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The project ‘Supporting the expansion and further development of the quality of childcare and all-day care for primary school children, as well as other measures in the field of child and youth policy’ supports the political and legal measures of the Federal Ministry for Education, Family, Seniors, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ) during the current legislative period, together with its cooperation partners Prognos AG and fischerAppelt. The project focuses on the needs-based expansion and quality development of daycare services, the introduction of a legal entitlement to full-day care for primary school children, as well as the recruitment and retention of educational professionals.

A comparative analysis across Germany, the US, and Italy

This project conducts a comparative analysis of worker representation strategies at Amazon warehouses in Germany, Italy, and the US. Through in-depth case studies and interviews, it examines the forms and strategies of worker institutions in enhancing worker voice for Amazon warehouse workers across these countries.

Historians often cite the phrase "All history is contemporary history" to highlight how historical narratives are continually reshaped to serve contemporary agendas. This is particularly evident in ongoing debates about migration and integration. Both migration optimists—who view immigration as an enrichment to society—and migration pessimists—who perceive it as a threat—frequently draw upon historical examples to justify their current positions. This project examines how migration history is used in academic discourse and public debates to support contemporary perspectives on migration and integration.

Dissertation project

Where You Lead I Will Follow: Heterogeneity in Migration Network Effects Across Cultures (under review)

Dissertation project

Dissertation project

In this dissertation, I explore the role of migratory imaginaries as the socio-cultural ground of the formation of migration aspirations and their implications for the various stages of the migration process. Based on over 80 semi-narrative interviews and additional participant observation with Senegalese migrants, returnees, migrants’ family members and friends, and experts in Senegal, Germany and Italy, as well as a netnography of Senegalese migrants’ profiles on social media and representative survey data from two regions in Senegal, this dissertation follows a mixed-methods and multi-sited approach.

The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany protects the freedom to found and operate private schools in Art. 7 para. 4 sentence 1. However, the constitution also contains provisions in Art. 7 para. 4 sentences 2 to 4 that are intended to ensure that private schools serving as a substitution for public schools (“Ersatzschulen”) are subject to supervision by the school authorities. They are obligated to comply with certain quality criteria and ensure their accessible for pupils from all income groups. The latter is intended to prevent the emergence of socially segregated elite or class schools.

This project investigates whether the increasing gap between the wealthy elite and the general population undermines social cohesion. If the lifestyles, networks, opportunities, and world views of the wealthiest members of a given society and others diverge, the latter may start questioning their belief in equal opportunity, trust in government, or civic engagement more broadly. That is, high and increasing relative wealth inequality may pose a direct challenge to social cohesion. In this project, we seek to develop novel measures of relative wealth that capture how far the very rich have pulled away from the rest of society. To that end, the project will combine cross-national survey data analyses with in-depth case studies and survey experiments in Germany, Chile, the UK, and the US.

Our Publications

Discussion Paper (07-2026)

"Resisting the Far Right. A Systematic Analysis of Civil Society Strategies" hier: https://bibliothek.wzb.eu/pdf/2026/zz26-602.pdf 

Policy Brief (12-2025)

"Wirksam gegen Rechtsaußen. Eine systematische Analyse zivilgesellschaftlicher Strategien gegen die extreme Rechte" hier: https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/334463

Project description

(DFG Initiation of International Collaboration Programme)

The Project