Trigger Points with Steffen Mau
Copyright: THE NEW INSTITUTE | Maximilian Glas
event
event
Trigger Points with Steffen Mau
A Weekly Lecture on Consensus and Conflict in Contemporary Society
Economic inequality, immigration, the recognition of sexual and ethnic diversity, and climate policy are objects of heated political contestation in Germany as in all Western democracies. However, the exact shape of the attitudinal structure underlying these "old" and "new" conflicts remains controversial. In particular, there is a lack of agreement on several questions: Do attitudes toward the new conflicts coalesce into a single divide or do they form multiple independent dimensions? Do the new conflicts overwrite or complement older forms of redistributive conflict? Why do some conflicts become emotional and lead to public polarization?
We are pleased to welcome Steffen Mau as a guest of the Depolarizing Public Debates program.
Speaker
Steffen Mau is Professor of Macrosociology at Humboldt University of Berlin and Leibniz Prize laureate. He works in the fields of comparative welfare research, social inequality, and European integration. He has published widely on citizens’ attitudes towards the welfare state and on the relations between welfare state institutions and public support. His work examines the impact of Europeanization on social inequalities and the emergence of new social cleavages within the European social space. He also works on the transformation of the European middle classes, border issues and migration. His most recent book, "Trigger Points," examines the alleged polarization of Germany with a wide-ranging study of conflicts over old and new inequalities. His research provides an indispensable basis for discussing and debunking many myths about polarization.