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Since the 1990s, the protest scene in Germany has been shaped by issues such as migration, the environment and welfare. These issues have often led to violent mobilisations and counter-mobilisations on the streets. The aim of the WZB ProtestMonitoring is to monitor the German protest landscape in a systematic way. On an ongoing basis, we analyse the temporal and spatial contexts of protest events, the discursive opportunity structures of protest, as well as the radicalisation processes of individual protest actors.

Since the 1990s, the protest scene in Germany has been shaped by issues such as migration, the environment and welfare. These issues have often led to violent mobilisations and counter-mobilisations on the streets. The aim of the WZB Protestmonitoring is to monitor the German protest landscape in a systematic way. On an ongoing basis, we analyse the temporal and spatial contexts of protest events, the discursive opportunity structures of protest, as well as the radicalisation processes of individual protest actors.

The coronavirus pandemic has upended social life as we know it. Everyday life is marked by containment measures like physical distancing, mandatory face masks, school closures and limited access to retail facilities and communal spaces. These measures are based on the principle of solidarity: We protect each other from infection and our healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed. However, the state can only enforce solidarity to a certain extent. Ultimately, it is practiced by citizens on a voluntary basis. As in past crises, civil society has a key role here. It connects citizens, promotes solidarity, and assists those unable to cope on their own. In addition, it acts as a critical voice and calls attention to grievances.

The Horizon 2020 project "Global Governance and the European Union: Future Trends and Scenarios" (GLOBE) addresses the major roadblocks to effective and coherent global governance in a multipolar world. Coordinated by the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI), GLOBE brings together ten partner institutions from eight countries. Among them, the WZB manages a Work Package on the cross-cutting political and societal challenges to global governance. Tying together key insights from the unit’s work on authority, contestation, and normative legitimacy, the WZB researchers inquire into the political and institutional opportunities and constraints facing the EU in the global governance fabric. 

The TRANSMIT research network examines migration as a complex, transnational, and social process. Its goal is to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of this process by analyzing the interactions between migration, integration, and border and migration policies across countries of origin, transit, and destination. TRANSMIT focuses on two regions of particular relevance to Germany in the context of migration: the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region) and West Africa. Since 2019, the team has been developing a comprehensive data infrastructure that enables transnational research on migration.

Der Verkehr konnte bislang als einziger Sektor die Treibhausgase nicht reduzieren. Um die Klimaziele der Bundesregierung zu erreichen, müssen die Emissionen bis 2030 um 40 Prozent sinken. Weder technische Innovationen noch ein verändertes Verhalten versprachen bislang einen Ausweg. Die Corona-Pandemie eröffnet nun die einmalige Chance einer empirischen Untersuchung zu Fragen nach der Veränderbarkeit der Mobilität unter ganz neuen Bedingungen. Das öffentliche Leben ist praktisch still gestellt.

In my research I am interested in the sense-making process of school inspections while developing evaluation criteria. Therefore, I analyze the development process of evaluation criteria by school inspections in Germany.

There are two developments in the educational sector, which are relevant in regard to my research: The implementation of inclusive education and the creation of school inspections in Germany.