Social Change and Conflict examines how conflicts escalate or de-escalate in protests, policing, assaults, robberies, disputes, and workplace aggression. We study how people collectively anticipate and manage tensions, build resilience, and create safety. Using observational, experimental, and computational methods such as video analysis, we analyse patterns of participation, cooperation, and everyday conflict resolution in diverse social settings.
Social Change and Conflict is a unique research group within the PARIS Programme, combining two powerful lenses on societal participation: escalation and de-escalation. We view conflicts as opportunities for transformation, understanding, and trust-building. We study how individual grievances and frustrations transform into shared moral outrage that drives collective action, how social change ignites collective action, and how citizens challenge institutions through moderate and radical means, e.g. demonstrating or rioting. Our de-escalation lens focuses on everyday encounters, revealing how people in general, but also those working in law enforcement, first responders and care professionals, prevent conflicts from escalating into violence through subtle acts of de-escalation, particularly in public spaces.
We connect large-scale shifts—globalization, individualization, and digitalization—to face-to-face dynamics where these forces are produced and contested. Using innovative methods such as VR simulations, machine learning, and video analysis, we uncover how everyday conflicts erupt and how people (de)escalate, create safety, solidarity, and social change in daily interactions.
By studying sociological micro-dynamics of conflict, we develop theory linking individual encounters to broader patterns of participation, polarization, and transformation. In collaboration with societal partners, such as the police, national supermarket chains and municipalities, our research informs interventions—training, public space design, and policy—that build civic resilience, foster social cohesion, and improve conflict management in diverse settings.
SCC is coordinated by dr. Jacquelien van Stekelenburg (j.van.stekelenburg@vu.nl)
