HAN_F_02 Spaces of Encounter and Cohesion: A Comparative Study in Halle and Hannover

Objective/Question

How is social cohesion constituted in encounters and in which spaces?

What are the preconditions for and consequences of divided/cohesive social cohesion in these specific actor-space constellations, and how do these constellations vary between East and West Germany?

Encounters and cohesion are spatially located and constitute situational places (Dirksmeier et al. 2014: 299). Encounters take place in the context of increasing diversity (Vertovec 2007: 1027) and plural affiliations (ethnicity, milieu, religious and sexual orientation, etc.) in a modern world society. For this reason, the occurrence of experiences of foreignness and conflict is likely to occur. It is therefore necessary to investigate how encounters (cognitive, affective, and behavioural) are experienced and lived and what patterns of interpretation, expectations, and action practices lie behind these constructions of cohesion. It is open how negotiation processes of situational stratification (Collins 2000: 31) take place in spatially different places of encounter, as well as which attitudes and behaviour patterns take effect in certain spaces (participation in the regional panel), differ from one another, and lead to constructive or destructive interactions or attitudes of indifference. In this context, we are interested in which variables (constellations) have an inhibiting and promoting effect on social cohesion and vice versa.

The aim of the research project is to empirically investigate patterns of social cohesion in different spatial settings – i.e. different places of encounter in urban neighbourhoods (in cooperation with HAN_F_01) – in the comparison of an East and a West German city using the example of Halle and Hanover in order to highlight differences and local specifics of the patterns of social cohesion.

Thematic Reference to Social Cohesion

Social cohesion takes place at different times and places. The East-West comparison integrates the framework-giving aspects of cohesion into the analysis of encounters. The project therefore compares different localized places of encounter, such as youth homes, neighbourhood meetings, sports clubs, or parks in Halle (Saale) and Hanover (in cooperation with HAN_F_01) and deals with encounters as a basic category of society and social cohesion (Collins 2000: 31; Dirksmeier et al. 2014: 299, 308 f.; Dirksmeier / Helbrecht 2015: 488, 493 f.). Because social cohesion is a multidimensional and gradual phenomenon (Schiefer / van der Noll 2017: 595), interactions between members of society, their shared values and norms, and social and spatial affiliations and ties need to be examined on a situational basis. The different cultural affiliations (Vertovec 2007: 1027, 1046) of those who encounter have different constellations that need to be examined in terms of social cohesion in and through encounters (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2019). According to our thesis, these constellations can sometimes vary between East and West German cities

The research project investigates how social cohesion is constituted spatially in encounters, focusing on individual and collective attitudes towards oneself and others (via a regional panel), modes of individual and collective actions and practices (via a qualitative ethnographic survey), social relationships and networks in their type, intensity and scope (in and through landscapes of encounter), and institutional contexts of cooperation and integration (public and non-public cooperation partners of the project and their political culture and media presence).

Bertelsmann Stiftung 2019: Städte leben Vielfalt. Fallstudien zum sozialen Zusammenhalt, Gütersloh.

Collins, Randall 2000: Situational Stratification: A MicroMacro Theory of Inequality, in: Sociological Theory 18:1, 17-43.

Dirksmeier, Peter; Helbrecht, Ilse 2015: Everyday urban encounters as stratification practices: analysing affects in micro-situations of power struggles, in: City 19:4, 486-498.

Dirksmeier, Peter; Helbrecht, Ilse; Mackrodt, Ulrike 2014: Situational places: rethinking geographies of intercultural interaction in super-diverse urban space, in: Geografiska Annaler B: Human Geography 96:4, 299-312.

Schiefer, David; van der Noll, Jolanda 2017: The Essentials of Social Cohesion: A Literature Review, in: Social Indicators Research 132:2, 579-603.

Vertovec, Steven 2007: Super-Diversity and Its Implications, in: Ethnic and Racial Studies 30:6, 1024-1054.