Social Cohesion: Communication and Consensus – #mpaed2021

The concept of social cohesion is booming. The term, which until recently was virtually unknown beyond the world of think tanks, has become an integral part of media debates and political communication about the state of our society. One encounters it as a matter of course in party programmes, on election posters, in political commentaries, and in talk show discussions. At the same time, its meaning often remains diffuse in these contexts and can be reduced to the fact that social cohesion is basically something good and desirable, but is currently being threatened or is dwindling and therefore needs to be strengthened again. Against the background of this everyday observation, the conference aims at a heuristic and transparent deconstruction of the term from a media education perspective.