This research project investigates which types and configurations of social identities exist in highly developed modern societies and what are the prerequisites and consequences of identities in civil society and the societal community. In particular, it provides a strong focus on the role of religion and its impact on social discrimination as well as societal integration.

The project’s core research endeavour is a comparative survey. The "KONID Survey 2019" is a representative sample for the German and Swiss population including an oversampling for Muslims and younger age cohorts. The KONID Survey 2019 is a multi-thematic survey focusing on religion, social identity, civil society and politics. Its newly designed questionnaire covers several social identities on the micro-, meso-, and macro-level by measuring various identifications and categorisations prevalent in both societies. An additional special questionnaire for immigrant communities of Christian and Muslim origin and a respective non-representative sample of their members build a unique bridge of this quantitative project to its qualitative sister research project “Migrant Communities, Religious Identities and Integration in Civil Society”.

The German survey is conducted by Prof. Dr. Gert Pickel and Yvonne Jaeckel MA (Leipzig University), the Swiss survey by Prof. Dr. Antonius Liedhegener and Anastas Odermatt MA (University of Lucerne). The researchers start from three general assumptions. They expect strong similarities in religious identities and their societal impact for both countries. They think that processes of segregation and othering based on religion or other collective identities can be explained as an effect of different configurations of social identities. In addition, they assume that these configurations of identities are correlated with attitudes and behaviour either beneficial or obstructive to civil society and the larger polity.

Based on the upcoming findings of the project, citizens and politics will be able to discuss the role of social and religious identities in current societies. Thus, evidence-based arguments can inform political and social actions aiming to improve the common good of religiously and socially diverse societies and their democracies.