Graduate course: Social Movement Studies: An Introduction [30204]

Thursday 10 am – 12 pm | Jonas Gunzelmann

This seminar introduces students to the field of social movement studies. Divided into two parts, we will first explore key concepts and theories such as resource mobilization, political opportunity structures, and framing. These theoretical approaches provide frameworks for analyzing various aspects of social movements, including their emergence, organization, tactics, and impact on society. For this part of the seminar, we will mainly read a textbook, supplemented by some classic articles. In the second part, we will delve into recently published articles from the leading journals in the field, Mobilization and Social Movement Studies. Through discussion and analysis, students will gain insights into current research trends and deepen their understanding of the study of social movements and contentious politics.

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Graduate course: Applying Social Network Analysis [30205]

Thursday 4 – 6 pm | Jonas Gunzelmann

Civil society plays a key role in the production of social cohesion. However, recent research on (affective) polarization casts doubt on the integrative power of civil society. Deepening political cleavages and declining social capital put pressure on associations, volunteers, and entire fields of civic action, which appear increasingly fragmented. This seminar focuses on the analysis of social cohesion and polarization in civil society. The first part of the seminar introduces students to key concepts in civil society research and relational sociology such as social capital and affective polarization. The second part of the seminar teaches the fundamentals of social network analysis and their application to the study of social cohesion in civil society. In several hands-on sessions, students learn to design a qualitative or quantitative network study, collect network data from documents, and analyze them using various software (Discourse Network Analyzer, R, Visone).

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Graduate course: Studying the Globalization Cleavage [30241]

Tuesday 2 – 4 pm | Alexander Pries

The weakening social base of established parties, new political issues such as immigration, climate change, and European integration, and the rise of new party families such as the New Left and Radical Right have reshaped party systems across Western Europe. One prominent explanation is the emergence of a new political cleavage between the "winners" and "losers" of globalization. However, some argue that these transformations result from more individualized voting behaviour rather than a fundamental restructuring of society. Adding to the complexity, definitions of political cleavages can vary significantly. This raises a critical issue: If we lack conceptual clarity, how can we confidently assess whether globalization has created a new political cleavage?