Institute of Social Sciences

A History of Rwanda

Surprisingly, a comprehensive history of Rwanda has not been written until now, partly due to the fact that many historical documents and sources are scattered around the world, for example in Belgium, Germany, Tanzania, Italy and the United States. The project led by Professor Klaus Bachmann remedies this situation by bringing the first comprehensive history of Rwanda, written in English, to readers around the world.

A typology of the relations between non-governmental organizations in Poland

A close working relationship between NGOs, including knowledge and best practice sharing as well as common planning and project development, supports the growth of the third sector in economy. A research team, lead by Agnieszka Kaim, will examine the relationships between 30 selected NGOs and the overall condition of the NGO sector in Poland.

ActEU
Towards a new era of representative democracy - Activating European citizens’ trust in times of crises and polarization

The project is funded by the Horizon Europe Programme of the European Union (HORIZON-CL2-2022-DEMOCRACY-01)

CEEYouth: The comparative study of Poles and Lithuanians in the context of Brexit

Since the 2004 European Union's enlargement, the mobility of young Poles and Lithuanians has significantly increased. For many of them, Great Britain has become a new home. The situation suddenly changed in June 2016, when the Brexit Referendum results were announced. Researchers from SWPS University and from the Public Policy and Management Institute in Lithuania will research the types of risks that young migrants from Poland and Lithuania may face as a result of Great Britain leaving the EU.

CEDMO
Central European Digital Media Observatory

The phenomenon of disinformation is one of the significant problems of contemporary societies. Central Europe is suffering the brunt of disinformation which, worldwide, is reaching unprecedented levels, on topics ranging from health to politics. The problem has become particularly significant in the context of Russian aggression on Ukraine. Research concerning fake news and preventive measures applied in this area should be multidisciplinary and transnational, because this phenomenon extends beyond the borders of countries and continents, while its thematic scope and structure are extremely complex. The Central European Digital Media Observatory (CEDMO) has been established to counteract the ubiquitous disinformation. To carry out this project, the consortium received a grant of PLN 9,252,497, including  PLN 773,330 for SWPS University, provided by the European Commission from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program, and PLN 231,999 from Poland’s Ministry of Education and Science from the Co-financed International Projects Program. Additionally, SWPS University has provided PLN 25,788 for the project.

CoDesign4Transitions
Sustainable Transitions through Democratic Design

Project No.: 101120074

Consistency or space for experimentation? Analysis of Poland's policy response to the migration crisis caused by the escalation of Russian aggression against Ukraine

Funding provided by the National Sciences Center, project no.: 2022/45/B/HS5/00933.

DIASPOlitic
Understanding the Political Dynamics of Émigré Communities in an Era of European Democratic Backsliding

Professor Benjamin Stanley, from SWPS University’s Center for the Study of Democracy, is the Principal Investigator in the Polish team contributing to this project.

Feedback as a public policy intervention.
Comparative analysis and serious game testing of change mechanisms in food waste policies.

Funding provided by the National Sciences Center, project no.: 2021/43/B/HS5/01935

GEMTRA: Transition to Motherhood
Across Three Generations of Women

“It takes a whole village to raise a child,” in Poland this “village” means exclusively women. Although, times are changing, and with them the meaning of parenthood changes too, society is still convinced that it is the mother’s responsibility to raise a child and prepare it to live in a society. Besides personal and social expectations, there is also the reality of motherhood and intergenerational relations between mothers. Researchers from SWPS University will study the process of transition to motherhood through the eyes of three generations of Polish mothers: first-time expecting mothers, their mothers and grandmothers.

INSIMO
Work (in)stability and spatial (im)mobility from the perspective of young people on the move. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

During this study, researchers from SWPS University investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the professional and personal lives of young adults, including their mobility. Study participants were recruited among persons who had earlier participated in another youth study, which has allowed the researchers to carry out a longitudinal assessment, comparing the lives of young people before, during, and after the pandemic.

Institutionalization of political parties in the parliaments of Central Europe – data mining of parliamentary debates

How do new topics become a source of political conflict? How has the understanding of democracy changed over time? Can you predict which parties will fall quickly and which will become important political actors? The project, led by Dr. Agnieszka Kwiatkowska, aims to analyse the process of institutionalization of political parties in parliaments of five Central European countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia and Hungary), by using quantitative methods of analysing textual data (parliamentary debates) and numerical data (roll-call votes) on an innovative database that will be created in the project.

