THE REFUSAL OF EQUIVALENCE - ON THE REPRODUCTION OF CULTURAL EAST-WEST-DIFFERENCES IN THE SCIENTIFIC FIELD

This study examines whether the perception of cultural differences bet ween East and West Germans does structure the social orientation in th e scientific field. It is claimed that cultural bound-checking and dif ferentiation of social status are narrowly intertwined and refer to ea ch other. The problem, which is the reference point of our analysis, d oes not only consist in the statement of a difference bur in its valua tion, which is constituted as an asymmetric relation. Thus the East-We st-relation can be described as an ''expert-layman-configuration'' wit h a characteristic discrepancy in social status. The claim, the recogn ition and the refusal of equivalence are described by comparison of th ree groups of scientists: East German and West German scientists worki ng at the Humboldt University Berlin or at the Fachhochschule Neubrand enburg and former members of the Academy of Science of the GDR, then p articipating in an integration program. The data base consists of non- representative interviews conducted in two waves in 1995 and 1996. The results confirm the importance of an East or West German background n ot only in political and social culture but also in the scientific sys tem with regard to the ascription/assignment of status and career oppo rtunities, which will disappear as soon as the biographies of East and West Germans will not be distinguishable.