Historical Study on Urban Governance of Unemployment Problem: Germany during the Great Depression

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K03832
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Economic history
• Research Institution: Hitotsubashi University
• Principal Investigator: Mori Takahito 一橋大学, 大学院経済学研究科, 准教授 (10401671)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 社会国家 / 世界恐慌 / 失業者救済 / 雇用創出 / ドイツ都市会議 / ハンブルク

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project explores from the perspective of Urban Governance the changing schemes of the unemployment relief, in order to clarify the conditions of the German city during the Great Depression. Urban governance is defined here as a social order of urban space created by the interactions of various actors inside and outside of the city. The project analyses, on the one hand, the conflict between the central government and the Association of German Cities accelerated by the governmental ordinance issued in July 1932, which collapsed institutionally the unemployment insurance, and, on the other hand, the municipal policy for creating the employment through focusing on the case of Hamburg. The analysis leads us to conclude that the municipality considered it as its essential social task to relief the Wohlfahrtserwerbslose (the unemployed on the municipal welfare support) who were racial-hygienically labeled as "inferior" and discriminated against by the ability and willingness to work.

Free Research Field

近現代西洋経済史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

世界恐慌期ドイツの失業者救済体制については社会政策史の分厚い研究蓄積があり、失業保険の「破綻」は労働者の社会権ではなく市場整合的な保険制度の温存が重視された帰結であるという見解が少なからぬ研究者の間で共有されている。だが、ほとんどの研究は国政レベルの動向に焦点を絞っているため都市レベルでの分析を欠いている。本研究では最も失業問題が先鋭化した都市に焦点を当てることにより、失業者救済にかかわる諸アクターの相互関係と、いかなる点に失業者救済の社会性が見いだされていたのかを解明した。