The Potentials of Civil Society: Solidarity and Crisis Management (SolZiv) – The Project
The joint research project between political sociology, sociology of emotions and personality psychology at the Free University Berlin, the Humboldt University Berlin and the Berlin Social Science Centre (WZB) analyses civic engagement during the Corona crisis.
Similar to previous crises, civil society plays a central role: 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. At the same time, limited freedom of movement and assembly have rendered traditional forms of civic engagement difficult if not impossible. From the different disciplinary angles, volunteers as well as recipients of help are asked about the form of crisis related support and social cohesion. The interdisciplinary public opinion survey will be conducted in Germany, Austria, Sweden, Italy and Poland. In Germany, data will be collected in two waves and an additional analysis of organizations will be carried out.
Researchers
Political Sociology
Prof. Dr. Swen Hutter
Lichtenberg Professor in Political Sociology at the Freie Universität Berlin since 2018 and Vice Director of the Center for Civil Society Research, a joint initiative of the Freie Universität and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
Further information
Dr. Endre Borbáth
Research associate (PostDoc) at the chair for Political Sociology at the Freie Universität Berlin since 2019 and at the Center for Civil Society Research at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
Ines Schäfer
M.A. Sociology – European Societies at the Freie Universität Berlin
Ania Spatzier
M.A. Sociology – European Societies at the Freie Universität Berlin
Sociology of Emotions
Prof. Dr. Christian von Scheve
University professor of sociology and head of the Sociology of Emotions Research Unit at the Freie Universität Berlin since 2014. He is also board member of the Collaborative Research Center 1171 Affective Societies and Research Fellow at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin).
Further information
Philipp Wunderlich
Research assistant at the Institute of Sociology at the Freie Universität Berlin in the field of Sociology of Emotions.
Personality Psychology
Prof. Dr. Jule Specht
Professor (W3) of Personality Psychology at the Humboldt Universität Berlin since 2017.
Further information
Aaron Petrasch
M.Sc. Psychology at the Humboldt Universität Berlin
Alexandra Klepp
B.Sc. Psychology at the Humboldt Universität Berlin
Solziv 