Der Verein - ein blinder Fleck der Organisationssoziologie

As a local voluntary association the club (Verein) is the most common type of organizations in modern civil societies, but still a neglected subject in organizational sociology. The following article starts with an elaboration of a sociological concept of the club taking into regard its diverging legal definition and its changing semantics over time. This is followed by a rough historical account of its eminent role in the process of the emancipation of the bourgeois class as well as in the first associational attempts of the working class and the women's movements. As a terminological exercise Richard Scott's five structural elements of organizations - social structure, members, technology, goals, environment - are applied for the type of club, before three key examples of local associations - sport club, art association, environmental group - are outlined with empirical data. The following section delineates the historical deviations between club and federation (Verband). Ultimately a contemporary agenda for organizational-sociological research on clubs is outlined.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]