About CCIG

The Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance (CCIG) is a University designated Centre of Research Excellence within the Faculty of Social Sciences at The Open University, with the aim of leading research and debate on themes of citizenship, identity formation and practices of governance in contemporary society.

CCIG is an inter-disciplinary centre, and builds upon and extends the Faculty of Social Sciences reputation for relevant and innovative socially and politically conscious research. CCIG engages in research and debate that is relevant to academics, civil-society and policy practitioners. Research is primarily undertaken through the Research Programmes, each of which focuses on one or more specific areas of enquiry within the centre's broader focus. These programmes are not prescriptive, and CCIG is defined by the diversity of its members and funded research projects – which includes the ERC funded research project Oecumene: Citizenship after Orientalism. The ongoing governance of the Centre is the responsibility of CCIG's Management Board.

The centre is active in the pursuit of external funding to support the growth of its activities, and take part in national and international research networks as a means of sharing research expertise and information and building research partnerships. The centre has strong research links with other key research centres based within the faculty, including the ESRC Centre for Research on Social Cultural Change (CRESC), the International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research (ICCCR), and OpenSpace: Centre for Geographical and Environmental Research. CCIG has also developed strong research links with centres and institutions at other universities and within civil-society.

CCIG is committed to a steady stream of high quality academic research, disseminated by means of academic publications as well as other relevant media. There is a focus on high-quality programmes and the centre aims to provide career support and development opportunities for researchers at all stages in their career. There is an active post-graduate research culture within the centre, and the centre facilitates research higher degree students.

If you are interested in becoming a member of CCIG, please refer to the attached documents, membership criteria and application form.

For other enquiries, please refer to our contact page.