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Prof. Dr. Manfred Max Bergman

Department of Social Sciences
Profiles & Affiliations

Projects & Collaborations

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Food coalitions beyond the local scale: spaces for a democratic sustainability transformation

Research Project  | 4 Project Members

Food production and consumption have a significant impact on the environment and often promote social inequalities. Globalization has led to a concentration of economic and political power that makes the food system vulnerable to crises.

Despite these challenges, there is an increasing recognition of the importance of international trade and new technologies that connect people worldwide. New ways to engage in international trade emerge, focusing on environmental protection, social welfare, transparency, and democratic decision-making in economic activities. However, it is still unclear whether these alternative approaches actually contribute to a more democratic and sustainable global economy or simply promote new forms of ‘green growth’. This knowledge gap is addressed by the project.

Content and objectives

The project investigates alternative forms of globalized commodity chains. It focuses on Trans-Local Food Coalitions (TLFCs), organizations of different forms (cooperatives, companies, etc.) that strengthen relationships between producers and consumers in different geographical areas. Examples include Teikei Coffee, an organization practicing international community supported agriculture that sources fair trade coffee directly from farmers in Mexico, and Choba Choba Chocolate, a company that empowers cocoa farmers. Using TLFCs as an example, the project will identify opportunities and limitations of alternative forms of governance to support democratic and sustainable transformations of food chains.

Research approach

The research project combines mapping, a survey, and qualitative case studies in a comparative perspective. To enable comparisons, the focus of the empirical analysis is on TLFCs that start (production) or end (consumption) in the German-Swiss-Austrian (GSA) region. Based on a transdisciplinary approach, this empirical study will provide a typology of TLFCs in the GSA region and a consolidated conceptual framework of governance, democracy, and sustainability. As a result of a comparative analysis of selected TLFCs, practical individual and comparative case study reports will be generated and recommendations for optimized governance co-created.

Project consortium

The project is a collaborative effort between the University of Basel, the Technical University of Berlin, and the BOKU Vienna. It is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the German Research Foundation (DFG), and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) (total funding amount: CHF 993.000). 

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VINCI Assessing UNESCO Values

Research Project  | 1 Project Members

Assessing the Values of UNESCO within a framework of International Cooperation (VINCI) Context Based on UNESCO's Lugano VII meeting in August 2015, subsequent exchanges between participating National Commissions, and based on meetings in November at UNESCO in Paris during the 38th Session of the UNESCO General Conference, the National Commissions present confirmed their interest to participate in an assessment exercise pertaining to the study of the implementation of the values of UNESCO at a national level. This exercise connects, on the one hand, the work of the National Commissions to their national context and, on the other, emphasizes their work and contributions to UNESCO. The exercise does not aim to evaluate the past performance of any UNESCO programme but, instead, aims at a future-oriented identification of added values to the National Commissions and UNESCO. A mixed methods approach was developed and a project management structure was set up in order to achieve the initiative's objectives. It is hoped that this exercise may be a pilot for an ongoing effort in assessing the values of UNESCO in the framework of international cooperation that remains open to other NCs, particularly from other regions (e.g. Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean). For that purpose, the UK National Commission and the Swiss National Commission are conducting this assessment exercise from 2015 until 2020. The following National Commissions are currently participating in VINCI (in alphabetical order): Germany Iceland Portugal South Korea Slovenia Switzerland UK The following UNESCO Programmes are currently participating in VINCI: UNESCO Chairs UNESCO World Heritage Sites Objectives UNESCO aims to enhance peace, security, and sustainable development by fostering international collaboration through its work in education, science, culture, communication, and information. In pursuit of these aims, UNESCO has adopted the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with a clear understanding that member states will have different approaches, visions, models, tools, and resources to achieve sustainable development and to contribute to the UN 2030 Agenda. Within this context, VINCI aims to explore the links between UNESCO, the UN 2030 Agenda, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals in relation to national priorities. This will mean taking a holistic and systems approach to eliciting and understanding the links between economic and socio-cultural factors. The contribution and impact of UNESCO at the national level should be assessed specifically through: the scope of the mandate of the organization and its programs (education, science, culture, communication), and the specific functions (and the resources) of its local stakeholders. This objectives of this exercise are as follows: assist in developing further the focus of National Commissions' positions and actions at a national level, and strengthen their international collaboration in line with UNESCO's values; sensitize the UNESCO programs under investigation to the UN Agenda 2030 and the UN SDGs; explore UN Agenda 2030 and UN SDG focal areas of the activities associated with UNESCO programmes; explore possible synergies between national and international activities of the UNESCO programmes under investigation; and make policy recommendation toward achievement of the UN SDGs based on our findings. Prof. Kiran Fernandez (member of UNESCO UK and VINCI coordinator) Head of Department of Management & MarketingDurham University Business School Durham University UK Prof. Max Bergman (member of UNESCO Switzerland and VINCI coordinator) Chair of Social Research and Methodology Department of Social Sciences University of Basel Switzerland

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Interreg Clim'ability. Klimaanpassungsstrategien für Unternehmen in der Region Oberrhein.

