A_01 - Democratic Cohesion Between Inclusion and Exclusion: Theoretical Foundations, Legal Constitution, and Political Dynamics

06/2024 – 05/2029

A distinctive feature of RISC’s research program is its differentiation between a general, non-normatively defined concept of cohesion and more specific conceptions. This allows for a more precise theoretical and empirical analysis of such conceptions, particularly with regard to their…

A_02 - Trust in Democracy, Populism, and Voting Behavior in Times of Transformation

06/2024-05/2029

The aim of this work package (WP) is to determine, through analytical and empirical methods, the effects of social cohesion on trust in the institutions of a pluralistic and liberal democracy under conditions of crisis. Of particular interest is the question of how the effects of…

A_03 - Polarization and Political Legitimacy

06/2024 – 05/2029

By addressing the relationship between polarization and political legitimacy, this work package (WP) subjects the widespread thesis that tendencies toward polarization inevitably endanger the legitimacy of political institutions to critical scrutiny. Its aim is to specify more precisely…

A_04 - Policies of Social Cohesion in Africa: Entangled Governance in Post-Trauma Societies and the Role of International Organizations

06/2024 – 05/2029

As part of the focus area on cohesion policies and the conditions of political legitimacy, this work package (WP) empirically examines top-down and bottom-up governance strategies and practices for producing social cohesion in Ethiopia, Rwanda, and South Africa. In all three countries,…

A_05 - Social Cohesion in China – Traditions and New Challenges

The Communist Party of China (CPC) claims that one of its greatest achievements lies in securing social cohesion within the Chinese nation of 1.4 billion people. Not infrequently, the concept of democracy is invoked in the same breath, even though, from an external perspective and…

B_03 - Family Inequalities and the Evaluation of Social Justice

This work package (WP) addresses evaluations of fundamental status and distributional orders—such as the principles of equality, need, merit, and entitlement—and thereby contributes to the first guiding question of Research Area B concerning cohesion among unequal groups, for which the…

B_09 - Intergroup Conflicts and Symbolic Boundary-Drawing Practices in Digital Social Networks

This work package (WP) builds on research on so-called “perceived polarization” and on the implicit assumption that diagnoses of societal division must always be understood as mediated by communication and perception. Unlike survey-based studies and group discussions on perceived…

D_01 - Culture Wars and Criticism of Moralism: Struggles over Values and Identities

06/2024 – 05/2029

This work package (WP) examines meaning structures and historical developments of conflicts over values, identities, and knowledge regimes in Germany and the transatlantic context, focusing on culture wars surrounding morality and the struggle against discrimination and oppression. It…