Projects

Cohesion under Crisis: Concepts, Measures, Implications

The four-year project, “Cohesion under Crisis: Concepts, Measures, Implications,” will investigate the role of social cohesion in weathering crisis, focusing on the Indo-Pacific region: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam.

Leveraging the skills of a team of researchers across multiple institutions, the project will develop and assess a new conceptual framework for studying social cohesion that accounts for complex social dynamics and changing contexts.

The researchers will investigate how social cohesion varies regionally and over time, and what factors support or undermine cohesion. They will also report on the tradeoffs for using different measurement and data collection strategies in the region, helping identify best practices for research that must balance accuracy with cost effectiveness.

Hicken will oversee the project team that includes Dan Slater, James Orin Murfin Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan and also an affiliate of the Center for Political Studies; Thomas Pepinsky, Walter F. LaFeber Professor of Government at Cornell University, and Anil Menon, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Merced.

The Minerva Research Initiative, US Department of Defense

Allen D Hicken, Dan Slater

2024 -