In January 1, 2005, the Research Group “Civil Society, Citizenship, and Political Mobilization in Europe” (CCM) was established; resulting from the merging of the two groups “Civil Society: Historical and Comparative Perspectives” and “Political Communication and Mobilization”. It is an integral part of the Research Area “Civil Society, Conflict and Democracy” (ZKD).


Research Programme:

How do civil society’s institutional framework, values, and actors develop and change? And how is this connected to various forms of inequality? The problem of inequality, as expressed in struggles for recognition, is posed against the background of ambivalent concepts of civil society. Empirically, the quality of civil society can be assessed through analyzing how actively, and with respect to which values, citizens participate in matters that concern their com-munity. Accordingly, prerequisites and repercussions of public discourse and political mobilization regarding inequality are the basis of the research group’s investigation. Europe and the processes of Europeanization will serve as the regional and thematic reference point in our research; aspects of globalization will also be investigated.
The research group will deal primarily with two policy-relevant areas of inequality: (1) legal and political aspects of citizenship and (2) social inequality. The group aims to integrate historical and systematic social science research both methodologically and thematically, in accordance with the motto “history meets sociology” (Charles Tilly). In so doing, the underlying structural and actor-oriented perspectives will be regarded as complementary and closely related.


1. Citizenship


“Citizenship” is examined as a legal-institutional prerequisite of civil society within the European sphere and the process of Europeanization. The analysis of citizenship incorporates the “older” issue of building a collective identity, as exemplified by the emergence of states and nations and the attempt to set boundaries between them. The analysis will also consider “newer” issues specifically pertaining to transnationalization, i.e., the impact of civil rights beyond state and national borders. What is the role and purpose of European citizenship against the backdrop of multiple and diverging concepts of identity? What is the meaning of “citizenship” in the context of European and trans-European processes of Europeanization? In addition to evaluating the trends of rapprochement in Europe, the research group will evaluate opposing tendencies, such as time lag, and retrogression.


2. Social inequality


Since the introduction of the modern social welfare state, the “social question” of the 19th century was widely considered to be resolved. However, the social question has resurfaced during recent decades because of the partial dismantling of the welfare state, the expansion of neo-liberalism, or high levels of structural unemployment. Various forms of inequality have again become an issue rife with conflict in modern societies: Existing lines of conflict are being redrawn, shifts are occurring within political party systems, election and protest behavior. Our research will deal with the following questions: What dimensions of social inequality come to the fore in various phases of public debate or public policy? What are the predominant world views which underlie the justification or rejection of social inequality?