FASS Staff Profile

PROFESSOR SCHMIDT, VOLKER H.
PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Appointment:
PROFESSOR
Office:
AS1/03-24
Email:
socvhs@nus.edu.sg
Tel:
65163176
Fax:
67779579
Homepage:
http://profile.nus.edu.sg/fass/socvhs/
Tabs

Brief Introduction

Volker H. Schmidt studied political science, cultural studies, and sociology at the Universities of Marburg, Birmingham and Bielefeld, where he graduated with a Master’s Degree in sociology in 1987. He finished his academic training with a PhD in 1995 at the University of Bremen and a habilitation in 2000 at the University of Mannheim. In between, he spent the academic year 1997-1998 as a J.F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow at the Center for European Studies, Harvard University. In December 2000, he joined the National University of Singapore. During the academic year 2008-2009, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Excellence Cluster “Religion and Politics in Modernity”, University of Münster, at whose Center for Advanced Study in Bioethics he also held two months-long fellowships in the summers of 2010 and 2011. In the academic year 2013-2014, he spent another six months as Fellow at this center plus six months as Fellow at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), University of Bielefeld. Before moving to Singapore, most of his work focused on questions of distributive justice and the allocation of health care. Since then, he has broadened the scope of his work considerably, both substantively and spatially, by adding the analysis of large scale social change in East Asia and beyond. The core of this latter work is constituted by the concept of “Gobal Modernity”. In recent years, he has focused on problems in the sociological conceptualization of the discipline's most important concept, "society", on whose genealogy he is currently working.

 


Teaching Areas

Contemporary Social Theory; Global Transformations; Science, Technology and Society; Social Thought and Theory; Sociological Theory; Welfare and Social Justice; Understanding Globalization


Current Research

Downloads


Research Interests

global social change; conceptual analysis; social theory; health and social policy; normative and empirical analyses of justice.


Publications

BOOKS/MONOGRAPHS AUTHORED

    • 2014 Global Modernity. A Conceptual Sketch. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
    • 2003 (with Thomas Gutmann, Klaus A. Schneewind, Ulrich Schroth, Antonellus Elsässer, Günther F. Hillebrandt, and Walter Land) Grundlagen einer gerechten Organverteilung. Medizin, Psychologie, Recht, Ethik, Soziologie. [Foundations of Justice in Organ Allocation. Medicine, Psychology, Law, Ethics, Sociology] Berlin: Springer
    • 2000 Bedingte Gerechtigkeit. Soziologische Analysen und philosophische Theorien. [Bounded Justice. Sociological Analyses and Philosophical Theories] Frankfurt: Campus
    • 1997 (with Brigitte K. Hartmann) Lokale Gerechtigkeit in Deutschland. Studien zur Verteilung von Bildungs-, Arbeits- und Gesundheitsgütern. [Local Justice in Germany. Studies in the Distribution of University Places, Jobs, and Health Care] Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag
    • 1996 Politik der Organverteilung. Eine Untersuchung über Empfängerauswahl in der Transplantationsmedizin. [The Politics of Organ Allocation. Recipient Selection in Transplant Medicine] Baden-Baden: Nomos
    • 1991 (with Ulrike Berger and Helmut Wiesenthal: Neue Technologien – verschenkte Gelegenheiten? Über sozialverträgliche Arbeitszeitmuster, Alternativen der CAD-Einführung und die Einflußchancen von Beschäftigten. [New Technologies – Wasted Opportunities? On Socially Sustainable Working Time Patterns, Alternative Options for the Introduction/Utilization of CAD, and Workers' Capacity of Influence] Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag
    • 1990 Neue Technologien und die Differenzierung der Arbeitszeiten. Eine Broschüre für Bildungsarbeit und betriebliche Praxis. [New Technologies and the Differentiation of Working Times. A Brochure for Shop Floor Teaching and Everyday Administration in Business Organizations] Düsseldorf: Ministerium für Arbeit, Gesundheit und Soziales des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen

