Hungary which provide the unique opportunity to investigate two countries with similar political developments, yet affected by the crisis very differently. Using methodological triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data SOCRIS will provide a deeper understanding of the complex relationships between societal change and political subjectivity.

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03/2018 - 02/2022

The University of Vienna and FORBA are the Austrian correspondents for the EU agency 'European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions' (Eurofound). As correspondents we report on current developments in working life, restructuring processes and changes in legislation. The team at the University of Vienna is reporting restructuring events and changes in public support instruments to the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM).