Dr. Clara van den Berg
Clara van den Berg is a researcher at the Center for Civil Society Research at WZB Berlin and Free University of Berlin. Her research focuses on civil society, democracy, and polarization. In November 2024, she defended her PhD dissertation, which explored the long-term impacts of the 2015 pro-refugee mobilization organizational community building and networks. Currently, she is part of the Einstein Stiftung Berlin project, Coping with Affective Polarization, where she examines how civil society organizations navigate polarization in public discourse. Her methodological approach combines interviews, digital ethnography, and qualitative network analysis, including a strong emphasis on social media analysis.
In the fall of 2022, Clara completed a research fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley. Before pursuing her Ph.D., she studied International Relations and Political Science at Humboldt University of Berlin, Free University of Berlin, and University of Potsdam. During her studies, Clara spent time abroad at Duke University, Stockholm University, and at a women's rights organization in Israel.
Coping with Affective Polarization
Selected Publications
van den Berg, Clara, Elias Steinhilper and Moritz Sommer (2025) "Against the Odds: On the Arduous Production of Linking Social Capital in Local Refugee Reception", Administration&Society, 57(3), p.339-367 (https://doi.org/10.1177/00953997251314509).
van den Berg, Clara and Swen Hutter (in press) "How Local Brokers Keep Interaction Going: Pro-Refugee Communities after Heightened Mobilization", Mobilization: an International Quarterly.
van den Berg, Clara (in press). Civic Refugee Support. The Shifting Landscape of Pro-Refugee Communities in Germany After 2015. transcript Verlag.
van den Berg, Clara (2023): "Zusammenwachsen. Das Engagement für Geflüchtete stärkt auch die aufnehmende Gesellschaft". In: WZB Mitteilungen (Online), https://wzb.eu/de/artikel/zusammenwachsen (27.12.2023).
Wagner, Theresa, Clara van den Berg, Marina Sedding, Elias Steinhilper, Swen Hutter, Helen Schwenken, and Sabrina Zajak (2023) “Engagement Für Geflüchtete: Was Bleibt von 2015?” bpb-dossier: https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/kurzdossiers/520529/eng….
van den Berg, Clara, Edgar Grande and Swen Hutter (2021) “Was wird aus dem harten Kern? Auswirkungen der Corona-Krise auf das Engagement für Geflüchtete”. In: Grande, B., Grande, E. und Hahn, U. (Hg.) „Zivilgesellschaft in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Aufbrüche, Umbrüche, Ausblicke. Bielefeld: Transcript, S.121-140.
van den Berg, Clara (2020) "Umkämpfte Teilhabe nach der Willkommenskultur": Samia Dinkelaker, Nikolai Huke, Olaf Tietje (Hg.): Nach der "Willkommenskultur": Geflüchtete zwischen umkämpfter Teilhabe und zivilgesellschaftlicher Solidarität. Bielefeld : Transcript, 2020 [Rezension].
van den Berg, Clara, Edgar Grande and Swen Hutter (2020) "Was wird aus dem harten Kern? Auswirkungen der Corona-Krise auf das Engagement für Geflüchtete”, Voluntaris – Zeitschrift für Freiwilligendienste, 8(2), 226–242.