Socialization - Fundamental concept or anachronistic metaphor?

The author sketches certain aspects of the historical development of the discourse on socialization as it has manifested itself in West German educational science since the 19705, linking it with the question whether "socialization" should be preserved as a fundamental concept or whether it ought to be rejected as an anachronistic metaphor. The discussion focuses on both the critique voiced by recent social research on childhood and the alternative concept of "self-socialization" The line of reasoning followed by the author is to be read as a plea for the preservation of socialization as a fundamental concept.