Brain City Ambassador Prof. Dr. Swen Hutter

Brain City Berlin

How does civil society behave and change in times of polarisation and crises? As the Director of the Center for Civil Society Research at the Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin) and the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), Brain City Ambassador Prof. Dr. Swen Hutter researches highly topical issues.

Swen Hutter has been involved in politics since childhood. “Politics was always a topic at home – especially the question of which votes were coming up and who was in favour of what. It didn’t matter that I was the first in my family to go to secondary school; political debates were an everyday occurrence”. The Brain City Ambassador grew up in Switzerland. Later, during his studies at the University of Zurich, he was motivated and fascinated by the political science lectures. “I was interested early on in why people think so differently about political issues – even those that affect them directly. This curiosity continues to shape my research to this day,” says Swen Hutter. “I find it exciting how people articulate their political views – be it at the ballot box, on the street through protest or through their involvement in civil society organisations. I am particularly interested in not only observing social developments, but also categorising them analytically – and using my research to create a better understanding of current political dynamics.”

Since 2022, the political scientist has headed the Center for Civil Society Research at the FU Berlin and the WZB. His research focus is extremely future-oriented: “I am concerned with how civil society is changing in times of polarisation and crises and what contribution it can make to overcoming the major challenges of the 21st century. My starting point is the assumption that the emergence of new social conflict lines fundamentally changes civil society – with ambivalent consequences for the quality of democracies.” Swen Hutter is currently involved in various large projects. For example, he is a member of the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) Einstein Research Unit “Coping with Affective Polarisation: How Civil Society Fosters Social Cohesion”, which was launched at the end of 2024. He also conducts research within the Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script” (SCRIPTS).

Berlin is the ideal place to have your finger on the pulse of political and social life. The city not only offers a unique dynamic as a capital and the scene of diverse political disputes, but is also characterised by its lively neighbourhoods and an active civil society.

The Brain City Ambassador is particularly fascinated by the diversity of civil society involvement and organisational forms – from social movements and protests to large charities, local initiatives and neighbourhood networks. “I find it particularly exciting how these stakeholders interact – sometimes in conflict, sometimes in cooperation – and influence each other in order to overcome social challenges.” One highly topical project that he has set up with his team is the “WZB Protest Monitoring”. This makes it possible to trace the development of the protest movement in Germany from 1950 to the present day. Hutter: “I think it’s important to provide good data on the less institutionalised areas of politics as well, so that people don’t just speculate about whether we suddenly have a lot more protests or whether, for example, stakeholders like the Last Generation are taking a much more radical approach than a country like Germany has ever experienced. At the Center for Civil Society Research, our aim is to use evidence to shed some light on the public debate.”

Swen Hutter came to Berlin in autumn 2018. Directly from Florence, where – after studying political science at the University of Zurich and completing his doctorate at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich – he had most recently worked as a research assistant at the European University Institute. “I came to Berlin from Florence to set up the new Center for Civil Society Research together with political scientist Edgar Grande and to bring my Lichtenberg Professorship for Political Sociology to life at the FU Berlin,” he explains. The location advantages of Brain City Berlin helped him in this. “Berlin enables me to network closely – both across disciplinary boundaries and with stakeholders from civil society itself,” says Swen Hutter. “As Director of a joint institution of the Freie Universität Berlin and the WZB, I also benefit from the close cooperation between Berlin universities and non-university research institutions.” The Center for Civil Society Research is also well networked internationally from the capital. “Berlin is the ideal place to have your finger on the pulse of political and social life,” adds the Brain City Ambassador. “The city not only offers a unique dynamic as a capital and the scene of diverse political disputes, but is also characterised by its lively neighbourhoods and an active civil society.”

Swen Hutter recommends that young scientists who would like to come to Berlin should establish contacts across institutions at an early stage and find out about the numerous funding opportunities in Brain City Berlin. Even if this often requires a certain tolerance for frustration, Swen Hutter’s experience shows that the effort pays off: “Berlin offers numerous opportunities – it’s well worth making active use of them!” (vdo)