The projects at the Bielefeld site of the Research Institute for Societal Cohesion focus on conflict dynamics that strengthen or weaken societal cohesion.

The projects at the Bielefeld site therefore investigate conflict dynamics in different areas of life such as family, the education system, care and health sector and contexts ranging from the dyadic and regional to the national. Just as conflicts can be constructive or destructive, we believe that cohesion has two sides. In our projects we therefore distinguish between constructive and destructive cohesion. Cohesion can weaken inner-societal peace if it is understood in an exclusive sense, as is the case with ideologies of inequality, group-focused enmity, right-wing populism and hate crime. At the same time, constructive cohesion can strengthen societies, for example through the inclusion of socially marginalised groups in areas of life and institutions such as schools and health care as well as institutions of political participation. Another focus is on how such conflicts, which manifest at the micro level as attitudes, affects or behaviour, are framed by structural conditions at the meso and macro levels or, in turn, have an impact on them. 

Many Years of Expertise

The Bielefeld site draws on many years of experience in interdisciplinary research into the dynamics of conflict and violence, including long-term studies on exclusion and inclusion processes. The Bielefeld research group's interdisciplinary expertise lies in the areas of conflict and violence research, longitudinal research and the monitoring of devaluation processes, prevention and intervention in childhood and adolescence, sociology of conflict, movement and protest research, epidemiology and public health, and inclusion research. In addition, the Bielefeld research team is experienced in communicating innovative and practice-oriented research to the public. Finally, a methodological focus of our work is to make cohesion observable and measurable through empirical studies, particularly through suitable monitoring instruments in qualitative and quantitative surveys.

Research Projects

All research projects at the Bielefeld site can be found here.