Professor Dr Jürgen Kocka

Research Priorities: German and European history since the 18th century, the history of economic endeavours, of industrialisation, of workers and labour, of the European Bourgeoisie and of capitalism, historiographical comparatistics, and problems in the theory of historiography
Jürgen Kocka is a German social historian. As one of the most influential contemporary scientists he is concerned with, amongst other things, the history of capitalism. Here, he considers both its social and economic achievements as well as its crises and contradictions. He not only investigates economic proceses but also changes in working conditions and liveworlds. Furthermore, he studies the development of social classes, stratas, and groups.
Jürgen Kocka considerably shaped German historiography since the 1970s. He helped a novel, society-centered view on history to break through. As one of the co-founders of the so-called Bielefeld School, he established historical social studies as an alternative to traditional historiography. His global approach to research delivered new impulses to the field of comparative historiography.