"He who cannot lift the stone, has to slide it."

Unknown

Peter Schaefer

PhD student in Sociology and Social Research at the University of Trento/Italy and the University of Paris IV/Sorbonne

Email: contact@peterschaefer.info

PhD work

I am currently working on a my PhD thesis with the title "Economic crises and their interpretations in Continental Europe: a comparative study of elite perceptions of policy options in France, Italy and Germany (1975-2008)". For this comparative work I plan to interview several European politicians and other decidion-makers.

Research interests

I am interested in the transformation of capitalism in general and of the self-perception and action of economic and political elites in particular, taking the effects of different institutional frames or regimes into account.I am furthermore interested in classical sociology, for example in the works of Pareto and Sombart and in interdisciplinary approaches to the social sciences – in particular those who combine historical and sociological accounts. From my diploma thesis work I conserve an interest in rationality in Economics and - more in general – theories of action, such as pragmatism.

Education

After the baccalaureate in Torgau, I studied Economics and Industrial Engineering (Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen) at Dresden University of Technology in Germany and Political Economy (Economia politica) at the University of Trento/Italy. I obtained the double degree with a thesis in Economics "An inquiry on rationality in Economics: Towards the formation of a new paradigm".

Publications

Hopf, R., Voigt, U., Schaefer, P. (2004) „Fallstudien zu Wirkungen des eCommerce für Transportleistungen, Verkehrs- und Logistiksystemänderungen im B2B“, DIW Berlin, Gutachten für das Bundesministerium für Verkehr-, Bau- und Wohnungswesen

Peter Schaefer (2007) "An inquiry on rationality in Economics: Towards the formation of a new paradigm", Diploma thesis, University of Trento.

Conferences

  • August 2008 Konstanzer Meisterklasse "Construction and Boundaries" with Frederik Barth, John Searle and Thomas Luckmann

  • September 2009 CIERA-Seminaire "Comparer" in Moulin d'Ande

Internships

I did several internships for Sekurit Saint Gobain GmbH in Aachen, Köln and Stolberg, as well as for the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) and the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). I also worked as assistent at the latter as well as at the Dresden bureau of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research which is based in Munich.

Languages

German (mother tongue), English (fluent), Italian (fluent), French (upper intermediate), Russian (basic reading and writing)