Bernd Wurpts, PhD
CV
Bernd Wurpts studied from 2004 to 2010 at the University of Leipzig in the Master's program (Magister artium) sociology as major subject together with psychology and communication and media studies (KMW) as minors. During his graduate studies, he spent an academic year at the University of Arizona, Tucson (USA), with Fulbright travel grant. Back in Leipzig, Bernd started his master's thesis, which he wrote in English on social networks and social capital in the search for dentists. The Institute of German Dentists (IDZ) published a shortened version in German language in 2011. Broad coverage in the dental press followed together with an invited smaller article. In the same year, 2011, Bernd started a Ph.D. Program in Sociology at the University of Washington, Seattle (USA), for further qualification. In Seattle, Bernd wrote his comprehensive exam in the subfield economic sociology. Methodically, he worked with modern computer programs such as R to analyze various types of data and expanded his range of quantitative methods - among others - to modern methods of social network analysis.
In his dissertation, Bernd focused on the historical subject of the medieval Hansa (alternately known as Hanse or Hanseatic League). He studied the Hanse case in detail, collected primary data from historical sources and digitized them for modern data analysis. In August 2018, he defended his dissertation titled "Networks into Institutions or Institutions into Networks? Evidence from the Medieval Hansa". A dissertation abstract is located at Bernd Wurpts Dissertation Abstract. A first article that comes out of this dissertation appeared in the journal Social Science History in spring 2018. Since September 2018, Bernd has been working as Oberassistent (postdoc) in the Department of Sociology at the University of Lucerne.
Research
Research Interests
- Comparative Historical Sociology
- Economic Sociology
- Organizations
- Social Networks
- Theory
Publications
- Wurpts, B., Corcoran, K. E., & Pfaff, S. (2018). The Diffusion of Protestantism in Northern Europe: Historical Embeddedness and Complex Contagions in the Adoption of the Reformation. Social Science History, 42 (02), 213–244. https://doi.org/10.1017/ssh.2017.49
- Wurpts, B. (2011). Soziale Netwerke und soziales Kapital bei der Zahnarztsuche: Social Networks and Social Capital in the Search for a Dentist. IDZ Information / Online-Journal: Zahnmedizin, Forschung und Versorgung, (3).
Achievements
- From Plague to Politics: Local Institutions, Will Making Networks, and the Emergence of the Medieval Hansa. Lecture, 41. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie mit dem Thema "Polarisierte Welten", Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie / Sektion Netzwerkforschung, Bielefeld, 2022
- Tech-giants and transnational governance: Did the global rise of technology companies have an impact on the formation of data realms? (Panel) contribution, Markets and power in the digital age, Economic sociology section, Swiss sociological assocation (Balsiger, Philip; Nollert, Michael), Neuchâtel, 2021
- Tech-Giganten und transnationale Governance: Hat der globale Aufstieg von Technologieunternehmen die Formation von digitalen Datengebieten beeinflusst? (Panel) contribution, Frühjahrstagung der DGS-Sektion Soziologische Netzwerkforschung, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Wupptertal / Zoom (digital), 2021
- Toward a relational perspective of social persistence: Revisiting Georg Simmel's legacy and potential for the study of collective stability. (Panel) contribution, Content Meets Structure – Integrating Different Perspectives on Social Networks, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Heidelberg, 2020
- Der Wert der Netzwerkanalyse in der Historischen Soziologie: Wirtschaftliche und soziale Beziehungen im mittelalterlichen Lübeck. (Panel) contribution, Warum Netzwerkforschung?, Schader-Stiftung und Deutsche Gesellschaft für Netzwerkforschung (DGNet), Darmstadt, 2020
- Trade Specialization and the Rise of Merchant Capitalism in Northern Europe: A Social Network Analysis of Baltic and North Sea Trade during the Late Middle Ages. (Panel) contribution, BALTIC CONNECTIONS: Conference in Social Science History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 2019
- Zur Dualität der Spezialisierung im Handel: Affiliationsnetzwerke bei den Anfängen des Kapitalismus in Nordeuropa. (Panel) contribution, Frühjahrstagung der DGS - Sektion „Soziologische Netzwerk forschung“, GESIS – Leibniz - Institut für Sozialwissenschaften (Ellwardt, Lea; Gamper, Markus; Lietz, Haiko), Köln, 2019
- Brokering across markets not persons: Trade specialization and reciprocal exchange in the development of the modern economy. (Panel) contribution, Deutscher Kongress für Geographie 2019, Universität Kiel, Geographisches Institut; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geographie DGfG, Kiel, 2019
- Network Coping and Institutional Emergence: The Black Death and the Emergence of the Medieval Hansa, 1358. (Panel) contribution, ASREC 2018, ASREC, Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture, Orange, California, 2018
- TOWARD A RELATIONAL SOCIOLOGY OF SOCIAL PERSISTENCE: REVISITING GEORG SIMMEL’S LEGACY AND POTENTIAL FOR THE STUDY OF COLLECTIVE STABILITY. Eigenes Manuskript vorab eingereicht, im Workshop kurz vorgestellt, danach besprochen, Zur Soziologie der Gruppe: Acht Kurz-Workshops über Zoom an der Universität Bielefeld (2. Workshop – Gruppen und Netzwerke), Prof. Kühl, Stefan (Universität Bielefeld), Bielefeld/Zoom, 2021
- Brokering across markets not persons: Network organizations, trade specialization and reciprocal exchange in the development of the modern economy. Presentation, How to Analyze Large-Scale Network Structures? The “Boundary Specification Problem” Revisited, Mannheimer Zentrum für Europäische Sozialforschung (MZES), Akademie für Soziologie, Mannheim, 2019
- Brokering Across Markets Not Persons: Trade Specialization and Reciprocal Exchange in the Development of the Modern Economy. Kolloquium zur Sozialtheorie, Leipzig/Zoom, 2021
- “Brokering” über Märkte, nicht Personen: Spezialisierung und Reziprozität im Handel bei der Entwicklung der Modernen Wirtschaft. Forschungskolloquium Soziologie, Luzern, 2019
- Trade Specialization and the Rise of Merchant Capitalism in Northern Europe: A Social Network Analysis of Baltic and North Sea Trade during the Late Middle Ages. Vortrag auf Einladung, Zürich, 2018