Michael Wrase

Michael Wrase is head of the research unit "Law and Governance in the Context of Social Inequalities" at the WZB and Professor of Public Law at the University of Hildesheim. His research covers constitutional law, social and education law, socio-legal studies, and educational governance.

He is the Principal Investigator of the research project ‘Access to Justice in Berlin’, which is funded by the Berlin Senate. The study examines empirically how access to the law and judiciary is guaranteed in the city of Berlin, laying a special focus on migrant and socio-economically disadvantaged citizens. In doing so, the project scrutinises both the specific economic, institutional and social barriers to accessing courts, as well as alternative ways of enforcing law. The research draws on a range of qualitative methods (expert interviews, focus groups, field observations) as well as quantitative analyses of data on civil proceedings at Berlin district courts.

Michael aims to expand this research to include a broader comparative and theoretical perspective on legal mobilisation and access to justice. For this purpose, he has received a grant for a two-year research leave from the Volkswagen Foundation.

Complementing his socio-legal research, Michael is interested in the field of educational governance and, in particular, how schools in deprived urban areas can be effectively governed and supported in order to improve educational opportunities.