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Instructors: PD Dr. Silke Ötsch
Event type:
Follow-up seminar
Displayed in timetable as:
24-408.81
Hours per week:
2
Credits:
6,0
Language of instruction:
German
Min. | Max. participants:
10 | 20
Registration group: Spezielle Soziologien
Comments/contents:
Cum-Ex deals stand for tax arrangements in which taxes, once paid, are repaid several times. The journalists' collective Correctiv estimates that banks and particularly wealthy individuals have enriched themselves by 150 billion euros worldwide in this way, at the expense of public funds. Cum-Ex transactions were accepted for years.
The seminar will look at how such practices can arise and for what reasons they are tolerated and even justified, even though the practices contradict the majority's sense of justice and have been classified as illegal in court for some time. Tax havens are a similarly curious phenomenon. Do theories of elites, law, politics, networks, or globalization help explain them? What cultural meanings and narratives can be found about tax practices?
Learning objectives:
Students should learn to develop a current problem with the help of the available empirical material, to place it in a larger context and to analyze it sociologically. They will attempt to formulate theoretical explanations or critically apply existing theories to the case. They will also learn interdisciplinary work, as material from economics and law will also be consulted for the seminar.
Didactic concept:
Within the framework of the block seminar, the participants will first deal with the available material. This includes the interview of the key witness in the Cum-Ex case, statements by professional representatives and those involved in tax consulting on the topic and their clients, excerpts from the parliamentary commission of inquiry, parliamentary debates on the case and media coverage, and an examination of the actors and organizations involved. In a second step, the topic is considered on a more abstract level. What does the case say about elites? What does it say about administration and politics and their need for reform? What are the social roles of advisors to the deals? What discourses, narratives, and cultural meanings are playing out at a deeper level?
Literature:
To get started: https://correctiv.org/top-stories/2021/10/21/cumex-files-2/
More literature we provided at the first preparatory meeting.
Additional examination information:
Type of examination: Homework
Evaluation scheme: RPO (graded)
Scope of the examination
- B.A.-Sociology major (6 LP):
- B.A.-Sociology minor (5 LP):
- B.A.-Sociology major (5 LP):
Deadline for submission of assessed exam performance: end of semester.
Issuance of Graded Examination Performance: Olat submission folder of the seminar.
Other (ungraded) course work to be completed in the course:
- Active participation
- Required readings
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