LEI_F_12 Cohesion in Crisis: Empirical and Intellectual Diagnoses of Precarious Social Cohesion in Europe since 1945

Objectives/ Research Questions

This project supports the work of RISC by adding a historical dimension and by contributing with self-reflection and self-criticism. It addresses empirical and intellectual diagnoses of crisis in social cohesion that have already existed in Germany, Europe, and the United States since 1945. What were the reasons for this, what arguments were put forward for it, and how were political and social reactions to it? The project examines the specificity or periodic recurrence of such diagnoses by way of example, analysing specific periods of time as well as selected European countries (including the USA). The main hypothesis is that there is a limited set of occasions (migration processes, historical controversies, etc.), discourses (questions of justice, national or social affiliation, etc.), and modes of reaction (identification of “endangered persons”, exclusion and inclusion debates, integrative symbol politics, etc.) to this, which the project will not conclusively but, in a first attempt, try to propose typologies for. In this way, historical references, processes of change in discourse processes, and the cycles of such debates on endangered social cohesion can be reconstructed and compared since 1945 in order to arrive at long-term statements on social cohesion in the crisis. By asking what criteria defined, problematized, or established cohesion, the continuous efforts to achieve a balance between the demands of a society/community and the interests of individuals should become more clearly visible.

Thematic relation to social cohesion

The aim of this project is to introduce a self-reflective dimension within the FGZ (abbreviation for an institution or organization, not specified in the text) by addressing prior crisis debates on precarious societal cohesion, destabilizing social tendencies, the dangers of "populist" temptations, and related issues. Additionally, it seeks to establish a connection between the history of empirically grounded societal analyses and more discursive social condition descriptions, as well as empirically and socially science-based "crisis analyses" in Germany and selected comparative countries. In this regard, it will actively engage in exchange with other Leipzig projects to facilitate a regional comparison. Thus, the approach adopted is both empirically analytical and comparative-contextual.