Comparative biographical case studies in a processual perspective

This paper is meant to discuss our methodological principles and approach in comparative biographical case studies. We will point out the need to discover theory by means of open methods of data collection and data interpretation, using the example of family and life histories of ethnic Germans in and from Ukraine. By locating the cases in their social-historical context, in an intergenerational perspective, and in the reconstruction of the family history, we try to fulfill the demands of a socio-historical and figurational analysis and to avoid an ‚individualizing’ approach. It is our aim to overcome an ahistorical perspective, thus we embed biographies into the context of social history, particularly long-term processes of collective and socio-structural transformations and shifting balances of power. The case level of family histories and a timeframe oriented towards several generations — as opposed to a case level of separate life stories of individuals — enables us to reconstruct processes of development and changes in social phenomena over the longue durée and to analyze the family history as it is interrelated to the histories of larger groupings or collectivities. By conducting contrastive comparisons, theoretical sampling, and by taking into account various sources of data we intend to discover the subdued voices of the outsiders and the diversity of cases. Our empirical data show the difficulties to trace these voices which are excluded in the discourses of the we-grouping of ethnic Germans. Against this backdrop it is even more important to include them into the sampling in order to reflect the complexity of historical developments and to explain the relational qualities of established-outsider figurations in the present.