BIE_F_01 Cohesion and Conflict: Scientific Coordination and Consolidation

Objective / Research Questions

This project’s task is the scientific coordination as well as the consolidation, integration, and support of all the research projects at the Bielefeld section. The common point of reference for all projects is the connection between the overarching concept of social cohesion and the Bielefeld focus on conflict. On the one hand, destructive cohesion, produced by ideologies of devaluation or the exclusion of others, can lead to conflict. On the other hand, constructive cohesion, learned in the parental home or experienced and practised on the level of neighbourhoods, can help avoid conflict. On the societal level, there are connections between cohesion and conflict, which may manifest in what individuals collectively protest in favour of or against. To ensure that the projects at the Bielefeld section can be integrated, the scientific coordination not only is involved in all projects in decisive phases but also enables and ensures networking across sections where possible and appropriate.

Thematic reference to social cohesion

In addition to the structure-building objective, this scientific coordination project also works on content and topics. More concretely, work packages include a more detailed theoretical elaboration of the terms, constructs, and measurement of cohesion, which will begin in the preliminary phase to facilitate the start of the projects (work package 1). In the first funding phase, work packages are structured along the projects at the Bielefeld section and address cohesion and conflict in socialization instances, such as schools and families (work package 2), in social space (work package 3), and in cultural practices (work package 4). In this way, a holistic concept of social cohesion will be developed, the added value of which will not be limited to the Bielefeld section.