Project Description
The aim of We-ID is, to establish the links between identities, belonging, cohesion and democracy under the conditions of ongoing migration in order to develop a concept for resilient democratic communities (ReDeCos) culminating in recommendations for action to protect democracies, support social and territorial cohesion and build a diverse Europe together.
Project Idea
In the coming years, the effects of climate change and accelerating demographic processes such as ageing and migration will become even more noticeable and influence European societies in terms of their age structure, ethnic composition and social, cultural and political identities. The project "Identities - Migration - Democracy" (We-ID) is specifically designed to analyse the transformation of individual and collective identities, cohesion and democracy in the midst of migration. In order to protect European democracies from the potential threats of political crises and extremist hostility, it is essential to analyse and understand how resilient democratic communities can actively promote cohesion and a sense of belonging.
The project takes an inter- and transdisciplinary approach, involving researchers from the fields of sociology, demography, psychology, geography and political science, as well as a range of practitioners from local government and civil society.
The research questions will be addressed using mixed methods, utilising both qualitative and quantitative methods. The project will build on European and regional datasets on population trends, the development of political processes, regional disparities and identities, and will produce new case studies on selected communities in the partner countries.
Based on this data, we are creating a concept for resilient democratic communities (ReDeCos) and developing a Civic Competences Toolbox (CCT) to strengthen local actors (We-SCOUTS). An important innovation is the establishment of a Policy, Advocacy and Research Lab (We-PARL) with the aim of supporting the research process and reflecting on the results achieved in the course of the project. The We-PARL will be composed of academics, policy makers and civil society and will promote a double learning loop and feedback to enable the development of joint solutions. A number of activities are planned for structuring the We-PARL, including roundtable discussions (i.e. focusing on providing input on specific research topics in the respective working groups), dialogue forums (i.e. focusing on creating cross-links between specific research topics in all working groups), and written outputs such as policy briefs and recommendations.
Specific objectives
The overarching aim of this transdisciplinary research project We-ID is to improve the understanding of the long term drivers and patterns of identity, belonging and cohesion and how they relate to resilience and democracy, with a particular focus on the impact of migration, and to use this knowledge to develop a concept of resilient democratic communities (ReDeCos) while empowering local actors (We-SCOUTS) with competences to stabilise and build these cohesive communities.
In detail, We-ID pursues the following objectives:
Objective 1. Revise and evaluate the relevant conceptual issues concerning identities, belonging and cohesion, and establish their relationship with resilience and democracy, with a particular emphasis on migration.
Objective 2. Map trends and patterns of identities, belonging and cohesion together with their drivers, including geographic differences, gender, age and education, as well as immigrant status and employment.
Objective 3. Investigate how the social identities and political participation of immigrants and their descendants differ across European countries, what factors influence identity and participation of immigrants, and what assumptions can be made for the future.
Objective 4. Extending objectives 2 and 3 through a regional pilot study in a Bulgarian border region. To analyse how migration flows affect both the migrant communities themselves and their identities, and the communities exposed to new and large-scale immigration.
Objective 5. Development of an inclusive concept for resilient democratic communities (ReDeCos), through the identification (five case studies) of local factors that hinder or strengthen belonging.
Objective 6. In addition, development of a Civic Competences Toolbox (CCT) for local actors (We-SCOUTS) equipped with civic skills and competences to support local communities, moderate conflicts and controversies and create spaces for participation.
Objective 7. Establish the We-PARL - Policy, Advocacy and Research Lab - transdisciplinary platform, the tool which supports all thematic research areas foreseen in the project.
Objective 8. To disseminate We-ID findings, drawing on the outcomes and findings from the We-PARL, communicating them to a broader audience.
Methodology / Conceptual framework
The resilient democratic communities (ReDeCos) lie at the core. These can be national or regional communities or more local ones, such as workplaces, associations and neighbourhoods, which ideally actively address social challenges through public negotiation and conflict resolution that oppose discrimination, marginalization and exclusion. They are inclusive and integrative social places, which (see Figure 1) are generated through identity, cohesion and a sense of belonging in the respective communities. At the same time, ReDeCos are created by inclusive local communities that respect cultural and social identities and enable all citizens to participate in public life. These reciprocal feedback loops can, therefore, prove to be either a virtuous or vicious circle. The aim is to develop conditions for the success of ReDeCos on the basis of empirical results and stakeholder dialogue.
