The activated civil society (aktivzivil)

An analysis of the long-term impact of civic engagement on social capital and the common good in Germany.

Consensus and Conflict Department

Project head: Dr. Elias Steinhilper,  Prof. Dr. Sabrina Zajak

Project team members: Dr. Moritz Sommer

Running time January 2020 until December 2022
Status Completed project

The joint project examined how the engagement that emerged during the so-called long summer of migration has had long-term effects on individuals, civil society structures, and social cohesion in four medium-sized German cities.

Guiding research questions

To what extent did the activation surge of 2015/16 translate into lasting forms of participation?
To what extent did this surge bring about long-term changes in local civil-society infrastructure and networking?
To what extent did the consolidation and networking of engagement generate public good?
What remains of the 2015 activation of civil society? Our project examined the medium-term effects on the networking of engaged individuals, civil society organizations, and state institutions at the local level
Dr. Elias Steinhilper, Co-Head of Consensus & Conflict Department

The joint project analyzed the long-term effects of civic engagement on social capital in the context of longer-term developments in the informalization and politicization of civil society. The project focused on the associative foundations of civil society, its strength, the mechanisms of its emergence, and its lasting impact on participation and the common good. Using four selected medium-sized cities in Germany as examples, the longer-term effects of the activation of civil society were examined on three levels. 

While the various forms and individual participation patterns of engagement for refugees have been extensively studied, analyses of the long-term effects of civil-society activation were lacking. This project closed that research gap.

  • Collection and analysis of empirical data on the lasting impacts of civil-society activation following the long summer of migration.
  • Transdisciplinary exchange between researchers and practitioners involved in civic engagement.

A mixed-methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative techniques was applied in the project to study engagement at multiple levels. First, key civil society organizations in six medium-sized cities were identified, and their interorganizational networks as well as relationships with the state were systematically mapped using document analysis and ego-centered interviews. In addition, individual engagement biographies were collected to examine how people are embedded within organizations. Finally, the societal impacts of engagement on participation, cohesion, and the common good were investigated through expert interviews, and the relationship between engagement and protest was analyzed using protest event analyses.

The results document very different developments and consequences of the 2015/16 activation surge in the four cities studied. Overall, it can be noted that the long summer of migration did not universally result in a lasting transformation of local civil society or in the creation of new bridging and connective social capital. Sustainable changes due to the activation surge were observed in only two of the four cases. At the same time, the pandemic posed challenges for civic engagement in all four cities studied, particularly in municipalities where engagement had already declined significantly and less resilient networks had developed. The differences in developments in the field cannot be attributed to basic contextual factors such as the party-political orientation of local administrations, economic conditions, or migration-related diversity. Instead, these developments depend on a complex configuration of personal and interactive factors.

Funding: Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (Third-party funding)

Cooperation partner:

The joint project "Activated Civil Society" is being realised at three research institutions; the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM Institute); the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies at the University of Osnabrück (IMIS). The principal investigators are Prof. Dr. Sabrina Zajak and Dr. Elias Steinhilper (DeZIM Institute), Prof. Dr. Edgar Grande and Prof. Dr. Swen Hutter (WZB) and Prof. Dr. Helen Schwenken (IMIS).

To accompany the empirical work and for application orientation, the joint project cooperates with seven civil society organisations that coordinate civil society work within the framework of an advisory board. These are in detail: Arbeit und Leben e.V.; Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Freiwilligenagenturen e.V.; Bundesnetzwerk Bürgerschaftliches Engagement e.V.; Bundesverband Netzwerke von Migrantenorganisationen e.V.; Diakonie Deutschland/ Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung e.V.; Katholische Frauengemeinschaft Deutschlands e.V.; PHINEO gemeinnützige AG.

Publications

  • Engagement für Geflüchtete: Was bleibt von 2015?

    Wagner, Theresa; van den Berg, Clara; Seddig, Marina; Steinhilper, Elias; Hutter, Swen; Schwenken, Helen; Zajak, Sabrina (2023): Engagement für Geflüchtete: Was bleibt von 2015? Kurzdossier, Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.

  • Zivilgesellschaft

    Steinhilper, Elias; Sommer, Moritz; Zajak, Sabrina (2023): Zivilgesellschaft. In: Scharrer, Tabea; Glorius, Birgit; Kleist, J. Olaf; Berlinghoff, Marcel (Hg.): Flucht- und Flüchtlingsforschung: Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium. Baden-Baden: Nomos.