Verein für Socialpolitik

The Verein für Socialpolitik (German: [fɛʁˈʔaɪn fyːɐ̯ zoˈtsi̯al.poliˌtːik]; literally: Association for Social Policy), or the German Economic Association,[1] is a society of economists in the German-speaking area.[2]

History

The Verein was founded in Eisenach in 1872 as a response to the "social question". Among its founders were eminent economists like Gustav von Schmoller, Lujo Brentano and Adolph Wagner, who sought a middle path between socialist and laissez-faire economic policies. On the contrary, the liberal publicist Heinrich Bernhard Oppenheim, critical of their "fanciful positions", dubbed them the Kathedersozialisten (socialists of the chair), meant as pejorative term.[3] Gradually the Verein became less focused on social policy per se, and dealt with wider areas of economic policy and theory, especially after the First World War.[citation needed]

Among its later members were prominent sociologists like Max Weber and Werner Sombart. They took part in the famous Werturteilsstreit with the older generation of the Verein just before the First World War. The Verein was dissolved in 1936 under the Nazis, but was re-created in 1948 at a conference in Marburg.[citation needed]

Today, the Verein is headquartered in Berlin. It currently has around 3,800 individual members and 48 corporate members. It publishes a monograph series, the Schriften des Vereins für Sozialpolitik, as well as two journals: the German Economic Review[4] and Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik.[5] The verein annually awards the Gossen Prize to German-speaking economists under the age of 45. Another award given by the association is the Gustav Stolper Prize; it is named after economist Gustav Stolper, and is not subject to any age restrictions.[6]

Important members

See also

References

  1. ^ The Verein für Socialpolitik's English name is "German Economic Association". Retrieved March 16th, 2018.
  2. ^ von Philippovich, Eugen (1891). "The Verein Für Sozialpolitik". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 5 (2): 220–237. doi:10.2307/1882972. ISSN 0033-5533. JSTOR 1882972.
  3. ^ Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie.
  4. ^ Egger, Hartmut; Strecker, Nora M. (2024). "The 25th Anniversary of the German Economic Review 2.0". German Economic Review. 25 (4): 241–246. doi:10.1515/ger-2024-0111. ISSN 1468-0475.
  5. ^ "Cookie Consent | Verein für Socialpolitik e.V".
  6. ^ "Gustav Stolper Prize". Verein für Socialpolitik. Retrieved 2 August 2014.

Sources

  • Franz Boese: Geschichte des Vereins für Sozialpolitik, 1872–1932. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1939.
  • Dieter Lindenlaub: Richtungskämpfe im Verein für Sozialpolitik: Wissenschaft und Socialpolitik im Kaiserreich vornehmlich vom Beginn des 'Neuen Kurses' bis zum Ausbruch des 1. Weltkrieges (1890–1914). Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 1967.
  • Steven Leon McClellan, German Economists and the Intersection of Science and Politics: A History of the Verein für Sozialpolitik, 1872-1972. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of History, University Toronto 2022.