Since 2016, those affiliated with Social Science Works have published a large number of articles and reports. Long and short articles, detached or polemical, very thorough or more associative, but always written in a way that can be understood by a wider audience. Some articles have appeared only in English, or only in German, some in both languages. The German articles can be found on the German pages of this website. The topics cover the themes central to Social Science Works’ activities: democracy, deliberation, populism, social cohesion, migration and integration, social criticism, science criticism and Usable Knowledge. To make the articles easier to find, they have been divided into categories. However, to make sure you don’t miss anything, below you will find all articles published since 2016 in chronological order.

Since the categories naturally overlap, some articles can be found in multiple places. The following categories have been created.

  • Democratic Theory: empirically based theoretical articles on democracy, deliberation, pluralism, radicalization, extremism.
  • Project and Research Reports: articles about the projects and research we have carried out. Each project always has a research component as well, and also aims to generate general insights into the theme in question. Articles on all other themes can therefore also be found here.
  • Articles on populism: the overlap with democratic theory, among others, is obvious. Nevertheless, a separate category has been created because the articles in question explicitly address the populist movements that can be observed over the past decade in almost the entire Western world.
  • Science Criticism: articles that critically examine existing practices in academia and science.
  • Social Criticism: explicitly socially critical articles, a category with considerable overlap with populism.
  • Refugees and integration: articles that are often unrelated to the projects we have implemented in this field.
  • Urban Sociology and Tourism: integration, social cohesion and development, as well as socially and ethically responsible tourism are close to our hearts.
  • Finally, in order not to miss a single article by your favorite author, the articles are also listed by author.

All English Blog articles in chronological order

Challenging extreme claims for truth: How to deliberate the open, pluralist society with monist thinkers

Imagine we are dealing with a person with a rather monistic mindset, thus believing, assuming or hoping that all questions can only have one right answer, that all these answers can be neatly, harmoniously ordered...

Im Bann der Religion – Islamismus und die demokratische Gesellschaft

Islamismus und vor allem islamistischer Terror ist ein sehr präsentes Thema in vielen westlichen Gesellschaften, sowie in den Konflikten im mittleren Osten und Teilen Afrikas. Fast täglich liest man über die schrecklichen Taten die Terroristen...

The Crisis of Masculinities – A Brief Overview

The so-called crisis of masculinity has drawn much attention and concern by politicians, academics, the public, and most dominantly, the media. This crisis is characterised by a widely perceived fear, uncertainty, and hysteria about the...

Charles Edward Lindblom, In Memoriam

On January 30, 2018, Charles Lindblom died at the age of 100. His ideas on, among others, policy making processes, democracy, the limits and possibilities of social and political science, impairment, and usable knowledge play...

How to deliberate fundamental values? Notes from Brandenburg on our approach.

People hardly ever change their mind. The more they feel forced to justify themselves, the more they feel questioned, criticized, disrespected, and the smaller the chance that they will open their mind to other positions...

Equipping Civil Society for a Data-Driven Future

Civil society organisations in Germany need to be directly empowered to use data, in order to maintain their scope for action in a digitalised world. The rise of data-driven decision-making has made huge impact on...

Branding of cities: to whom is the city advertized and what fundamental idea lies behind it?

“Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief”, is one of the famous quotations of 20th century-advertisement and branding Guru, Leo Burnett. As a resident of the...

Constructief praten met meer en minder gevestigde burgers over wereldbeschouwingen

Sinds 2016 organiseert Social Science Works (SSW) in Duitsland reeksen van deliberative workshops met vluchtelingen, met rechts-radicale populisten, en met vrijwilligers en beroepskrachten die werkzaam zijn in het vluchtelingen en het maatschappelijk werk. SSW is...

How Postmodernism Advanced Populism: An Inside Story From The Netherlands

There are many factors that explain the upheaval of populism. Postmodernism is one of them. In the Netherlands, certainly the columnist represented and helped to shape the postmodernist mood, a mood characterized by skepticism, subjectivism...

Why Does Fieldwork Matter? Reflections On Immersion, The Everyday & Knowledge Creation In Hong Kong

“If the RMB depreciates, Southbound trading goes through the roof!” A conversation overheard in Central Ideas about the borderless world have been around since the advent of modern information communication technologies in the late-1980s. The...

Long Read: Our Fellows Respond To Right Wing Populist Arguments

This year, Social Science Works has been working on the project ‘Deliberation Against Populism’ in which we have contacted citizens in Brandenburg that expressed an interest in populist political parties and arguments online. We have...

Alienation Online: An Analysis of Populist Facebook Pages In Brandenburg

This year, as part of the Social Science Works project ‘Deliberation gegen Populismus’ we have been monitoring right-wing populist Facebook pages associated with Brandenburg. The project was financed by Tolerantes Brandenburg and included work from...