In Cornell I had the necessary quiet time to start the long and slow process of rewriting my German dissertation sections in English and to get my theory straight. Special thanks go to Jürgen Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik who convinced me in a very early stage of my dissertation to analyze detailed 4-digit occupations instead of occupational groupings as well as to Samuel Greef and Wolfgang Schroeder who allowed me to use parts of their exceptional survey data on occupational associations and occupation-specific trade unions. I am very grateful to the team of the research data center of the Federal Statistical Office and the statistical offices of the Länder. They were helpful, friendly, and were almost always able to speed up processes so that I got my results in time and was able to meet my deadlines. 2 I would also like to thank