Difference between revisions of "Vitamin B (Germany)"

'''''Original text: Ina Kubbe, Tel Aviv University'''''

'''''Original text: Ina Kubbe, Tel Aviv University'''''

<div class='item'>In Germany, the term Vitamin B is used colloquially to denote the various benefits that flow from cooperation between individuals. ‘B’ in this context stands for Beziehungen, which means relationships, contacts and connections. The term is also used to mean networking or, in its most pronounced form, favouritism. Vitamin B may for example be used to refer to an influential personal relationship that enables an individual more easily to get a desirable position in the professional sphere. Such informal relationships may be either private or professional, but they usually originate from social networks that have developed during schooling, internships or studies (student fraternities, university alumni associations and so on), shared hobbies (sports clubs, gyms), or social events (conferences, weddings and so on). These relationships often include family members such as cousins, brothers- and sisters-in-law, and so on. <br><br>Just as the vitamin B that is found in food regulates vital parts of our cell metabolism and is essential for human health, Vitamin B plays an important role in social life, especially in the work environment. It operates through various channels such as the exchange of useful information (such as learning about jobs, or about other candidates running for office). Practices similar to Vitamin B can be found almost everywhere. In Russia, for example, the practice is called blat and is defined as ‘the use of personal networks for obtaining goods and services in short supply and for circumventing formal procedures’ (Ledeneva 2009: 257)<ref>Ledeneva, A. 2009. ‘From Russia with Blat: Can Informal Networks Help Modernize Russia?’ Social Research 76(1): 257-288</ref>. Already in 1651 Thomas Hobbes described the phenomenon in his Leviathan: ‘To have friends, is Power’ (Hobbes 1909: 66)<ref>Hobbes, T. 1909. Hobbes’s Leviathan. Reprinted from the edition of 1651. Oxford: Oxford University Press</ref> or, as the blogger Danny Ferguson put it, ‘It's not what you don't know; it's who your college roommate knows’ (Nadler and Schulman 2006)<ref>Nadler, J. and Schulman, M. 2006. ‘Favoritism, Cronyism, and Nepotism’ http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/government_ethics/introduction/cronyism.html</ref>. <br><br>From an ethical point of view, the use of Vitamin B has a potential dark side (Bourdieu 1989; Plümper and Schimmelpfennig 2007; Gurr 2014)<ref>Bourdieu, P. 1989. ‘Social Space and Symbolic Power,’ Sociological Theory 7(1) 14-25

<div class='item'>In Germany, the term Vitamin B is used colloquially to denote the various benefits that flow from cooperation between individuals. ‘B’ in this context stands for Beziehungen, which means relationships, contacts and connections. The term is also used to mean networking or, in its most pronounced form, favouritism. Vitamin B may for example be used to refer to an influential personal relationship that enables an individual more easily to get a desirable position in the professional sphere. Such informal relationships may be either private or professional, but they usually originate from social networks that have developed during schooling, internships or studies (student fraternities, university alumni associations and so on), shared hobbies (sports clubs, gyms), or social events (conferences, weddings and so on). These relationships often include family members such as cousins, brothers- and sisters-in-law, and so on. <br><br>Just as the vitamin B that is found in food regulates vital parts of our cell metabolism and is essential for human health, Vitamin B plays an important role in social life, especially in the work environment. It operates through various channels such as the exchange of useful information (such as learning about jobs, or about other candidates running for office). Practices similar to Vitamin B can be found almost everywhere. In Russia, for example, the practice is called blat and is defined as ‘the use of personal networks for obtaining goods and services in short supply and for circumventing formal procedures’ (Ledeneva 2009: 257)<ref>Ledeneva, A. 2009. ‘From Russia with Blat: Can Informal Networks Help Modernize Russia?’ Social Research 76(1): 257-288</ref>. Already in 1651 Thomas Hobbes described the phenomenon in his Leviathan: ‘To have friends, is Power’ (Hobbes 1909: 66)<ref>Hobbes, T. 1909. Hobbes’s Leviathan. Reprinted from the edition of 1651. Oxford: Oxford University Press</ref> or, as the blogger Danny Ferguson put it, ‘It's not what you don't know; it's who your college roommate knows’ (Nadler and Schulman 2006)<ref>Nadler, J. and Schulman, M. 2006. ‘Favoritism, Cronyism, and Nepotism’ http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/government_ethics/introduction/cronyism.html</ref>. <br><br>From an ethical point of view, the use of Vitamin B has a potential dark side (Bourdieu 1989; Plümper and Schimmelpfennig 2007; Gurr 2014)<ref>Bourdieu, P. 1989. ‘Social Space and Symbolic Power,’ Sociological Theory 7(1) 14-25

Coleman, J. 1988. ‘Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital,’ The American Journal of Sociology 94: 95-120</ref><ref>Plümper, T. and Schimmelfennig, F. 2007. ‘Wer wird Prof – und wann? Berufungsdeterminanten in der deutschen Politikwissenschaft,‘ Politische Vierteljahressschrift, 48(1): 97-117 </ref><ref>Gurr, J. 2014. ‘Tony Blair and the Beautiful People: Funktionen informeller persönlciher Beziehungen innerhalb politischer Führungskreise‘, in S. Bröchler and Grunden, T. (eds), Informelle Politik, Wiesbaden: Springer VS: 305-22

Coleman, J. 1988. ‘Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital,’ The American Journal of Sociology 94: 95-120</ref><ref>Plümper, T. and Schimmelfennig, F. 2007. ‘Wer wird Prof – und wann? Berufungsdeterminanten in der deutschen Politikwissenschaft,‘ Politische Vierteljahressschrift, 48(1): 97-117 </ref><ref>Gurr, J. 2014. ‘Tony Blair and the Beautiful People: Funktionen informeller persönlciher Beziehungen innerhalb politischer Führungskreise‘, in S. Bröchler and Grunden, T. (eds), Informelle Politik, Wiesbaden: Springer VS: 305-22