Städtische Identität als kommunikative Konstruktion: Theoretische Überlegungen und empirische Analysen am Beispiel von Dresden

Abstract: The author argues from the viewpoint of the sociology of knowledge: She sees the city as a cultural phenomenon composed of physical and non-physical objectivations. Of course both, the physical and non-physical objectivations, are mutuallydependent. In this article, however, non-physical objectivations of the 'municipal culture' are focussed, especially interpretations that city dwellers have from their city. The 'municipal identity' of city dwellers is a part of the 'municipal culture'. It consists of interpretations from the city to which the city dweller has a relationship. 'Municipal culture' and 'municipal identity' are conceived as a communicative construction. They have arised in history within communicative processes focused on the city as such , and within communicative processes they up to now either get stabilized or transformed. The author outlines the most important theoretical concepts of identity which are discussed in the social sciences, and she presents results from an empirical case study wwhich was done in the city of Dresden with qualitative methods.