On the Significance of Conflict for Development Processes in Regional High-Tech Cluster

Abstract: Various attempts to initiate and further the development of high-tech clusters have been made at regional levels within the European Union. These clusters are supposed to generate economic growth and create employment. Within the context of empirical sociological research, high-tech clusters are seen as regional economic agglomerations where actors from different institutional contexts (economics, politics, science etc) co-operate or step into competition with one another in a specific technological field. 'Competition', just like 'confrontation', is identified as a basic form of conflict. This framework of relevant sociological concepts forms the starting point of this contribution, which will use the example of a regional cluster to deal with three key questions: What is the nature of the forms of conflict found in a developing cluster? Which specific constellations of individuals engaged in conflict can be observed? And, what influence does conflict have on a cluster's development process? The example at hand draws on the long-term empirical research of an economic agglomeration in the field of microsystems technology which started to evolve in Dortmund (Germany).;