Talja Blokland, Daniela Krüger and Robert Vief: Talking it Through in the Street – How Berlin Residents Organize Social Support During COVID-19 Restrictions

In their lecture from March 24, 2021, Talja Blokland and her team
presented results from their panel data collected before and after
COVID-19 in four Berlin neighborhoods. The presentation was
followed by a reflection on implications of our findings for the
urban fabric of the city. As everyday life is rife with challenges
and how we find someone to talk to not a matter of only the
strength of ties, how do COVID19 contact restrictions change for
how (face-to-face or by digital means) and where people organized
social support? Did people let more local and in-ward oriented
lives in Berlin? Did digital exchanges increase in importance for
talking to others about the most pressing challenges? Talja
Blokland is an urban sociologist and professor for urban sociology
at the Humboldt University Berlin. Daniela Krüger and Robert Vief
are research assistants in the unit „urban sociology“ at the
Humboldt University Berlin.