Putting social science to use for modern democracies
Putting social science to use for modern democracies
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Our Recent English Blogposts
The Loneliness of Germans and their Refugees
For several years now, Social Science Works has been conducting in-depth interviews with refugees, asking them about their backgrounds, future plans, and problems. Their lives in temporary refugee shelters (Übergangswohnheime”), where they often stay for...
German bureaucracy in the integration of newcomers and how it can be reduced.
By international standards, Germany is a highly bureaucratized country. Even German-speaking natives regularly get lost in a forest of laws, regulations, and responsible administrative bodies. German civil servants are also known to be prone to...
The failing integration of newcomers in Germany: can Artificial Intelligence help?
Since 2016, Social Science Works has carried out dozens of integration projects with and for refugees for a wide range of clients. In addition, we have conducted extensive quantitative and qualitative research, particularly in Brandenburg...
Reform of the refugee shelter market: competition based on actual success indicators
At the end of 2024, there were approximately 3.5 million refugees living in Germany, including 1.2 million people from Ukraine. Around 20% of these people, or roughly 700,000 individuals, were housed in so-called Gemeinschaftsunterkünften (shared...
New book published: Talking Politics and Society Again: Reengaging with Fellow Citizens.
Talking Politics and Society Again: Reengaging with Fellow Citizens is the title of the new book of Hans Blokland. It will be published by Transcript Verlag in Bielefeld and will be available from March 27...
Populism in Algeria: Negation of Politics
If one term can describe Algeria’s political system from its inception to today, it is populism. For social, cultural, and historical reasons, populism served as the ideological foundation for the national liberation movement and, later...
Populism in France: An overview of its history, narratives, and relationship with the media
The last elections (legislative and European) in France have highlighted more than ever the success of populist parties and strategies in French politics, on the left as well as on the right. The aim of...
Bolivian Populism and Clientelism
At the core of this paper on Bolivian populism is the Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement for Socialism) or MAS, the political party currently in power. I argue that Bolivian populism is rooted in the national...
Populism in the Netherlands: tradition or trend?
This article examines the history of populism in the Netherlands and how this led to the recent success of the populist right-wing PVV. This party is mostly known for its radical ideas about migration and...
Indifference to refugees in Germany: observations and explanations
Since 2022, Social Science Works has published a large number of interviews with refugees in Germany. There were several motives for conducting these interviews. By learning more about the newcomers’ backgrounds, we hoped to help...
Developing a social enterprise devoted to democracy, deliberation and respect in a progressively hostile and indifferent environment: Experiences and observations of a social science trying to work in the eastern part of Germany
As citizens increasingly lose trust in politics and society, it becomes more important than ever for state and civilian organizations to be reliable, predictable, transparent, and decent. When citizens become more and more difficult to...
Social media are useless for civic and political participation: experiences with a project in Germany
The political participation of young people in general and rural youth in particular is not optimal. Consequently, they are underrepresented in politics, which in turn affects the extent to which their interests are reflected in...
Latest News
Social Science Works awarded Integration Prize 2025 by the state capital Potsdam.
On September 21, SSW was awarded the 2025 Integration Prize of the State Capital Potsdam in the “Project Idea” category for its “Conversations with Newcomers” project. This year’s theme was “Sharing stories; broadening perspectives together.”...
Citizens’ dialogue in Paulinenaue once again well attended: the requirement to justify positions rationally is what unites us Europeans.
Our citizens’ dialogue in Paulinenaue (Brandenburg) on June 22 focused on the question of what (still) unites us at a time when divisions seem to be growing endlessly. As usual, the dialogue began with a...
New BAMF project launched by SSW: Building bridges, volunteering for migrants and against discrimination
Over the past two weeks, SSW has conducted the first three workshops with refugees from Ukraine, Syria, and Afghanistan on volunteer work and discrimination. The project is supported by the Federal Office for Refugees and...
SSW Fellow Ali Ghaznawi reflects on his participation in a two-day seminar entitled “Starting a Business in Brandenburg.”
SSW Fellow Ali Ghaznawi shares his experience participating in the two-day seminar “Starting a Business in Brandenburg,” hosted by GRÜNDEN IN PM. The seminar provided practical knowledge on business planning, legal requirements, and funding options...
University of Montana at Social Science Works
A group of students of the School of Social Work of the University of Montana (“To change everything, start anywhere”) in Missoula visited Social Science Works on May 18. Among other things, we discussed populism...