We are living in an era of polycrises (Tooze 2022; Global Risk Report 2023), i.e., multiple crises characterized by the fact that they influence and exacerbate each other. The EU, nation states and people will continue to be exposed to crises, shocks and unpredictable changes in the future (Aassve et al. 2020) and they will have to live through and cope with them. Some of these changes may occur suddenly and unexpectedly (e.g., a pandemic, refugee flows, an armed conflict, an economic crisis) - others take place gradually but still have a huge impact (e.g., climate change, demographic change, digitalisation). Ongoing migration represents a particular current and future challenge for local communities, nations and the EU. We, therefore, pay particular attention to the impact of migration in our analyses. This multitude of simultaneous crises challenges the resilience of democratic communities, but can be cushioned through identity, a sense of belonging and social cohesion. On the other hand, resilient local communities can ameliorate crises and create identity and cohesion through participation, integration, and trust. Structural parameters: Identities, feelings of belonging and cohesion, and living together in communities are shaped by the (co)action of structural factors such as culture, religion, region, the welfare state, the organization of democracy and gender relations. Furthermore, identities, feelings of belonging and cohesion, and living together
in communities influence each other, but it is not clear how the individual components interact. Groups with strong cultural identities (e.g. minorities) do not necessarily feel that they belong to society; strong cohesion can quickly become exclusive. In other words, it is not clear how and in which direction these parameters work.
Stakeholder Intervention: As the conceptual figure demonstrates, ReDeCos depend on structural parameters, shocks and crises, and the interaction between identity, social cohesion, a sense of belonging and communities. But they also depend on stakeholder interventions, including those of the policymakers. Policy will necessarily affect cohesion (including social, political and economic), communities, identities and belonging, and an important aim of We-ID is to establish how policies have an effect.
A key aim is to facilitate through sound scientific analysis and the policy lab feedback from the lived experiences of those four elements of community, sense of belonging, identities and cohesion (or lack thereof).
Outcomes: Any democracy and resilience-enhancing policy must be sensitive to one’s intended goals, for instance, equal opportunities and access to the labour market, social protection and inclusion, equality and well-being, goals which are consistent with the European Pillar of Social Rights (European Commission, 2017; EUR-Lex, 2012).
Interdisciplinarity
Exploring the complex relationships between identities, belonging, cohesion and resilient democracies in post migratory societies requires a strong foundation in interdisciplinary research: Quantitative methods are essential to identify socio-demographic characteristics of particular groups, while the mechanisms of identity formation and other challenges addressed in the call also create a need for qualitative methods, e.g. regarding normative concepts, realities shaped by different perceptions of identities and their drivers, e.g. in public discourse or at the local level. We can build on the strong interdisciplinary experience within the We-ID consortium, which includes anthropologists, demographers, economists, geographers, historians, lawyers, linguists and communication specialists, political scientists, psychologists and sociologists, as well as experts in transdisciplinary dialogue. Not only will case studies be carried out in the participating partner countries, but the resulting findings will also be fed back to the participants in a Civic Competences Toolbox (CCT) for We-SCOUTS. The CCT is in turn part of the overall We-ID toolbox. In addition, the transdisciplinary co-production of knowledge with
stakeholders and the involvement of policy experts will promote qualitative analysis and enrich our findings with practitioners' experiences.
Work plan and resources
The Work Plan recognises that the relationship between identity, migration and democracy is a scientifically complex and politically highly relevant issue that is currently being debated across Europe. For this reason, we have chosen a transdisciplinary approach that treats scientific work and stakeholder dialogue as two sides of the same coin.
In our work plan, these two sub-areas (science and stakeholder dialogue) will be deeply intertwined from the outset:
While one work package provides the conceptual underpinning, the next looks at trends and patterns in identities, belonging and cohesion in relation to resilience and democracy, one focuses on the relationship between identities and political participation among migrants and their descendants. Another work package explores in a pilot study the impact of migration on the identities of migrants and host communities in a Bulgarian border region, while one follows up with content analyses and five case studies on the development of ReDeCos in selected partner countries. All work packages are strongly networked and work together. An own work package is earmarked for the development of We-PARL with a devoted team of experienced science & policy communicators, and the scientific work packages will be embedded together the strands of research from the work packages and the experience of practitioners. In addition, as it is our main objective to understand the interrelationships between identity formation, demographic patterns, democratic resilience and migration, the scientific work packages themselves are thematically closely interlinked and findings will feed into each other. The policy recommendations as an output of the project will feed back into the work packages, so that we can present a set of thoroughly elaborated recommendations at the final conference and in the We-ID Policy Handbook.
Here, the We-ID implementation strategy can build on the ample experience of the consortium partners in interdisciplinary research as well as in stakeholder dialogue and dissemination activities. All partners contribute to the project through their established networks, be it within the research community or through interactions with stakeholder groups. Furthermore, the continuous exchange of knowledge with stakeholder groups throughout the project will ensure that as the workflow progresses, more organisations and individuals from research, policy, business and civil society will get involved in the We-ID framework. In this way, our transdisciplinary workflow, can start from a strong foundation from day one and guide us throughout the project.
We-ID Flyer for printing