Research Sociology

Our research programmes

• Social inequality in the life course (SILC)

  SILC research analyzes participation in education, employment, occupation and the income distribution, in relationship to life course events in young and middle adulthood. In our research, we try to understand to relationships between social stratification and the life course against a context of modernization, globalization and new forms of government regulation. The group specializes in the analysis of large scale (often: comparative) datasets with advanced statistical methods is and also active in the collection and harmonization of large-scale survey data.Contact
  SILC is coordinated by Pavlopoulos (d.pavlopoulos@vu.nl).

  Group members

  Researchers

  Bakker, prof.dr. Bart  endowed chair 

  Bouwhuis, dr. Stef

  Ganzeboom, prof.dr. Harry  professor  

  Garnier Villarreal, dr. Mauricio

  Liefbroer, prof.dr. Aat  endowed chair

  Maas, prof.dr. Ineke  endowed chair 

  Muis, Dr. Jasper 

  Nagel, dr. Ineke

  Pavlopoulos, dr. Dimitris  program leader SILC

  PhD Candidates 

  Chowdhury, Anika

  Eberlein, Laura

  Echeverry, Santiago Gómez

  Farooq, Muhammad

  Khan, Saba

  Pankowski, Paulina

  Tourtouri, Myrto

• The social context of aging (SOCA)

  The SoCA program focuses on the social functioning of older adults. Social functioning refers to how people are embedded in social networks of relatives and non-relatives, in work and volunteerism and organizations, ewn how their social embeddedness is experienced in terms of loneliness... Differences in social functioning are studied in two broader contexts. First, in the context of socioeconomic position, gender, and migration, with the role of changes in health with age being of specific interest. Second, in the context of cohort and period differences, which reflect the rapid changes in many domains in our society relevant to aging. These changes include individualization, changing family structure, increasing use of information and communication technologies in daily life, and changes in the services provided by the welfare state. Answering research questions is facilitated by analysis of empirical data, often drawn from the 30-year Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) and supplemented by a variety of other datasets. Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and cohort-sequential survey designs and experimental designs are often employed.

  Contact

  SoCA is coordinated by prof. dr. Theo van Tilburg (theo.van.tilburg@vu.nl)

  Group members

  Researchers

  Boer, prof.dr.ir. Alice de endowed chair

  Broese van Groenou, prof.dr. Marjolein

  Horst, dr. Mariska van der

  Huisman, prof.dr. Martijn

  Ingen, dr. Erik van

  Suanet, dr. Bianca

  Tilburg, prof.dr. Theo van  Programme leader SoCa

  PhD Candidates

  Abbing, Jens

  Blok, Marije

  Duran, Gözde

  Gardeniers, Maura 

  Shen, Ying

  Swinkels, Joukje

• Social change and conflict (SCC)

  Societies change rapidly these days. ‘The times they are a changing’ to quote Bob Dylan. Social change is almost always controversial. Inevitably, citizens mobilize in support or opposition.

  The Social Change and Conflict Group studies the dynamics of contentious politics. That is to say, it studies the dynamics of political protest, street demonstrations, collective action, political violence and so on. Contentious politics is rare behavior. In response to adverse circumstances most citizens refrain from any action. SCC aims to find answers to the question why. Why is it that in seemingly the same circumstances the one person takes to the barricades, while the other stays on the couch and remains inactive? Contentious politics is actions by people who are aggrieved, who are angry about some state of affairs be it about earthquakes in Groningen, Trump in the US, or windmills in their backyards. Demand, supply, and mobilization is how SCC tries to answer these questions. Demands mean that there are people who are keen to take part in political action. Supply is about social movements or political parties that offer opportunities to engage in politics. Demand is needed but without social movements, or political parties that supply opportunities to engage in politics the issue would not get very far. Finally, mobilization is needed to communicate to citizens the opportunities to act.

