On Multifaceted Commonality. Theories of Social Pedagogy in Germany

This paper makes an attempt to interpret the German debate on social pedagogy as a multifaceted perspective that nonetheless shows a striking commonality. To exemplify this, we intentionally focus on dominant theories of social pedagogy in Germany, which declaredly aim to directly answer the question of what social pedagogy is. However, to contribute to a clearer understanding of social pedagogy as a theoretical phenomenon, it is not sufficient to only describe these theories and the various ideas of social pedagogy they generate. Instead, it is essential to deconstruct how exactly these theories objectify their numerous assumptions on social pedagogy. We will therefore argue that it is worthwhile to focus not too narrowly on what dominant theories of social pedagogy in Germany objectify as social pedagogy. Instead, we suggest a careful analysis of how social pedagogy is commonly being objectified. Our hypothesis is that prominent theories of social pedagogy in Germany reify social pedagogy by using a distinct ontological mode of objectification. This mode we see as a common structure, regardless of the different objects of social pedagogy that the respective approaches end up with. Beyond mere critique, we intend to also explain this mode at the end of our paper, and raise the question whether it might point to a broader concept of how theories of social pedagogy and social work are usually being generated in Germany and beyond.