Intergroup Relations in the Border Region
In contexts involving contact between majorities and minorities, knowledge about intergroup awareness, attitudes, and dynamics is key for the promotion of harmonious intergroup relations. Knowledge about awareness regarding minority issues – such as group size, status, rights, and institutional support – matters because minorities’ well-being and empowerment are primarily determined by their subjective rather than their objective vitality at the group level. Knowledge about attitudes towards minorities and minority issues is vital because policy and planning measures in intergroup contexts rarely achieve their intended aims if they lack attitudinal support at the grassroots level. Moreover, such attitudes are closely linked with intergroup dynamics (such as discrimination versus active support of minorities). Consequently, knowledge about awareness, attitudes, and dynamics is fundamental for the formulation of effective advice for policy makers and other relevant stakeholders aiming to promote harmonious intergroup relations. The research in the Intergroup Relations in the Border Region strand thus focuses on these and other intergroup issues pertaining to the two majority groups and all four national minority groups in the Danish-German border region: the German minority in Denmark as well as the Danish minority, the North Frisians, and the Sinti and Roma on the German side of the border.
Ongoing Projects:
- Majorities, minorities, and everything in between: Intergroup relations in the German-Danish border region (principal investigator: Ruth Kircher, co-investigator: Martin Klatt)