  SCC explores the dynamics of demand, supply, and mobilization and the mechanisms that are involved in these processes. How issues politicize, how social relations polarize and people politicize and or radicalize. Intergroup polarization is the sharpening of opposition between groups in society that may result in intergroup tension and increased segregation (along ethnic, religious, class lines). The more intergroup relations polarize, the more there will be a tendency to minimize intra- or ingroup differences, and to maximize inter- or outgroup differences. Protest is not without any costs or risks. Repression—sometimes severe repression― increases the costs of protest. What are citizens to do? Politics can be enacted via political parties and social movements. What makes people take part in parties rather than movements or the other way around? Politicization might be the answers to that question. Politicization is often the beginning of a process that proceeds with polarization and radicalization. SCC seeks to understand how these processes evolve.

  
  Contact

  SCC is coordinated by dr. Jacquelien van Stekelenburg (j.van.stekelenburg@vu.nl)

  Group members

  Researchers

  Prof.dr. P.G. Klandermans

  Prof. dr. J. v Stekelenburg

  PhD Candidates 

  Khalil, Fatma 

  Trovato, Sara

  Yu, Geng 

• Identities, diversity and inclusion (IDI)

  The major interest of the members of the IDI group is to understand the structurally embedded struggles for participation and inclusion of individuals and groups in different social contexts. We understand identities as constructed and contested and investigate in our research how identities become (re)constructed under different constellations of power. We furthermore understand diversity and identity from an intersectional take, assuming that individuals are always multiply positioned through structural differences in gender, religion, class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age and so on and that these different ways in which one is positioned interact. Given that many of the members of IDI are concerned with individuals and groups with a background of migration, displacement, or mobility, we approach identity from a transnational perspective, whereby we make an conscious effort to avoid methodological nationalism in our research. Following the lines of critical theories, power and agency are the key notions bringing this group together. In addition to the visible and solid forms of domination or suppression that are at play in this era, we also focus on the normalized structures and discourses of exclusion. These are often taken for granted and therefore difficult to identify, let alone subvert. 

  The members of the IDI group research these processes and contradictions by considering the levels of policy, interaction, and experiences within the historically informed (discursive) structures in societies. They question the basic assumptions of these (discursive) structures and investigate the interaction between normalized structures and the positions and actions of individuals and groups. They try to discover how individuals participate in various societal fields and negotiate their positions within local, national, and global contexts. Most of IDI members are qualitative researchers (narrative approach and ethnography), some combine this with quantitative methodology.

  Ghorashi is the Program Leader of IDI and within her chair Diversity and Integration supervises several PhD researchers, including the researchers from her recently funded VICI project: Engaged scholarship and Narratives of change in comparative perspective. Saharso is the Coordinator of the IDI group and next to her position at VU sociology also holds a personal chair (at UvH) Citizenship and Moral Diversity and supervises various PhD researchers and Postdocs, including researchers in her newly funded NWO project: When culture meets gender in the consultation room: GPs’ and migrant women’s dilemmas around harmful cultural practices. Crul’s chair Diversity and Education hosts also several PhD and postdoc researchers including researchers within his ERC Advanced project: Becoming a Minority (BaM). Saskia Keuzenkamp has the endowed Movisie-chair, Participation and Effectivity and supervises two external PhD researchers. Her research focuses on the role and impact of experiential knowledge and experts-by-experience in the social domain. Anne-Mei The has the endowed chair of Long-term Care and the Social Approach Dementia with special focus in diversity. Lorraine Nencel, associate professor and specialized in gender and sexuality. Her research focuses on sex work and migrant sex work from a global perspective. She supervises two PhD researchers. Peer Smets is specialized in urban sociology and supervises three PhD researchers. Tara Fiorito is assistant professor and specialized in the exclusion/inclusion of undocumented youth. Elif Keskiner is assistant professor and her research falls under the areas of ethnic and migration studies, sociology of education and youth sociology, with a focus on social inequalities. Elena Ponzoni is assistant professor and is coordinator of Refugee Academy. Marieke Slootman is specialized in cultural diversity from representative angle. Ismintha Waldring is assistant professor and her research interests include boundary strategies, belonging and subtle mechanisms of exclusion in the education sector. From 2013, dr. Kathy Davis has joined the group as a research fellow, she is specialized in biographical research.

