GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

Proposals should help further investigate the way that democracy and its key tenets such as political representation, participation or trust are interrelated to social, cultural, and political identities and a sense of belonging and identification with different communities. This includes gender, ethnic, multicultural, multilingual and spatial identities and subjectivities, amongst others, taking into account the cumulative effects of discrimination. To better understand social identities and their role in shaping political and social discourse, proposals could consider the condition of migration and refugees, segregation as well as inclusion; the notion of European identity and heritage; people with disabilities; perception of belonging to urban/rural communities, to local communities or to diasporas; the role of media and social media in identity fragmentation, mixtures of ethnic, political and religious identities; the role of the cultural and artistic sectors in representing the diversity of identities (cinema, film series, literature, etc.).

Proposals should identify and explore barriers and factors that limit or impact the engagement of certain communities in democratic practices and processes, and erode their political participation, representation or trust in democratic institutions. Moreover, they should consider and propose policies, frameworks and recommendations to prevent and revert such negative trends, as well as ways to further foster the sense of belonging to democratic societies. This could include the piloting of participatory processes or civic engagement activities targeted at identifying and discussing the issues underpinning the sense of democratic belonging in said communities. Identities do not happen in a vacuum. People are attached to groups that grant them an identity that has currency in the social domain: being identified as a member of a certain group grants social capital. They belong to groups they value and that cater to their social and psychological needs. Proposals should therefore also develop critical insights into the ways in which processes of social, cultural and political participation can contribute to further fostering the sense of belonging/ownership to local, national and European democratic institutions and processes. Proposals may also study social representations and intergroup stereotypes, which determine to which groups individuals choose to belong. The role of identification and belonging in the diffusion of antagonistic identities or social norms online and offline should be studied.

It is important that proposals integrate an intersectional, historical, fluid and multiple approach towards identities, as well as consider the varying concepts and experiences of “belonging” and “identification”, as well as the possibility to develop several feelings of belonging to different communities simultaneously.

Proposals should also utilise participatory methods for research, involving academic and non-academic actors, with a focus on community empowerment. They might utilise methodologies that build on disciplines such as political and social psychology, behavioural politics, history, sociology, gender and race theories, religious studies, post-colonial studies, etc.

Proposals may consider social innovation activities to stimulate social change, new social practices, social ownership or market uptake.