Gestaltungsmacht

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Gestaltungsmacht
English translation:power of self-determination, decision-making power
Entered by: bfrankbri

20:05 Sep 10, 2006
This question was closed without grading. Reason: Answer found elsewhere

German to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc. / gender, violence, the workplace
German term or phrase: Gestaltungsmacht
Literally, Gestaltungsmacht means here something like the 'power of self/co-determination'. I've seen 'shaping power' used (and the author--who is German--proposed it but is unsatisfied with it. I thought about just leaving it in German but it comes up too often in the text.
Here's 3 sections where it comes up:

Anyway, one can adhere to the statement that insecurity and unemployment promote the emergence or perpetuation of situations where violence is likely to occur; and this may be true not only for individuals unemployed and those in precarious occupations, but also for those in relatively secure positions who do not want to lose them and thus get vulnerable for violations (Zapf 1999: 22). In this respect, another dimension of power – not identical with, although including the dimension of hierarchical positions – should be taken into account: the opportunity of being able to arrange one’s own life and its conditions in accordance with one’s needs, including economic and social security. This may be called Gestaltungsmacht.

Negotiation and coherence
An interesting finding cited by Di Martino et al. (2003: 19) says that “people who had neither been bullied nor had observed bullying taken place reported that disagreements at their work place tended to be solved by negotiation”. The ability of solving conflicts and problems by negotiation can indeed be regarded as a sine qua non for having Gestaltungsmacht.

In this respect, it would be interesting to investigate whether the “participation” of staff in structural changes without giving them real Gestaltungsmacht may produce self conflicts and thus even higher levels of frustration – and thus a fertile ground for the emergence of violence – in staff members than simply authoritarian procedures.
bfrankbri


Summary of answers provided
3the power to shape one's own life
Andrea Black


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


44 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
the power to shape one's own life


Explanation:
just as a suggestion.

I noticed some other things, though, that I'd like to correct if I may:
1st paragraph:
Anyway, one can adhere [what is the German word here? Should this be "agree with"?] to the statement that insecurity and unemployment promote the emergence or perpetuation of situations where violence is likely to occur; and this may be true not only for individuals unemployed [unemployed individuals] and those in precarious occupations [whose jobs are at risk], but also for those in relatively secure positions who do not want to lose them and thus get vulnerable for violations [to violence] (Zapf 1999: 22). In this respect, another dimension of power – not identical with, although including the dimension of hierarchical positions – should be taken into account: the opportunity of being able to arrange one’s own life and its conditions in accordance with one’s needs, including economic and social security. This may be called Gestaltungsmacht [the power to shape one's own life].
2nd paragraph
An interesting finding cited by Di Martino et al. (2003: 19) says [states]...
3rd paragraph
In this respect, it would be interesting to investigate whether the “participation” of staff in structural changes without [being given] giving them real Gestaltungsmacht may produce self conflicts [personal conflicts] and thus even higher levels of frustration – and thus [therefore; you just used thus in the previoius line] a fertile ground for the emergence of violence [for violence to emerge] – in staff members than simply [adjective: simple/mere] authoritarian procedures.

Hope this helps.







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Note added at 1 hr (2006-09-10 21:19:04 GMT)
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Sorry, didn't mean to step on your toes. I could tell it was done by a German but I didn't look at your profile.
Thanks for the added explanation of the term.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2006-09-10 22:33:25 GMT)
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http://www.arbeitsmarkt.wiso.uni-erlangen.de/pdf/Diskussions...

Here, it is reworded... Maybe it'll give you an idea. Good luck.

Andrea Black
United States
Local time: 17:32
Native speaker of: German
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