  Contact
  Sawitri Saharso (s.saharso@vu.nl), Coordinator
  Halleh Ghorashi (h.ghorashi@vu.nl), Program Leader
  

  Group member

  Researchers

  Ahmad, Menal

  Crul, prof.dr. Maurice

  Davis, prof.dr. Kathy 

  Essanhaji, Zakia    

  Fiorito, Tara 

  Ghorashi, prof.dr. Halleh, Program Leader  

  Keskiner, dr. Elif

  Keuzenkamp, prof.dr. Saskia, endowed chair

  Kisubi Mbasalaki, dr. Phoebe, Research fellow

  Mars, Kay

  Nencel, dr. Lorraine

  Oosten, Eline

  Ponzoni, dr. Elena

  Saharso, prof.dr. Sawitri, Coordinator IDI

  Sepehri, Sajad 

  Shojaee, dr. Mansoureh 

  Slootman, dr.ir. Marieke

  Smets, dr. Peer

  Tack, dr. Saartje

  The, prof. dr. Anne Mei  endowed chair

  Waldring, drs. Ismintha 

  Younes, Younes

  PhD Candidates

  Abdulazeez, Nazar

  Alphen, Carlijn van

  Greene, Alexandra

  Hammoud, Mohammad

  Holle, Fabian

  Kim, Kyohee

  Knipprath, Kim

  Korstenbroek, Timo

  Kovács, Zsuzsa

  Kusmallah, Nebil

  Lazeri, Marina

  Lee, Haebin

  Louw, Helenard

  Ocadiz Arriaga, Miriam 

  Pozzo, Moos

  Rast, Maria 

  Schut, Josje

  Shan, Fiona

  Woensdregt, Lise

• The center for philanthropic studies (CPHS)

  Research at the Center for Philanthropic Studies (CPhS) answers the question: “Who gives what, when, and why, and to what effect?” Philanthropy, defined briefly as private action for the public good, includes acts of giving (e.g., volunteering, charitable giving, organ and blood donation) to nonprofit organizations, as well as the work of fundraising charities, voluntary associations, NGOs and endowed foundations for a better world. The Center for Philanthropic Studies is the leading research institute on philanthropy in the Netherlands and Europe.
  
  The research focus has been on macro-level descriptions and micro-level determinants of giving. In recent years, the Center has broadened its attention to also study the consequences of giving, both at the micro-level and the macro-level. The Center is a strong advocate of open science, and not only provides open access to its research reports, but also to the primary research data it collects.
  
  The Center’s flagship project is Giving in the Netherlands (GIN), a longitudinal study on the magnitude of philanthropy in the Netherlands. GIN is the standard work of reference for the entire philanthropic sector in the Netherlands, and an important basis for policy on philanthropy by the Ministry of Justice and Security, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
  
  Other significant research projects include:

  • The ERC-funded DONORS project, led by Eva-Maria Merz, on individual and contextual determinants of blood donations; 
  • The chair ‘Social significance of Charity Lotteries’, held by prof. Pamala Wiepking, on the consequences of long-term unrestricted funding to nonprofit organizations; 
  • Giving in Europe, which aims to standardize different data sources on philanthropy across European countries.
    

  The Center developed the European Research Network on Philanthropy (ERNOP), a network of about 250 researchers from 25 countries.

  Contact 
  The Center for Philanthropic Studies (email:cfs@vu.nl) is coordinated by René Bekkers (r.bekkers@vu.nl). 

  See also the websites of CPhS: www.geveninnederland.nl (Dutch) and www.giving.nl (English).

  Group members
  
  Researchers

  Bekkers, prof.dr. René

  Gouwenberg, Barbara

  Hoolwerf, Barry

  Koolen-Maas, dr. Stephanie

  Merz, dr. Eva-Maria

  Schuyt, prof.dr. Theo 

  Teunenbroek, Claire van

  Wiepking, prof.dr. Pamala  

  Wit, dr. Arjen de
  
  PhD Candidates

  Aken, Petra van

  Chatila, Samira

  Ciausescu, Alexandra

  Graf, Caroline 

  Horick, Olena van

  Mariani, Elly 

  Plas, Diederik van der

  Schröder, Joris

  Van Matre, Joey