Research Project  | 3 Project Members

Das Interreg V Projekt Clim'ability untersucht die Verletzbarkeit der Wirtschaftsakteure im Gebiet des Oberrheins gegenüber dem Klimawandel. Ziel des Projekts ist Mittel und Wege aufzuzeigen, wie Unternehmen ihre Strategien und Herstellungsprozesse an die klimatischen und die sozioökonomischen Gegebenheiten der Zukunft anpassen können. Clim'Ability hat sich 5 Hauptziele gesetzt: 1) Charakterisierung von multivariablen Vulnerabilitätsprofielen in der Oberrhein-Region Die Sammlung und die Kombination von meteorologischen, klimatischen, hydrologischen, wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Daten ermöglicht die Erstellung von Vulnerabilitätsprofielen von Unternehmen im Kontext des Klimawandels. 2) Erstellung eines Selbstdiagnosetools für Unternehmen Dieses Tool ist für den internen Gebrauch von Unternehmen bestimmt und soll es diesen ermöglichen die eigene Empfindlichkeit gegenüber dem Klimawandel zu analysieren und Prioritäten für die Weiterentwicklung des eigenen Unternehmens zu ermitteln. Neben Unternehmen ist das Tool auch für Unternehmensberater gedacht. 3) Entwicklung von - auf die unterschiedliche Vulnerabilitätsprofiele zugeschnitten - Anpassungsstrategien Es geht darum zusammen mit Pilotunternehmen, Szenarien für die Anpassung an den Klimawandel (Resilienz Szenarien) zu entwickeln. Dazu werden vertiefte Fallstudien für spezifische Branchen oder Gebiete durchgeführt. 4) Entwicklung von maßgeschneiderten Informationen für Unternehmen Aufbauend auf den Erfahrungen von den Unternehmen und den Erfahrungen die im Laufe des Projekts gewonnen werden, sollen wichtige, für Unternehmen relevante Erkenntnissen im Umgang mit dem Klimawandel zusammengestellt werden. Diese Erkenntnisse können verschiedene Bereiche betreffen, wie zum Beispiel das Management von Chancen und Risiken, die Entscheidungsfindung und das gehen innovativer Wege, oder die Erschließung von neuen Märkten. 5) Aufbau und Verfestigung eines Netzwerks von Klimaexperten am Oberrhein Es soll Raum für Austausch und zur Verbreitung von Wissen geschaffen werden. Dazu wird für die Dauer des Projekts eine interaktive Plattform geschaffen und es werden Fortbildungs- und Networkveranstaltungen für Unternehmen organisiert. Consortium: Ein interdisziplinäres Team aus Klimatologen, Geographen, Soziologen, Ökonomen und Beratern der Elsässischen Industrie- und Handelskammer hat sich zusammengefunden, um diese Ziele zu erreichen. Die Forscher wollen geografische, wirtschaftliche, soziologische und hydrologische Daten analysieren, um zusammen mit Pilotunternehmen das Oberrheingebiet und dessen Vulnerabilität zu untersuchen. Die Institutionen sind: Institut national des sciences appliquées de Strasbourg ; Meteo France Nord-Est Illkirch ; Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Alsace ; TRION-climate e.V. - Netzwerk für Energie und Klima ; Universität Basel ; Geographie Universität Freiburg ; Université Haute-Alsace ; Universität Koblenz-Landau, Institut für Umweltwissenschaften; Université de Lausanne.

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Health Aid: What does it do and how can countries make it more effective

Research Project  | 2 Project Members

Total levels of development assistance have increased substantially in recent years, from $92.2 billion in 2001 to a high of $148.4 billion in 2010. Health aid has increased even more substantially, reaching $28.2 billion in 2010, up from a mere $5.74 billion in 1990 and $10.7 billion in 2000 (IHME, 2012). Global interest in aid effectiveness has increased along with levels of aid, as reflected in a series of High Level Fora on Aid Effectiveness that have been organized since 2003 (OECD, 2008, 2012). Within the social sciences, there is an active debate about aid effectiveness (Collier, 2007; Easterly, 2006; Sachs, 2005), and empirical studies find that aid has a small but positive effect on growth (Clemens, Radelet, Bhavnani, & Bazzi, 2011), education (Dreher, Nunnenkamp, & Thiele, 2008) and health (Mishra & Newhouse, 2009). However, studies also highlight unintended, negative effects on governance (Bräutigam & Knack, 2004; Lu et al., 2010), and qualitative assessments of specific aid instruments highlight the complexities involved in increasing aid effectiveness and avoiding negative unintended consequences (Biesma et al., 2009; Vallaincourt, 2009). In this project, we address two questions: 1. How does health aid affect health systems in aid-receiving countries? 2. What enables some aid-dependent health systems to use aid more effectively and sustainably than others? We conduct a two-phase mixed method investigation of the effect of health aid on health systems in aid-receiving countries, simultaneously testing broad effects of health aid on various dimensions of health systems and investigating the complex processes through which aid effects health systems with three case studies. This project employs nested case analysis (Lieberman, 2005), which is especially well-suited to the study of local manifestations of global phenomena (Jafflin, 2011b). In the first phase, we construct a cross-country time-series dataset to examine the effect of health aid on health systems. We test the effect aid, health aid, government versus non-government directed health aid and health aid volatility have on multiple dimensions of health system, including health outcomes, access to health services and government commitment to health, using fixed and random effects models and OLS with HC3 robust/cluster corrections. In the second phase, we use residual analysis to identify 3 countries for case studies. For the case studies, we conduct a desk review of the published and gray literature, carry out interviews with key actors in the health system, including government officials, representatives of donor groups and representatives of local health NGOs or private health services, and analyze government documents. Our study will make an important contribution to the debate about aid effectiveness by investigating health aid's impact on multiple dimensions of health systems and including complex models of aid effects. In addition, the carefully selected case studies will provide key insights into the complex processes by which aid affects health systems and what factors improve or impede aid effectiveness. Findings will add to the debate on the relationship between aid and development, and further our understanding of how recent innovations in health aid, like global health initiatives and SWAps, have influenced health systems in developing countries.