Migrationspolitik auf der Flucht reviewed by Simon W. Wolke
Prof. Dr. Simon W. Kolbe reviewed Migrationspolitik auf der Flucht. Erfahrungen von Neuankömmlingen mit Untätigkeit, Trägheit und Gleichgültigkeit on Socialnet. Kolbe is professor in Social Work at the Wilhelm Löhe Hochschule. Among other things he...
New book published: Talking Politics and Society Again: Reengaging with Fellow Citizens.
Talking Politics and Society Again: Reengaging with Fellow Citizens is the title of the new book of Hans Blokland. It will be published by Transcript Verlag in Bielefeld and will be available from March 27...
Ali Ghaznawi joins Social Science Works
Ali Ghaznawi was born in 1988 in Kabul. He studied computer science and is a graphic designer and web developer. In 2007, Ali was introduced to the world of computers and became fascinated with graphic...
New Project: Cooking & Gardening for Refugee Children
From February to November 2025, we implement a new project in a refugee home in Brandenburg, supported by the IKEA Foundation. This initiative is aimed at children aged 6 to 12, providing them with hands-on...
Interns of the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen completed their project
Everything comes to an end and so does the stay of our interns Muriel Akkerman, Evelyn Callapino Guarachi and Akram Yahiaoui. With the support of the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IfA), they have been working at...
Populism discussed by Hans Blokland at a conference of the Humboldt-Foundation.
At a conference of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn on November 4, Hans Blokland delivered a pulse lecture on populism: what is it, what causes it, what can we do about it? A...
Akram Yahiaoui interns at Social Science Works
With the support of the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IfA), Akram Yahiaoui will intern at Social Science Works until the end of the year. Akram is a passionate multidisciplinary professional from Constantine, Algeria, with master’s degrees...
Recent interviews with refugees and migrants
Social Science Works awarded Integration Prize 2025 by the state capital Potsdam.
On September 21, SSW was awarded the 2025 Integration Prize of the State Capital Potsdam in the “Project Idea” category for its “Conversations with Newcomers” project. This year’s theme was “Sharing stories; broadening perspectives together.”...
The Loneliness of Germans and their Refugees
For several years now, Social Science Works has been conducting in-depth interviews with refugees, asking them about their backgrounds, future plans, and problems. Their lives in temporary refugee shelters (Übergangswohnheime”), where they often stay for...
Revisited: Yaqout, Syria
It has been three years since we interviewed Yaqout, who moved from Syria to Hungary and eventually to Germany (see the previous interview). He encountered various difficulties regarding occupation, housing, and health. How is he...
Ali Ghaznawi: revisited
Three years ago, we started to interview refugees coming to Germany. We asked them about their life in their homeland, the reasons they left, how they came to Germany, their life in Germany so far...
No one has ever asked us
Since 2022 we have been publishing interviews with refugees on our website. We wanted to get to know and make available for the wider public their stories: where do the people come from, why did...
Idir: Algeria
I am from Algeria and 32 years old. I belong to the Berbers, who live not only in Algeria but also in Tunisia and Morocco, mostly in the coastal region. We have our own cultural...
Saeed: Syria
I come from Raqqa in Syria and I am now 30 years old. When I came to Germany back in 2015, I was 21 years old. Before that, I was living in Turkey for one...
Indifference to refugees in Germany: observations and explanations
Since 2022, Social Science Works has published a large number of interviews with refugees in Germany. There were several motives for conducting these interviews. By learning more about the newcomers’ backgrounds, we hoped to help...
Saleh, Syria
My name is Saleh, and I am from Syria. I have been in Berlin for two years now and am currently learning the German language. I need to pass the B2 language level to find...
Ahmad: Syria
My name is Ahmad and I’m 31 years old, from Damascus, Syria. After leaving Syria, I was in Malaysia, then Singapore, then in 2020 I went to Paris. After that, I was in Amsterdam for...
Nduka, Biafra
I was born in a family with seven children, three girls and four boys. One of my sisters is now dead. She was killed by her husband. Both of my parents are still alive. I...
Hamdiya, Afghanistan and Iran
I am 21 years old, married and I have one child. She was born in Turkey one year ago. My parents are originally from Afghanistan, but I was born in Iran and lived there all...
Ahmed, Afghanistan
My name is Ahmed, I am originally from Afghanistan and currently, I am living in the city of Potsdam. I was working as a lecturer at Balkh University. I have completed my education in India...
Richard, Togo
I am Richard and I was born on February 3, 1995, in Agomé Tomékbé. I am an only child. My mother passed away on August 3, 2021. My father still lives in Agomé Tomékbé. My...
Viyan: Kurdistan
In Germany at the age of 18, most young adults worry about their next steps in what they are going to study, their new workplace, maybe a gap year or dealing with a heartbreak. For...