Key factors determining strategic goals achievement of memorial museums
with particular emphasis on the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim

Museums and memorial sites of the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camps play an important role as elements of historical education and as a warning against horrific crimes committed by totalitarian regimes. However, for the warning to be loud and clear, these sites must be preserved, function and fulfill their educational role. To safeguard the crucial social values, memorial sites require significant resources. The majority of institutionalized memorial sites face considerable financial and organizational difficulties, although some of them fulfill their social mission very effectively and develop best management, fundraising, and commemoration standards.

MINTE
Migrants' Integration Through Education

Mass migrations due to wars, poverty, and climate change have been a frequent phenomenon in the 21st century. Receiving countries face multiple challenges in communicating with newly arrived refugees from different countries, which hinders provision of necessary services. A consortium of European and Israeli research institutions will examine how different countries organize support and communication channels for displaced people arriving on their territory and will develop tools and recommendations for more efficient services.

MIMY
Empowerment through Liquid Integration of Migrant Youth in Vulnerable conditions

Over the past few decades, Europe has seen large waves of migration from post-soviet countries in Europe and from other continents. Young people leave their homes in search of better lives in other countries, but it is not always that they build prosperous futures. Sometimes this happens due to lack of skills or the lack of policies fostering the integration of migrants into the productive society of the receiving countries. The Horizon 2020 MIMY project will examine the effectiveness of integration policies in a comparative and interdisciplinary manner.

Model of effective management
of dispersed martyrdom heritage

The project, led by Professor Adam Szpaderski, Head of the Center for Research on the Economics of Memorial Sites, presents an innovative approach to the difficult topic of effective management of dispersed martyrdom heritage – a research field which is part of the strategy of commemorating the tragic history of genocide perpetrated by Germans on the civil population of Warsaw and the surrounding areas during World War II.

Partisan bias or a climate of indifference?
An investigation of actually-existing democratic values and their consequences in Poland

NCN Project No.: 2020/39/B/HS6/00853

Peer Groups and Migration

NCN Project No.: 2020/39/B/HS6/00853

Polish National Election Study (PNES) 2023

Grant no. 2022/45/B/HS5/03493.

Political branding:
new approach to relationship between party and voter

NCN Project No.: 2016/21/D/HS5/03846

Political Knowledge in Poland

Are average Poles interested in politics? Do they know their local MPs and the names of Ministers serving in the current government? Have they read the Constitution and are they familiar with laws and regulations decreed by the government? A team of sociologists and political scientists from SWPS University, led by Associate Professor Mikołaj Cześnik, will research what is the state of political knowledge among Poles and how this knowledge impacts their voting decisions and in consequence the politics of the country.

RaM-CLASS
Class reproduction and mobility - biographical experiences in academic, artistic, and business fields

Project funded by the National Science Center, no. 2022/47/D/HS6/00726.

Relationship Between Social Movements and Political Parties
for the purpose of Democratic Representation of Social Groups in Europe

NCN Project No.: 2021/40/C/HS6/00229

Social entrepreneurship
Fundamentals

The researchers assume that a comprehensive approach applied in the project will guarantee long-term positive impact on the participants and a large number of people who, in the future, will benefit from the social enterprises created thanks to the project.

CHILDTRAN
Socialization agents shaping transnational transitions and multi-scalar belonging of migrant children in Poland

Over the past several years, the number of migrants from various countries have been arriving and settling in Poland. Migrant children must adjust to new circumstances, transition from culture to culture, and socialize with new friends in foreign schools. This study investigates how the transition process happens and who are “socialization agents” facilitating this process.

The Impact of Electoral Rules
on the Quality of Local Democracy in Poland

NCN Project No.: 2014/13/B/HS5/02580

Transnationalism and Colonialism
Settler communities in Southern Africa between NS-ideology and Apartheid

The project is financed by the National Research Center, project number 2020/37/B/HS3/00643.

ULTRAGEN
Becoming an adult in times of ultra-uncertainty: intergenerational theory of 'shaky' transitions

The project is financed by the National Science Center, under the OPUS-19 scheme, project number 2020/37/B/HS6/01685.