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Negotiating early job-insecurity and labour market exclusion in Europe (NEGOTIATE)

Research Project  | 6 Project Members

NEGOTIATE is a comparative research project that examines the long- and short-term consequences of job insecurity and labour market exclusion of young people in nine European countries (Norway, Germany, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, Poland, Bulgaria). It will provide insights as to how the extent and the consequences of early job insecurity vary within and across countries and social groups. The project focuses on how young people's scope for agency interacts with structural conditions and examines the relationship between young people's subjective and objective negotiating positions across economic and social dimensions that affect labour market integration and social inclusion. It is leans upon the trans-disciplinary concepts of resilience, capability, active agency, and negotiation and combines these with methodological innovation (life course interviews and vignette experiments) in order to investigate the consequences of young people's insecure labour market positions at both individual and societal levels. By actively involving national and European stakeholders, as well as young people themselves, the project should contribute to evidence-based and effective policies against the adverse effects of early job insecurity and youth unemployment. Comparative findings from the employer survey are available online at https://negotiate-research.eu/survey-experiment/ Findings from the Swiss employer survey (in German) are available online at https://negotiate-research.eu/survey-experiment/employer-report-switzerland/ A Scientific Use File of the employer data is available at the Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD): https://search.nsd.no/study/NSD2644

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Transformative Social Science for the Energy Transition (ssET)

Research Project  | 2 Project Members

Swiss energy policy posits an energy system without nuclear power. The Swiss energy research landscape is expected to develop new technologies that contribute to meeting the challenges associated with filling the energy gap. This research programme aims to contribute social science research and knowledge to a sustainable energy transition that implements the new Swiss energy policy. It addresses three key challenges of the transition: international and global dimensions of energy research; transdisciplinary energy research; and the involvement of the social sciences in the energy transition. The programme objectives are to develop hands-on, use-inspired social science knowledge, tools and solutions for various stakeholder groups in the Swiss energy system.

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ImagineTrains: The Imaginary of the Train among Political Decision Makers and Train Users

Research Project  | 3 Project Members

The imagine Trains project focuses on the imaginary of political decision makers and train users from an interdisciplinary and comparative perspective. It aims to explore the train imaginaries of decision makers and train users to understand the basis of decision making and the extent to which these imaginaries differ between political decision makers and train users in different countries, namely China, France, India, South Africa, and the USA. Of particular interest are dimensions of the imaginary associated with sustainable development, the economy, technology, geography, and autobiography. Fieldwork and analysis will be based on regional and interregional existing, planned, or abandoned train projects. In its interdisciplinary dimension, imagine Trains is a socio-anthropological study drawing from anthropology, history, political science, and sociology. One of its main objectives is to provide a basic understanding of the dimensionalities and sources of the imaginaries of trains between different national contexts as well as a contribution to the discourse on trains that can be relevant to decision makers, policy makers, and politicians.

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Sustainable Corporate Responsibility Research Programme (SCORE)

Research Project  | 3 Project Members

SCORE is dedicated to research on the roles and responsibilities of corporations in and beyond regions and societies. The aim of the project is to advance theories and research on corporate responsibility and sustainable development in a cross-national and cross-cultural global context. Examples of important research questions are: What are the understandings, expectations, and constraints of different actors with regard to the responsibilities of corporations? Why and how should corporations be responsible? Why are some corporations more committed to sustainable development than others? What are the main hurdles toward a robust transfer of commitments (e.g. the UN Global Compact) into business practices? The initial foci of this research group include: An analysis of the theoretical and empirical links between representations of corporate responsibility and the various understandings of corporate responsibility and sustainable development among policy makers and senior managers in different corporate and national cultures. Corporate cultures within and across pluralistic societies and national contexts are as much part of our work as are expectations, fears, hopes, and constraints of corporate employees and the public at large. The group aims to contribute to these debates in ways that are relevant to academia, policy making, and the formulation of business practices.