‘Trust in science requires integrity in communication’ – Interview with Leah Henderson

December 2, 2025

Leah Henderson, SOCION Researcher, highlights the importance of upholding the principle that scientific research is based on evidence. As an expert on societal trust, she studies how we communicate about science. ‘Nowadays, you often hear people say: ‘’Science is just another opinion.’’ I completely disagree with that.’

For the full interview in English and Dutch: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/latest-news/news/archief2025/nieuwsberichten/1202-henderson

‘Als we onze economieën niet hervormen, verliezen we de democratie’ – Interview met Lisa Herzog

September 13, 2025

Democratie en kapitalisme waren het powerkoppel van het Westen. Maar de klad zit in het huwelijk, betoogt politiek filosoof Lisa Herzog, en als we niet oppassen delft de democratie het onderspit. TROUW (paywall)

The Democratic Marketplace – New Book by Lisa Herzog

August 19, 2025

We are proud to announce the release of Professor Lisa Herzog’s new book, The Democratic Marketplace: How a More Equal Economy Can Save Our Political Ideals (Harvard University Press). 

Lisa argues that the foundation of our democracies has been eroded by our economic system.

Market logic – which prioritises efficiency, profit, and growth – has taken over the functioning of democracy. When do people have time to be citizens, she asks, when they work long hours and have exploitative working conditions? And this is to say nothing of how capitalism is destroying the planet. But Lisa also writes that democracy is still possible if democratic values become part of citizens’ everyday experiences.

Save the Dates: The Dutch version De democratische markt (Ten Have) will appear soon. Prof. Herzog will present and discuss her book on Thursday, September 18, 2025 (20:00), in Boekhandel Riemer in Groningen, and on Tuesday, September 23, 2025 (19:30), in Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam.

Three SOCION Board Members Elected as New Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW)

May 8, 2025

Just a week after the official start of the SOCION program on May 1, 2025, three of our SOCION Board Members and Co-PIs have been elected as new members of the the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW): congratulations to Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk, Helga de Valk, and Lisa Herzog with this well deserved nomination, Read the news here. 

VICI Grant for SOCION Co-PI Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk

February 28, 2025

Care and Coercion. Patriarchy, (Forced) Labour and Caregiving in the Household in the Dutch Empire, c. 1750-Present

Prof. dr. E.J.V. van Nederveen Meerkerk, Utrecht University

Around the world, domestic and caregiving work are highly gendered as well as racialized. This research project aims to study the historical roots of these entangled inequalities, by looking at how forms of care and coercion interacted at the intimate level of the household. The project concentrates on four interrelated regions in the (former) Dutch empire, in which various forms of forced labour ranging from slavery to more informal forms of coercion existed. It compares regions on four different continents and over time, thus connecting metropole and colonies as well as colonial and postcolonial developments.

VICI is one of the largest scientific grants for individuals in the Netherlands and is intended for advanced researchers. This funding enables scientists to set up their own innovative line of research and put together their own research group.

SOCION congratulates prof. Nederveen Meerkerk for this achievement!

30 million Euros for Social Cohesion Research

May 8, 2024

Prestigious NWO Summit Grant for SOCION consortium‘s program Social Cohesion – Towards a New Fabric of Society

The SOCION consortium, in which social sciences and humanities researchers from five different knowledge institutions are conducting research on social cohesion, has secured a €30 million Summit Grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). Lead applicant Rafael Wittek (Sociology) of the University of Groningen: ‘The very fabric of society is under pressure. Traditional forms of social cohesion are becoming less and less effective. Thanks to the grant, we, together with societal stakeholders, can shed a new light on how social cohesion can be achieved in these challenging times.’

The Summit Grant is intended for research consortia that have proven to be among the world’s absolute best in existing collaborations. According to NWO, the SOCION consortium, which builds on the ongoing SCOOP Gravitation Program, has proven its value by developing a methodology for interdisciplinary research in the social sciences and humanities. The interdisciplinary team can now appoint new cohorts of PhDs and Postdocs to successfully continue the project, which allows the researchers to make an important contribution of new knowledge for society.

The Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences at the University of Groningen serves as the coordinator of the SCOOP programme. Meanwhile, nearly 80 PhD students and postdocs have completed their SCOOP training.

Fabric of society
The consortium studies social cohesion. Social cohesion is ‘the fabric of society’, crucial for sustainable societies and the well-being of citizens. However, social cohesion is increasingly undermined due to community erosion and polarization between groups. Within the SOCION consortium, psychologists, historians, demographers, philosophers, and sociologists join forces with societal organizations to gain insight into how connections between individuals, groups and institutions contribute to new pathways to and types of social cohesion. Ellemers, co-applicant and Professor at Utrecht University: ‘The consortium aims to develop a toolbox of knowledge and measures that can be put to use effectively in counteracting social disruption. Disruptions that can be triggered by developments such as migration, climate change, and an ageing population.’

5 out of 55
Of the 55 partnerships that were allowed to be nominated by boards of Dutch knowledge institutions, 15 were selected to develop a full application, and present it. Five of them eventually received funding. The SOCION consortium comprises the University of Groningen (coordinator), Utrecht University, Amsterdam Free University, Radboud University and NIDI. Researchers from the University of Groningen who were involved in the application are: