The tandem cooperations are supplemented by working groups addressing specific aspects of the work on theories and methods. Their composition will follow a bottom-up logic and consist of a subproject’s principal investigators (PI) and junior researchers in the CRC. Their work is based on specific theoretical concepts and/or methodological techniques or challenges. On the one side, these groups should profit decisively from each of the tandem cooperations. On the other side, the former should also inform the latter.