CHAPTERS IN BOOKS



    •  
    • 2016 "Anreizprogramme und Vergesundheitlichung" [Incentive Programs and Healthicization], in: Stefan Huster and Thomas Schramme (eds.) Normative Aspekte von Public Health. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 209-211
    • 2016 "Paternalismus non grata?" [Paternalism unwanted?], in: Stefan Huster and Thomas Schramme (eds.) Normative Aspekte von Public Health. Interdis­ziplinäre Perspektiven. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 71-74
    • 2016 "Ausweitung der Gesundheitszone" [Expansion of the Health Zone], in: Stefan Huster and Thomas Schramme (eds.) Normative Aspekte von Public Health. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 11-27
    • 2015 "Varieties of Modernity? Conceptual Prerequisites and Em­pirical Observations", in: Sven Trakulhun and Ralph Weber (eds.) Delimiting Moderni­ties: Conceptual Challenges and Regional Responses. Lanham: Lexington, 49-78
    • 2014 (with Tiffany Jordan Chuang May): "Educating Global Citizens", in Jürgen Gerhards, Silke Hans and Sören Carlson (eds.) Globalisierung, Bildung, grenz­überschreitende Mobilität. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, 49-72
    • 2013 "Global Modernity, World Society and Global Justice: Preli­minary Thoughts", in: Aulis Aarni, Thomas Hoeren, Stanley L. Paulson, Martin Schulte and Dieter Wyduckel (eds.) Positivität, Normativität und Institutionalität des Rechts. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 73-83
    • 2013 "Gradual and Categorical Inequalities", in: Said Amir Arjo­mand and Elisa Reis (eds.) Worlds of Difference. London: Sage, 252-270
    • 2013 "Globale Moderne. Skizze eines Konzeptualisierungsversuchs" [Global Modernity. Sketch of a Tentative Conceptualization], in: Ulrich Willems, Helene Basu, Thomas Gutmann, Detlef Pollack and Ulrike Spohn (eds.) Moderne und Religion: Kontroversen um Modernität und Säkularisierung. Bielefeld: Transcript, 27-72
    • 2012 "Modernization", in: George Ritzer (ed.) The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization. Oxford: Blackwell, 1441-1444
    • 2012 "Late Modernization in the Age of Globalization: East Asia and Beyond", in: Ishwar Modi (ed.) Modernization, Globalization and Social Transformation. Jaipur and New Delhi: Rawat Publications, 77-89
    • 2012 "Comparing Inequalities. On a Difference that Makes a Difference", in: Dan Soen, Melly Shechory and Sarah Ben-David (eds.) Minority Groups: Coercion, Discrimination, Exclusion, Deviance and the Quest for Equality. New York: Nova Science, 3-16
    • 2011 "Modernização global e mudança de pesos: como a ascensão do 'restante' muda o mundo", in: Tom Dwyer, Glaucia Villas Bôas und Celi Scalon (eds.) Consensos e Controvérsias. Porto Alegre: Tomo Editorial, 15-29
    • 2009 "Modernity, East Asia's Modernization, and the New World Order", in: Mohamed Cherkaoui and Peter Hamilton (eds.) Raymond Boudon. A Life in Sociology. Oxford: Bardwell Press, vol. 4, 107-122
    • 2009 "Convergence and Divergence in Societal Modernization - Global Trends, Regional Variations, and Some Implications for Sustainability", in: Hellmuth Lange and Lars Meier (eds.) Globalizing Lifestyles and Sustainability. The Case of the New Middle Classes. Berlin: Springer, 29-47
