The State, Political Norms and Political Conflicts


The Pole "The State, Political Norms and Political Conflicts" aims to collate and compare social science works on political conflicts, their dynamics, and their resolution, with particular attention paid to how they impact not only legal and bureaucratic norms, but also social and professional (and vice versa).

More about the research focus

Mobilities, Migrations, Reconfiguration of Spaces


The Pole’s salient themes are: the transformation of spaces, the evolution of mobility and migratory processes. The temporal, social, and spatial dimensions of change are examined from an interdisciplinary perspective.

More about the research focus

Dynamics and Experiences of Globalisation


The goal of the research axe consists in identifying and examining phenomena of the "Global" past and present. The research is fundamentally based on a twofold strategy: first, to study the multiple and complex processes of networking and circulation on a global scale, while, second, to articulate a critical reflexion upon the meaning of these processes as new standards for experiences and concepts, that influence forms of life, theoretical frameworks and epistemic objects.

More about the research focus

Critical Thinking in the Plural. Conceptual Approaches in Research in the Social Sciences


The Research Pole Critical Thinking in the Plural. Conceptual Approaches in Research in the Social Sciences is an interdisciplinary forum that examines the multiple forms of contemporary critical thinking, the paradigms and conceptual contexts of social science research, their conceptual sources, and their hermeneutic presuppositions.

More about the research focus

Environment, climate, energy: Societies and their ecological challenges


The research focus (Pol 5) deals with socio-ecological transformation processes from a transdisciplinary perspective. The project focuses on the actors, objects and dynamics of environmental policy and climate governance; the analysis, discussion and elaboration of future scenarios; and on the construction of environmental and climate issues as socio-political problems.

More about the research focus