Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Comparative Political Sciences and Political Systems of Eastern Europe

Student Research Project

Sociology of Teenage Girls

Project lead: Eva-Lotte Scwarz

Project assistance: Dominika Tronina

Project description🖉

The project tutorial "Sociology of Teenage Girls" focused on the reality of teenage girls' lives, social attributions and gender-specific demands that teenage girls* are confronted with. In the first half of the seminar, the participants learned the basics of girlhood studies. In the second half of the seminar, the basic feminist theories previously read were applied to pop culture-specific phenomena in order to take a look at subcultures such as fandoms and behind the scenes of girl-dominated platforms such as Tumblr and TikTok. At the end of the seminar, the seminar participants themselves took on the role of cultural producers by creating the podcasts presented.

 


Student Research Project: Forms and Strategies of Social Movements in Non-Democracies 

Research Team: Philipp Busse, Ketevan Gelashvili, Marcus Kell, Eva-Lotte Schwarz, Selina Volz

Project description🖉

The student research project under the direction of Prof. Dr. Silvia von Steinsdorff is dedicated to the role and strategies of social movements in non-democracies and approaches the following questions:

What drives protest movements in non-democratic systems? What strategies do they pursue to oppose political leadership? How do they differ from traditional, institutionally based protest movements? What role do international community and transnational factors play?

These conceptual considerations will be reflected upon in depth by the students on the basis of empirical case studies and examined for their "practical suitability". In this context, social media that are particularly relevant for protest movements, such as Twitter or Telegram, will be addressed. At the end of the primary data analysis of relevant platforms, the following questions will be evaluated: Which actors of social movements make use of social media? Who is addressed and which messages are transported in which way? What role do social media platforms play in networking and mobilizing actors inside and outside the movement? How do these tactics fit into the repertoire of social movement strategies?

This comparative research project aims to contribute to a better understanding of the transformation of social movements, their strategies, and the importance of social media.

 

Eva-Lotte Schwarz's Publication: Learnings from the anti-fracking movement in Namibia Multilevel activism against global corporations in ecological conflicts.