    • 2008 "Ostasiatischer Kapitalismus - internationale Unternehmen - westliche Gesellschaften" [East Asian Capitalism - International Businesses - Western Societies] in: Andrea Maurer and Uwe Schimank (eds.) Die Gesellschaft der Unternehmen - die Unternehmen der Gesellschaft. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, 312-327
    • 2008 "Limits to Growth? China's Rise and Its Implications for Europe", in: Karl Siegbert Rehberg (ed.) Die Natur der Gesellschaft. Frankfurt/New York: Campus, 383-398
    • 2008 "Convergence with a Twist: East Asian Welfare Capitalism in Comparative Perspective", in: Lian Kwen Fee and Tong Chee Kiong (eds.) Social Policy in Post-Industrial Singapore. Leiden: Brill, 309-331
    • 2007 "One World, One Modernity", in: Volker H. Schmidt (ed.) Modernity at the Beginning of the 21st Century. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 205-228
    • 2007 "Into the Second Millennium: Making Sense of Modernity", in: Volker H. Schmidt (ed.) Modernity at the Beginning of the 21st Century. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 1-9 
    • 2006 "Multiple Modernities? The Case Against", in: Karl-Siegbert Rehberg (ed.) Soziale Ungleichheit, kulturelle Unterschiede. Frankfurt: Campus, 2883-2894
    • 2004 "Tragisches 'Scheitern': Behandlungsausschlüsse in der Transplantationsme­dizin" [Tragic 'Failure': Exclusions from Treatment in Transplant Medicine], in: Matthias Junge and Götz Lechner (eds.) Scheitern. Aspekte eines sozialen Phäno­mens. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, 141-150
    • 2004 "Ungleichgewichtige Ungleichheiten" [Unequal Inequalities], in: Peter A. Berger and Volker H. Schmidt (eds.) Welche Gleichheit, welche Ungleichheit? Grundlagen soziologischer Ungleichheitsforschung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, 73-92
    • 2004 (with Peter A. Berger) "Welche Gleichheit – welche Un­gleichheit? Einlei­tung" [Which Equality, Which Inequality? Introduction], in: Pe­ter A. Berger and Volker H. Schmidt (eds.) Welche Gleichheit, welche Ungleich­heit? Grundlagen soziologischer Ungleichheitsforschung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, 7-26
    • 2004 "Erfolgsbedingungen des konfuzianischen Wohlfahrts­kapitalismus. Kulturso­ziologische und modernisierungstheoretische Überlegun­gen" [Accounting for the Success of Confucian Welfare Capitalism. Culturalist and Modernization Theore­tical Considerations], in: Petra Stykow and Jürgen Bey­er (eds.) Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Hoffnung. Reformfähigkeit und die Mög­lichkeit rationaler Politik. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, 168-190
    • 2003 Article "Amartya Sen – Inequality Reexamined", in: Hans‑Peter Müller and Michael Schmid (eds.) Hauptwerke der Ungleichheitsfor­schung, Opla­den: Westdeutscher Verlag, 235-237
    • 2003 Article "Jon Elster – Local Justice. How Institutions Allocate Scarce Goods and Necessary Burdens", in: Hans‑Peter Müller and Michael Schmid (eds.) Haupt­werke der Ungleichheitsforschung, Opladen: West­deutscher Verlag, 84-86
    • 2002 (with Thomas Gutmann) "Einleitung" [Introduction], in: Thomas Gutmann and Volker H. Schmidt (eds.) Rationierung und Allokation im Gesundheitswesen. Weilerswist: Velbrück Wissenschaft, 7-40
