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Transnationalism and societal change
Browse this month's insights into the social science research in Germany. As new technologies inevitably cause societal change, Germany also supports and invests in the social sciences as strategies to address and cope with social challenges through its High-Tech Agenda.
At the University of Jena, the Collaborative Research Centre "Structural Change of Property" explores the consequences and challenges caused by the increasing containment and evolving distribution of private property over the last decades. At Fraunhofer IAO, the Horizon Europe project “gEneSys” explores how gender and other social inequalities shape household energy decisions, arguing that a fair and inclusive transition to low-carbon energy must work for real people rather than idealised consumers.
Ruhr University Bochum participates in the project “Entanglements of Migration and Time in Post-industrial Urban Europe (MITIME)” in order to examine the involvement of time in modern migration, temporality, and urban inequalities sufficiently. A study by the University of Siegen examines the impact of the legal status of "tolerated residence" on the nearly 200,000 people currently living in Germany under this status, as well as the support strategies employed by local authorities. At Research in Bavaria and FAU’s Cluster of Excellence “Transforming Human Rights”, the human rights expert Dr. Caroline Lichuma researches how global trends such as autocratisation, migration, environmental crises and digitalisation are reshaping human rights.
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- Staying Without Really Arriving – University of Siegen
- Research Centre investigates the fundamental structural change of property - University of Jena
- A Fair Energy Transition: Why Gender Equality Must Be Taken Into Account – Fraunhofer IAO
- The Promise of Human Rights–Research in Bavaria and the Cluster of Excellence “Transforming Human Rights”
- Developing new perspectives on global mobility and urban inequalities – Ruhr-University Bochum
Staying Without Really Arriving – University of Siegen
What does it do to a person to live in a state of ongoing legal insecurity — often over the course of many years? To have no certainty about whether they can remain in the country, to be allowed to work only under certain highly specific conditions, to have their place of residence dictated to them, and to be limited in their freedom of movement? And how does the staff of the responsible immigration office experience the handling of tolerated stays in their own daily work; how do they perceive their mission and their working conditions?
Nearly two hundred thousand people in Germany are in a situation of ‘tolerated stay.’ This means that deportation has been temporarily suspended, but also that the terms of that stay are unclear and are tied up with many incalculable factors. A study by the University of Siegen explored how local government authorities handle this “tolerated stay” and what impact it has on persons who live in this liminal situation, sometimes for years.
Find out more here.
Research Centre investigates the fundamental structural change of property - University of Jena
Due to the processes of increased concentration and deregulation, private property has gained importance worldwide since 1989. The resulting property system has proved to be both crisis-prone and highly controversial in the face of new challenges. These challenges include global financial and economic crises, but also by political conflicts over the appropriation, distribution and containment of private property.
These conflicts are the main research area of the Collaborative Research Centre "Structural Change of Property". It contains a total of 23 subprojects at eight locations in Germany (with the University of Jena as the coordinating institution). The centre’s website features a lovely stop-motion explanatory video (see picture), podcasts and a blog.
Watch the video here.
A Fair Energy Transition: Why Gender Equality Must Be Taken Into Account – Fraunhofer IAO
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Decarbonizing the energy system is central to the fight against climate change and is fundamentally transforming society, the economy, and democracy.
Who decides in a household whether a heat pump, solar panels or new appliances are bought? Who keeps track of energy needs, costs and savings? Who feels confident dealing with technical information, subsidies or energy providers — and who is left out?
These are gender issues. And they matter for whether the energy transition is perceived as fair, accessible and worth supporting.
Yet gender inequalities often remain invisible in energy policy. They also intersect with other forms of disadvantage, linked to income, origin, disability, religion, sexuality or social background.
The Horizon Europe project “gEneSys” at Fraunhofer IAO investigates how a just and inclusive energy transition can be designed — one that works for real households, not only for idealised consumers.
Read more here.
The Promise of Human Rights–Research in Bavaria and the Cluster of Excellence “Transforming Human Rights”
Dr. Caroline Lichuma is a human rights expert, working at FAU’s Cluster of Excellence “Transforming Human Rights”.
The postdoc from Kenia and other researchers reconsider human rights norms against the backdrop of five global transformation trends: autocratization, fragmented economic globalization, international migration, planetary environmental crises and digitalization.
Part of the cluster’s program is to create outstanding programs for early-career researchers and international fellows, inviting young human rights researchers to practice at FAU in Nuremberg, the City of Human Rights.
Find out more about Carolines work at Germany’s only Cluster of Excellence in Human Rights here
About FAU
Developing new perspectives on global mobility and urban inequalities – Ruhr-University Bochum
Migration is one of the most critical social, cultural, and political challenges. The role that time plays in this context - rhythms, ruptures, and inequalities - has so far been insufficiently researched and understood in both policy-making and migration studies. The project “Entanglements of Migration and Time in Post-industrial Urban Europe (MITIME)” aims to change this by examining migration, temporality, and urban inequalities. A European consortium, including several UNIC universities, has successfully secured Horizon Europe funding for this project. Ruhr University Bochum is participating in the project through the Chair of Sociology/Transnationalization, Migration, and Work, led by Prof. Dr. Margit Fauser.
Find out more about the EU project here.
