Marienthal: Sociografie komunity nezaměstnaných – group of authors (2013)

Unemployment is an urgent problem of our time. It has social, economic, psychological, and health consequences. The book presents the first major research on this topic. It belongs to the classic modern social scientific analysis, and methodologically and substantively, it has exemplary significance for today's research on unemployment. The field research utilized both qualitative and quantitative methods to capture the complex ways of experiencing job loss among workers in the village of Marienthal, near Vienna. The method of participant observation used is one of the most significant methods in ethnography. The study provides a comprehensive description of the psychosocial consequences of long-term unemployment for affected families and for the entire village community in Marienthal. The study known as 'Marienthal' has become 'classic' reading for generations of sociology students, and it is referenced by both experts dealing with unemployment issues and sociologists studying family, as well as advocates of measurement in sociology who favor qualitative research methods. The extent of this book's influence on the Austrian context is evidenced by overview studies on unemployment showing that Austria has one of the lowest unemployment rates (4%).