    • 2002 "Verteilungsgerechtigkeit in der Medizin. Anmerkungen zum sozialethischen Ansatz" [Distributive Justice in Health Care. Critical Notes on the Socio-Ethical Approach], in: Detlef Aufderheide and Martin Dabrowski (eds.) Gesundheit – Ethik – Ökonomik. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot,181-188
    • 2001 "Gerechtigkeit im Gesundheitswesen angesichts neu­artiger Problemlagen" [Medical Justice in the Face of New Challenges] in: Peter Koller (ed.) Gerech­tigkeit im politischen Diskurs der Gegenwart. Wien: Passagen Verlag, 287-302
    • 2001 Article "Social Justice", in: Neil J. Smelser and Paul B. Baltes (eds.) Inter­national Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Oxford: Elsevier, 14338-14341
    • 2000 "Rekonstruktion oder Konstruktion? Anfragen zur Methodik normativer Theoriebildung", [Reconstruction or Construction? Some Que­ries Concerning the Methodology of Normative Theorizing] in: Martin Endreß and Neil Roughley (eds.) Anthropologie und Moral. Philosophische und soziologische Perspektiven. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 395-405
    • 1999 "Interdisziplinarität und disziplinäre Selbstbeschränkung", [Interdiscipli­narity and Disciplinary Self-Restraint] in: Claudia Honegger, Stefan Hradil and Franz Traxler (eds.) Grenzenlose Gesellschaft, Part 2. Opladen: Leske + Budrich, 650-660
    • 1997 "Procedural Aspects of Distributive Justice", in: Klaus F. Röhl and Stefan Machura (eds.) Procedural Justice. Aldershot: Ashgate, 161-179
      –        a Chinese translation of this paper was published 2004 in Gong Fa Yan Jiu [Public Law Studies] 2: 404-420
    • 1997 "Ist die Verteilung knapper Gesundheitsgüter ein medizinisches Problem? Überlegungen am Beispiel der Transplantationsmedizin", [Is the Allocation of Scarce Health Care a Medical Problem? Reflections about Trans­plant Medicine] in: Rolf Lachmann and Norbert Meuter (eds.) Zur Gerechtigkeit der Organver­teilung. Ein Problem der Transplantationsmedizin aus interdiszipli­närer Sicht. Stuttgart: G. Fischer, 49-68
    • 1996 "Stellungnahme zum Entwurf eines Transplantationsge­setzes", [Expert State­ment on the Draft of a German Transplant Act] in: Ausschuß für Gesundheit (ed.) Ausschußdrucksache 602/13: Sachverständigenanhörung am 09. Oktober 1996. Bonn: Deutscher Bundestag, 25-34
    • 1995 "Soziologische Gerechtigkeitsanalyse als empirische Institutionenanalyse", [Sociological Justice Analysis as Empirical Institution Ana­lysis] in: Hans-Peter Müller and Bernd Wegener (eds.) Soziale Ungleichheit und soziale Gerechtigkeit. Opladen: Leske + Budrich, 173-194
    • 1992 "The Differentiation of Households and Working Time Arrangements in West Germany", in: Catherine Marsh and Sara Arber (eds.) Families and House­holds: Division and Change. London: Macmillan, 125-141
    • 1992 "Soziale Differenzierung und die Wandlung der Arbeits­zeitbedarfe", [Social Differentiation and the Change of Working Time Needs] in: Irene Raelmann, Bir­git Meiners, Alexander Glanz and Maria Funder (eds.) Alles unter einen Hut? Ar­beits- und Lebenszeit von Frauen in der "Dienstleistungs­gesellschaft". Hamburg: VSA, 38-53

