Civil engagement and everyday life - An analysis of the civic provision of public services in rural areas from the perspective of practice theory

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Florian Dünckmann
• Subject Area: Human Geography
• Term: from 2017 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 397691012

The research project seeks to understand civic engagement as a lived practice, focusing on its bodily and material constitutional mechanisms. Drawing on interim results, civic engagement presents itself as a nexus of heterogeneous practices, which are connected by the shared goal of securing the quality of rural life and the imaginational space of a practice overarching village community. This nexus is effected by bodily, spatial and temporal de-/ stabilizations that act within and between engagement practices, and involve practices outside the nexus. Focusing these de-/ stabilizations raises further questions, which are indispensable for an understanding of civic engagement as a lived practice. Thus, on the one hand, negotiations of responsibilities become apparent, traversing the field of engagement practices along the logics of initiating, organizing, and helping. On the other hand, gender differentiations guide the performance of engagement practices and structure them spatially and temporally. The research project takes up these issues and puts the negotiation of responsibilities and gender in the context of engagement practices to the front. Thereby, the concept of joint commitments is implemented to a practice theoretical research agenda, and the mechanisms of de-/ stabilizations of gender within practices of civic engagement are pursued. This analytical focus opens up a new perspective on civic engagement in the context of public services in rural areas and suggests increased relevance to its political support. Accordingly, the research insights should be shared with political and civil actors to encourage a collaborative exchange of experiences. This is initiated by organizing a workshop at the end of the project.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants