From September 22 to 26, 2025, the Congress of the German Sociological Association took place in Duisburg. Jan Schaller and Mara Börjesson represented the TRAWOS Institute with a contribution to the ad hoc group "Quo vadis Ostdeutschlandforschung? Perspectives on persistence and dynamics in dealing with social change in the East".

In her lecture "Structures instead of stigma? A critical perspective on research into the underrepresentation of East Germans in elite positions", they took a critical look at individualizing patterns of explanation and asked how useful research into individual social groups is if the causes of underrepresentation can be found in dimensions of social inequality and in structural aspects of elite careers. Instead, they argued for a multifactorial explanatory approach that focuses on structural, geographical and symbolic mechanisms of exclusion. The article argued that East German origin should be understood as a condensation of multiple dimensions of inequality - from a lack of economic, social and symbolic capital to regional disparities and discursive marginalization. Taking this perspective into account, they discussed the extent to which the category "East German" is helpful in this context for research, but also for political debate.

The panel proved to be a great success and offered an extremely productive exchange on future perspectives for research on East Germany. A key insight that emerged was that research on East Germany needs to de-provincialize and network more closely with other areas of research. Only by building bridges in this way can different fields of research enrich each other, benefit from existing knowledge and at the same time become more effective beyond their own subject areas.