     

     

     

EDITORIAL WORK ON BOOKS

    • 2007 Modernity at the Beginning of the 21st Century. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
    • 2004 (with Peter A. Berger) Welche Gleichheit, welche Ungleichheit? Grundlagen der Ungleichheitsforschung [Which Equality, Which Inequality? Foundations of Inequality Research] Wiesbaden: VS Verlag
    • 2002 (with Thomas Gutmann) Rationierung und Allokation im Gesundheitswesen. [Rationing and Allocation of Health Care] Weilerswist: Velbrück Wissenschaft
      – this book was also published electronically (www.humanities-online.de)
    • 1999 (guest editor) Justice in Philosophy and Social Science. Special issue of the journal Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. Dordrecht: Kluwer

ARTICLES IN JOURNALS

  •  
    • 2021 "The X and Society Syndrome", Social Science Information 60 (4): 483-503
    • 2020 "Eight Theories of Societalization. Toward a Theoretically Sustainable Concept of Society", European Journal of Social Theory 23 (3): 411-430
    • 2020 (with Thomas Gutmann) "National Citizenship and Categorical Inequality. Philosophical and Sociological Perspectives", Rechtstheorie 51 (1): 89-97
    • 2019 "The Last Bastion of Categorical Inequality?", Social Science History 43 (2): 379-385
    • 2018 "Avanço e Conseqüências da Modernidade Global", Sociedade e Estado 33 (2): 407-422
    • 2017 "Disquieting Uncertainty. Three Glimpses into the Future", European Journal of Futures Research 5: 6 (online publication, 10 pages)
    • 2015 "Public Health Ethics. Problems and Suggestions", Public Health Ethics 8 (1): 18-26
    • 2012 "Gerechtigkeit als Politik der Befähigung zu reflexiver Selbst­bestimmung" [Justice as Politics of Enabling Reflexive Self-Determination], Österrei­chische Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 37 (supplement 1): 81-98
    • 2011 "How Unique is East Asian Modernity?", Asian Journal of Social Science 39 (3): 304-331
    • 2011 "Max Weber in Light of East Asian Development", Max Weber Studies 11 (1): 11-32
    • 2010 "Priorisierung auf der Makroebene. Das Gesundheitswesen im Ensemble sozialpolitischer Leistungsbereiche" [Priority Setting at the Macro Level. Health Care in Relation to Other Fields of Social Policy], Ethik in der Medizin 22 (3): 275-288
    • 2010 "Die ostasiatische Moderne – eine Moderne 'eigener' Art?" [East Asian Modernity – A Distinct Modernity?], Berliner Journal für Soziologie 20 (2): 123-152
    • 2010 "Gerechtigkeit als politisches Programm" [Justice as a Political Program], Soziologische Revue 33 (2): 144-150
    • 2008 "Gerechtigkeit als Ordnungsprinzip" [Justice as a Principle for the Basic Structure of Society], commissioned contribution to a symposium on John Rawls' book Justice as Fairness. A Restatement, Soziologische Revue 31 (1): 3-9 
    • 2006 "Multiple Modernities or Varieties of Modernity?", Current Sociology 54 (1): 77-97
      – a Portuguese translation of this article was published 2007 in Revista de Sociologia e Política 28: 147-160
    • 2005 "Soziologische Theorie und gesellschaftliche Wirklichkeit. Replik auf die Kritiker" [Sociological Theory and Social Reality. Reply to the Critics], Zeitschrift für Soziologie 34 (6): 437-441
    • 2005 "Die Systeme der Systemtheorie. Stärken, Schwächen und ein Lösungsvorschlag" [Systems Theory's Systems: Strengths, Weaknesses, and a Remedy Proposal], Zeitschrift für Soziologie 34 (6): 406-424
      – this article (on Niklas Luhmann's theory) is followed by a discussion comprising three critical commentaries (of about 2,000 words each), commissioned by the editors, and my reply to them [see above]
    • 2005 "Technicization of Institutional Practice and the Invisibilization of the Social", International Journal of Contemporary Sociology 42 (1): 121-129
    • 2004 (with Lim Chee Han): "Organ Transplantation in Singapore: History, Problems, and Policies", Social Science and Medicine 59 (10): 2173-2182
    • 2004 "Models of Health Care Rationing", Current Sociology 52 (6): 969-988
      – according to the publisher (SAGE), this article was among the top 10 most downloaded Current Sociology articles for the period Jan-Dec 2005
    • 2004 "Rationing Health Care in the Welfare State: Three Policies", Journal of Health and Social Policy 19 (1): 57-76
    • 2003 Review Article "Transplant Medicine as Borderline Medicine", Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 6 (3): 319-321
    • 2003 "Die Tücken der Gerechtigkeit" [The Vicissitudes of Justice], Erwägen Wissen Ethik 14 (2): 298-300
    • 2002 "Freiheit und Gleichheit in der Sozialpolitik" [Freedom and Equality in Social Policy] Sozialer Fortschritt 51 (9): 229-232
    • 2002 "Neues zur Organverteilung: Das Transplantationsgesetz und die Folgen" [The Latest on Organ Allocation: The German Transplant Act and its Repercussions] Zeitschrift für Gesundheitswissenschaften 10 (3): 252-275
    • 2001 "Oversocialised Epistemology: A Critical Appraisal of Constructivism", Sociology 35 (1): 135-157
    • 2000, "Ungleichheit, Exklusion und Gerechtigkeit" [Inequality, Exclusion and Justice], Soziale Welt 51 (4): 383-400
    • 2000 "Das Los des Loses. Zu einigen Grenzen rationalen Handelns" [Lottery's Fate. On Some Limits of Rational Action], Leviathan 28 (3): 363-377
    • 1999 "Integration durch Moral?", [Integration Through Morality?], Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, special issue no. 39: 66-84
    • 1999 "Introduction: Across the Disciplinary Borders", Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 2 (4): 315-318
    • 1998 "Rationing Health Care: Difficult Questions, Uncertain Answers", The Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon 46 (Supplement III): 314-318
    • 1998 "The Politics of Justice and the Paradox of Justification", Social Justice Research 11 (1): 3-19
    • 1998 "Verteilungsgerechtigkeit in der Transplantationsmedizin. Was kann die Soziologie beitragen?", [Distributive Justice in Transplant Medicine: What Can Sociology Contribute?] Ethik in der Medizin 10 (1): 5-11
    • 1998 "Selection of Recipients for Donor Organs in Transplant Medicine", Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 23 (1): 50-74
    • 1997 "Zur Ambivalenz zugeschriebener Personenhaftigkeit in der Medizin: Autonomiegewinne und soziale Ausschließungseffekte", [On the Ambivalence of Ascribed Personhood in Medicine: Autonomy Gains and Social Exclusions], Archiv für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie, special issue no. 73: 117-127
    • 1996 "Veralltäglichung der Triage", [The Normalization of Triage] Zeitschrift für Soziologie 25 (6): 419-437
      – reprinted 2004 in Weyma Lübbe (ed.) Tödliche Entscheidung. Allokation von Leben und Tod in Zwangslagen. Paderborn: Mentis, 77-103
    • 1996 "Zu einigen ungelösten Problemen der Organallokation", [On Some Unresolved Problems in Organ Allocation] Transplantationsmedizin 8 (1): 39-43
      – reprinted 1996 in Neue Gesellschaft/Frankfurter Hefte 43 (8): 716-721
    • 1996 "Drei Modelle der Organverteilung", [Three Models of Organ Allocation] Die Betriebskrankenkasse 84 (5): 259-263
    • 1996 "Ein Problem über die Medizin hinaus", [A Problem Beyond the Scope of Medicine] Editorial on the problem of organ allocation, Münchener Medizinische Wochenschrift 138: 670-671
    • 1994 "Bounded Justice", Social Science Information 33 (2): 305-333
    • 1994 "Some Equity-Efficiency Trade-Offs in the Provision of Scarce Goods: The Example of Lifesaving Medical Resources", Journal of Political Philosophy 2 (1): 44-66
    • 1993 "Zum Verhältnis prozeduraler und distributiver Gerechtigkeit – am Beispiel 'lokaler' Verteilungsprobleme", [On the Relationship Between Procedural and Distributive Justice – Exemplified by 'Local' Allocation Problems] Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie 14 (1): 80-96
    • 1992 "Adaptive Justice: Local Distributive Justice in Sociological Perspective", Theory and Society 21 (6): 789-816
    • 1992 "Lokale Gerechtigkeit. Perspektiven soziologischer Gerechtigkeitsanalyse", [Local Justice. Towards a Sociology of Justice] Zeitschrift für Soziologie 21 (1): 3-15
    • 1991 "New Technology and Working Time: The Case of CAD Introduction", New Technology, Work and Employment 6 (2): 112-123
    • 1988 "Neue Techniken und Zeitverwendung", [New Technologies and Time Management] Die Mitbestimmung 34 (7/8): 392-394
      – reprinted in Sotech Rundbrief 7/88: 22-23

Other Information

2002-2014: President of the ISA's Research Committee 35 (Conceptual and Terminological Analysis (COCTA).


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