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_06 - Local Protests and Cohesion in a European Comparison

06/2024 – 05/2029

Protests are a form of political participation that has increasingly become part of everyday political life in Western democratic societies. They can function both as expressions of voice — and thus as signs of lived democracy—and as exit -reactions in the sense of a withdrawal from…

A_07 - Ecological Transformation and Anti-Democratic Crisis Mobilization

06/2024 – 05/2029

Work package A_07 examines positions and practices that delay, prevent, or reverse climate protection measures. Of particular interest are settings in which collective practices of “resistance” to transformative measures take shape. Political majorities opposed to climate policy emerge…

A_08 - Democratic Participation in the World of Work Between Compromise and Conflict

06/2024 – 05/2029

The work package (WP), in cooperation with and complementary to A_06 and A_07, examines the contribution of different forms of civil society participation between voice, exit, and loyalty to democratic cohesion. In doing so, it focuses on collective labor relations as a central pillar of…

A_10 - Social Cohesion in Times of War: The Effects of Military Conflicts on Politicization and Polarization

Research Area A analyzes the relationship between politics and social cohesion, with a particular emphasis on the conflictual dimension of political negotiations. Violent conflicts constitute a particularly relevant field in this regard, as they directly affect people’s sense of security…

B_05 - Experiences of Marginalization and Expectations of Social Cohesion: Sociospatial Perspectives

This work package (WP) examines the cohesion-threatening and cohesion-generating effects of social marginalization, with a particular focus on the tension between political invocations of social cohesion and subjective experiences of economic disadvantage and cultural misrecognition.…

B_07 - Solidarity Practices in Processes of Societal Transformation

While responses to (actual or perceived) marginalization are often characterized by withdrawal or regressive revolt (exit), this work package (WP), situated within Research Focus 2 of Research Area B, centers on solidarity practices within and alongside marginalized milieus. The core…

B_10 - Qualitative Panel: Milieu-Specific Practices of Endangering and Safeguarding Social Cohesion

06/2024 – 05/2029

This work package (WP) has been conducted since June 2020 in close cooperation between the sections Bremen and Göttingen and is being continued in the second funding phase of RISC with the inclusion of the Hamburg section. Building on international research on political polarization and…

C_01 - Social Cohesion as a Local Question of Power

06/2024 – 05/2029

The aim of this work package (WP) is to examine social cohesion as an expression of local power relations. These power relations manifest themselves in the form and design of public goods and infrastructures and are shaped in particular by the capacity of individual local actors to assert…

C_02 - Social Infrastructures in the Neighborhood Nexus: Perceptions and Practices of Social Cohesion in Urban Space

06/2024 - 05/2029

This work package (WP) examines how social infrastructures influence social cohesion in neighborhoods and how differing state and municipal frameworks for infrastructure provision affect cohesion at the local level. Through an international comparison between the city of Hanover and the…

C_03 - Cooperative Reconfigurations of Infrastructure as a Societal and Legal Development

06/2024 – 05/2029

Against the backdrop of the infrastructural challenges identified in Research Area C, this work package (WP), situated within Research Focus 2, examines practices of infrastructure self-organization (voice) and investigates citizens’ willingness to participate in the improvement or even…

C_07 - Social Cohesion in the Europe-Wide Energy Transition

By examining public participation procedures as institutionalized options of voice , this work package (WP) makes an important contribution to RISC’s overarching research question concerning social cohesion in democracies. The focus lies on social cohesion in cross-border regions in the…

C_08 - Regional Panel

06/2024 – 05/2029

This work package (WP) continues the quantitative Regional Panel (RP) in the twelve study locations from the first funding phase. As a repeated survey, it enables causal analyses of changes in local social cohesion within a regionally contextualized multilevel design and serves as the…

D_06 - Transformation of the Societal Order of Deliberation

06/2024 – 05/2029

The aim of this work package (WP) is to contribute theoretical and conceptual groundwork that helps address the guiding questions of Research Area D concerning the foundations and conditions of societal debates over knowledge, values, and identities. Using the concept of a “deliberative…

D_07 - Prototypes of Social Cohesion

Digital platforms and social media are typically perceived as problematic when it comes to questions of social cohesion. Facebook, X/Twitter, and TikTok are associated with radicalization and hate speech and are therefore considered a threat; platforms such as Airbnb, Deliveroo, and Uber…

D_08 - Representation in Public Space: Inclusive and Diversity-Oriented Memory Culture in Museums

06/2024-05/2029

This work package (WP) explores the cultural dynamics of hegemony and counter-hegemonic practices by examining struggles over the representation of marginalized queer biographies within the museum as a site of memory culture. It investigates the reciprocal relationship between…

D_09 - Allyship: Solidary Engagement, Identity, and Social Cohesion

06/2024 – 05/2029

Democratic societies are characterized by ongoing processes of negotiation over interpretive authority, normative frameworks, identities, and participation, which require continual reconfigurations of collective action. As a specific practice of such action, this work package (WP) offers…