Clara van den Berg

Clara van den Berg is a Research Fellow at the Center for Civil Society Research, jointly affiliated with WZB Berlin Social Science Center and Free University of Berlin. Her work examines civil society dynamics, democratic resilience, and affective polarization through interdisciplinary methodologies.

Her research interests focus on civil society transformation, refugee integration processes, and polarization dynamics. She employs mixed qualitative approaches including digital ethnography, in-depth interviews, and social network analysis with particular expertise in social media data interpretation. Her work bridges academic research and practical civil society applications.

Analysis of her publication record reveals consistent focus on post-2015 refugee reception infrastructure in Germany, examining organizational sustainability, community resilience, and the long-term evolution of solidarity networks. Her methodological signature combines granular case studies with network analysis to map civil society adaptation.

Her educational background includes studies in International Relations and Political Science across multiple institutions:

• Humboldt University of Berlin
• Free University of Berlin
• University of Potsdam
• Duke University (exchange)
• Stockholm University (exchange)

She completed her PhD dissertation in November 2024 on the organizational legacy of 2015 pro-refugee mobilization. Current work includes the Einstein Stiftung Berlin project Coping with Affective Polarization, investigating how civil society organizations navigate polarized discourse.

Her international experience includes research fellowships at University of California, Berkeley (2022) and fieldwork with women's rights organizations in Israel.