Executive Summary

Civil society is being supported nowadays from many sides: for instance in view of the erosion of social security systems, helplessness in terms of the increasing resentment towards government and public institutions but also the public discourse on the resilience of our democracy against right-wing radicalism and xenophobia. Civil society can be described as civil acts oriented toward the common good between state, market and the private sphere by the citizens, constituting their understanding of democracy.  In other words: civil engagement brings democracy to life and is the basis for social cohesion and inclusion.

Our institute has dedicated particular effort in the further development of the civil society resp. the advancement of civil engagement in the past six years. The ISS-Frankfurt a.M. is a member of the  Bundesnetzwerk Bürgerschaftliches Engagement (BBE) (National Network for Civil Society) and the society's work group "Framework Conditions" (AG1), "Migration/ Integration" (AG 5) and "Demographic Change" (AG 8) in order to contribute to an exchange of experiences within the network specified by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth .

Within the framework of the required re-adjustment of responsibilities between state, market and third sector we focus on the opportunities surrounding the increased involvement of the business world (Corporate Social Responsibility). Here the institute participated in a series of expert discussions in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The discussion first dealt with the exploration of the research object as well as respective domestic research needs.

Closely interlocked with the discourse surrounding civil society is also the scientific discussion on the significance of social capital, which is based on the personal network of faith in others and collective values and norms. As a federally active research and consulting institute in social work, we are particularly interested in as to how welfare associations will in future position themselves as the producers and intermediaries of social capital. Because, as the assumption goes, such associations can only respond to the decreasing amount of members on a European market of social services that is increasingly characterized by the laws of competition with the civil-society-based added value of their offering. 

Your contact person at ISS-Frankfurt a.M.

Recent publications by the project group:

Ludger Klein (Hrsg.) 2007: Öffnung von Institutionen für das bürgerschaftliche Engagement älterer Menschen. Dokumentation zum Workshop des BMFSFJ am 09./10. August 2007 in Münster, herausgegeben im Auftrag des BMFSFJ, ISS-Aktuell 13/2007