Private life, profession, mandate – the social and cultural foundations of parliamentary representation (1871-1918)

自2021年1月起，研究项目“私人生活、职业、议会代表的社会和文化基础（1871-1918）”一直致力于研究德意志帝国的政治和政治职业化。特别注重议会任务的履行及其从志愿活动向全时工作的过渡，而不是议会的运作。该项目审查了议员及其在工作、家庭和政治活动交叉点上的日常生活。分析的主要来源是来自德国国会和普鲁士众议院105名成员的“私人”信件和日记。研究结果将以印刷版和数字版的形式出版。该研究项目调查了大众政治化初期的议员生活状况。它提供了对时间和资源管理的见解，以及任务负责人在议会所在地、选区和家中的日常做法和生活方式。私人交流还可以使人们深入了解行为者对其社会角色的理解以及关于现代“职业政治家”新形象的社会话语。项目组的研究表明，有必要将最初的研究设计扩展到性别问题，以彻底说明1871年至1914年之间政治职业化的过程。扩大这一视角的重点是将妇女纳入议员的政治生活。这尤其适用于议员妻子的作用，她们是政治专业化进程的一个组成部分，是议会授权、家庭收入来源和家庭生活之间的代理人和“交叉点”。家庭的私人生活和社会生活与丈夫的政治授权之间日益纠缠，这为妇女提供了“非正式”参与政治的机会，这在一定程度上被用来维护自己的代理权。为了继续进行已经进行的研究，将继续并完成对24名议员妻子的“私人信件”和日记的更详细调查。在收集这些资料的基础上，该研究项目调查了政治“专业化”期间女性参与“男性主义”的情况。

Since January 2021, the research project "Private life, profession, mandate the social and cultural foundations of parliamentary representation (1871-1918)" has been addressing the professionalization of parliamentarianism and politics in the German Empire. Particular focus is placed on the exercise of the parliamentary mandate and its transition from voluntary activity to full time occupation, rather than on parliamentary operations. The project examines the parliamentarians and their daily life at the intersection of work, family and political activities. Main source for analysis are "private" correspondences and diaries from 105 members of the German Reichstag and the Prussian House of Representatives. The research results will be published in a printed book and a digital edition. The research project investigates the parliamentarians’ living conditions in the phase of the beginning mass politicization. It offers insights into the management of time an d resources, into the everyday practices and lifestyles of the mandate holders at the parliamentary seat, in the constituency and at home. Private communication can also provide insights into the actors’ understanding of their social roles and the societal discourse on the emerging profile of the modern "career politician". The research of the project group has shown that an extension of the initial research design with gender specific questions is necessary to thoroughly illustrate the process of the professionalization of politics between 1871 and 1914. The broadening of this perspective focuses on the integration of women into the political lifeworld of parliamentarians. This applies in particular to the role of the wives of MPs, who were an integral part of the professionalization process of politics as agents and »intersections« between the parliamentary mandate, the domestic source of income and family life. The increasing entanglements between the private and social life of the family and the political mandate of the husband provided women with »informal« access to politics, which was partly used to assert own agencies. In continuation of the research already conducted, more detailed investigations of the "private correspondence" and diaries of 24 wives of parliamentarians will be continued and completed. On the basis of this collection of sources, the research project investigates female participation in »male« parliamentarianism during the "professionalization" of politics.