Social cohesion strengthens societies, enforces their prosperity, and reduces exclusions and tensions. Unfortunately, in Europe it is being tested by increasing inequalities and divisions. Moreover, research on its most fundamental elements, both intimate and superficial human relationships, is neglected as it is considered too complex.
The EU-funded PATCHWORK project aims to create a new network-scientific approach to investigate structural cohesion empirically while hybridising two strands of network research. For the first time, a large-scale, cross-national survey comprising samples from five countries will evaluate acquaintanceship networks across different categorical fault lines (like citizenship or religion) to elucidate how networks can enforce cohesion in societies.
