Constellations of Multiple Competition in Higher Education

We propose an analytical approach to constellations of competition in higher education. It takes the most conventional starting point possible – Georg Simmel's (2008) triadic model. Contemporary work on competition cannot do without the obligatory Simmel reference in both sociology and cultural studies. But, with a few remarkable exceptions (Werron 2009; Mayer 2019), the analytical potential of the approach is hardly ever exhausted. Taking Simmel's notion of triadic constellations of competition seriously and combining it with insights from valuation studies (Waibel et al. 2021) and the theory of social fields (Krause 2018), our paper advances the current conversation on competition in three ways. First, we develop an analytical framework for multiple competition. Most of the recent liter-ature on competition assumes – like Simmel – that actors are involved in a plurality of com-petitions. However, the focus is usually on an abstract concept of competition, on the pene-tration of contemporary society with a competitive template, or selected competitions. In contrast, relations between various competitions are not systematically theorized. To fill this gap, we propose an analytical framework that captures such relations as interrelated triadic competition constellations. Second, the perspective allows to analytically capture competing as something actors do. The focus on competing distinguishes our approach from recent positions in organizational sociology (Arora-Jonsson/Brunsson/Hasse 2021), which assume that competition cannot be understood as a specific form of action. Indeed, actors do not necessarily respond in a standardized way to a competitive situation. However, our analytical approach allows us to understand heterogeneous courses of action as competitive behavior. We propose both a general typology of practices of competition and a more specific typology of competitive organizational practices in higher education. Third, the perspective allows to elaborate the central role of comparative valuation in com-petition, which has been largely overlooked in recent literature (e.g., again in Arora-Jonsson/Brunsson/Hasse 2021), and thus contributes to linking the sociology of competition on the one hand with the sociologies of valuation and comparison on the other. References Arora-Jonsson, Stefan/Nils Brunsson/Raimund Hasse (2020): Where Does Competition Come From? The role of organization. Organization Theory. Krause, M. (2018). How fields vary. The British Journal of Sociology, 69(1), 3–22. Mayer, Alexander (2019): Universitäten im Wettbewerb. Deutschland von den 1980er Jahren bis zur Exzellenzinitiative. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner. Simmel, Georg (2008): Sociology of competition. Canadian Journal of Sociology/Cahiers canadiens de sociologie 33: 957–978. Waibel, Désirée/Thorsten Peetz/Frank Meier (2021): Valuation constellations. In: Valuation Studies 8(1): 33-66. Werron, Tobias (2009): Zur sozialen Konstruktion moderner Konkurrenzen: das Publikum in der "Soziologie der Konkurrenz“. (Workingpaper des Soziologischen Seminars, 05/09). Luzern: Universität Luzern, Kultur- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät, Soziologi-sches Seminar. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-382948