Technologies of the self in times of social change. A qualitativ-genealogical analysis.

• Applicant: Dr. Sabine Beckmann
• Subject Area: Sociological Theory ; Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2016 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 315330897

The aim of this project is the qualitative analysis of technologies of the self in times of social change, in consideration of social inequalities. Sociological analyses of current social changes agree that the assumed social change is attended by extensive modifications of subject-constructions of the late-modern individual. This applies also for technologies of the self. Previous research on altered subject-constructions mainly focused on the level of 'Subjektformierung', thus 'on how individuals may learn to recognise, experience, and interpret themselves and others on a normative programmatic level via certain practices and programmes' (Bührmann). What is needed, however, are studies that track the micro-processes and subjective experiences of social change; thus, how 'individuals recognise, experience, and interpret themselves and others on an actual empirical level' (Subjektivierungsweisen, Bührmann). The project aims to explore this issue by analysing technologies of the self on the level of Subjektivierungsweisen by performing a secondary analysis of qualitative data. It highlights the assumption that the construction of technologies of the self are not to be considered as independent from categories of social inequality such as gender, class, and 'race'/ethnicity/nationality. This raises the question, if individuals are affected by discourses and subjectivations independently from their social background. The analysis of technologies of the self in times of social change during the last 25 years is conducted by a longitudinal secondary analysis of qualitative data. The project analyses interviews that were conducted in important studies between the end of the 1980s and 2013. It highlights questions on 'Subjektivierungsweisen' and technologies of the self in the context of changing social frameworks, social inequalities and power relations. Thus, the project's objectives are threefold: first, it aims to underpin the notion of technologies of the self empirically; second, it highlights the differences of subjects' self-regulations against the background of social inequalities; and third, it offers conclusions on the effect of power regulations and discourses in consideration of social inequalities.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants