Lifestyle and Milieu Research in German Sociology: Alternatives to the Traditional Models of Structure?
Lifestyle and Milieu Research in German Sociology: Alternatives to the Traditional Models of Structure?
The paper investigates whether the lifestyle and milieu researches can be considered as alternatives class and stratification models. This approach of distinctively German characteristics was particularly popular in the 1980s and 1990s, yet notwithstanding its popularity it remained subject to debates among researches of social structure. After briefly presenting the factors contributing to the rise of the approach, this paper attempts to reconstruct the main arguments and counterarguments of the debate that developed around lifestyle and milieu research. The paper argues that the ‘traditional’ and the ‘new’ concepts are not alternatives to one another; instead new models are necessary that allow for integrating the two approaches. In conclusion two models are presented that are well suited for achieving such an aim.