https://hdl.handle.net/10419/66485 Fri, 23 Oct 2026 00:22:59 GMT 2026-10-23T00:22:59Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/341988 Title: Anti-ökologischer Backlash in der Wirtschaft: Krisenwahrnehmung, Zukunftserwartungen und Antwortstrategien in Energiewirtschaft, verarbeitender Industrie und Lebensmittelbranche Authors: Büchinger, Ricarda; Dreher, Marc; Kungl, Gregor Abstract: In den zurückliegenden Jahren gab es eine Reihe an Entwicklungen, die sich als eine Verlangsamung, teilweise auch Umkehrung ökologisch-nachhaltiger Transformationsprozesse betrachten lassen - etwa der Austritt der USA aus dem Pariser Klimaabkommen. Diese Entwicklungen werden in der akademischen und öffentlichen Debatte als anti-ökologischer Backlash diskutiert. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht auf Basis von 31 qualitativen Interviews mit Entscheidungsträger:innen aus Unternehmen der Energiewirtschaft, Lebensmittelbranche und verarbeitenden Industrie, wie der antiökologische Backlash von Wirtschaftsakteuren wahrgenommen wird, welche Zukunftserwartungen sie damit verbinden und mit welchen unternehmerischen Maßnahmen sie ihm begegnen. Das Ergebnis zeigt, dass der Backlash zwar breit wahrgenommen wird, die damit verbundenen Zukunftserwartungen aber sehr heterogen sind und sich unter anderem zwischen den verschiedenen Branchen unterscheiden. Während einzelne Unternehmen nachhaltigkeitsbezogene Investitionen reduzieren oder pausieren, bleiben die Reaktionen auf den Backlash in den meisten unserer Fälle tentativ und beschränken sich auf eine Anpassung der Außenkommunikation. Aufgrund der Aktualität des Themas bleiben die Ergebnisse jedoch vorläufig und eine weitere begleitende Untersuchung erforderlich. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/341988 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/311219 Title: Artificial intelligence and social action: A techno-sociological contextualization Authors: Schrape, Jan-Felix Abstract: This discussion paper contextualizes contemporary forms of artificial intelligence (AI) within the broader relationship between technology and society, and it compiles essential insights from the sociology of technology for interdisciplinary discourse. The paper begins with a concise overview of the history of artificial intelligence and situates AI within the co-evolution of technology and society. It then presents key perspectives on the interaction and distributed agency between humans and technology, identifying five fundamental levels of agency and relating these levels to the interplay of AI and social action. Throughout these considerations, it becomes evident that the expectations of human-technology interaction, as well as the concepts of intelligent technology, are continually evolving and contingent upon social change. Consequently, the development and diffusion of AI should not be viewed as a primarily technology-driven phenomenon but rather as a genuine socio-technological transformation process. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/311219 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/323955 Title: Application potential and acceptance of automated facial recognition in German retail stores Authors: Seeger, Lukas; Burr, Wolfgang Abstract: The use of automated facial recognition in retail offers a wide range of potential for increasing efficiency, improving service quality and optimising customer targeting. This article, based on an empirical survey of 101 participants, examines factors that determine the acceptance and use of facial recognition technology among retail customers in Germany. However, the results show a strong negative influence of data protection and security issues on the willingness to adopt facial recognition technology among customers of German retailers. This article broadens the understanding of the acceptance and willingness to use digital technologies in public places going hand in hand with problems regarding privacy and security. The results of our study confirm the TAM model and the correlations it contains between the perceived usefulness, the perceived ease of use and the intention to use. The study also confirms the Technology Acceptance Model formulated by Davis in the special context of German retail business. The TAM model is extended in this paper by two new factors, privacy and security as mediators between privacy concerns and intention to use. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/323955 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10419/280954 Title: Industry platforms: A new mode of coordination in the economy Authors: Dolata, Ulrich Abstract: This discussion paper is a plea for an urgently needed shift in perspective: from the concentration of social science research on the ubiquitous platforms of the consumption- and communication-based internet to the investigation of the platform-oriented reorganization of industrial distribution, production and innovation processes, which has so far received far less attention. The paper focuses on two questions. Firstly, what distinguishes industrial platforms from the platforms that characterize the consumption- and- communication-based internet? Can typical peculiarities and overarching characteristics of platform-based forms of work and organization in industry be identified? And secondly, do platforms represent an independent form of organization and coordination of industrial market, production and innovation processes that is substantially different from organized networks? The paper undertakes an empirical mapping and classification of the little explored field of industrial platforms and discusses from a theoretical-conceptual perspective why platforms should be conceived of as a sui generis form of organization whose dominant mode of coordination can be described as rule-based curation. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://hdl.handle.net/10419/280954 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z