Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung (MPIfG)

@mpifg.bsky.social

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Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies. Research on the social and political foundations of modern economies. 📍 Cologne Imprint: www.mpifg.de/2856/imprint

Franziska Wiest, Thomas Barrett, Pauline Kohlhase, Adriana Cassis and Emma Ischinsky smiling in front of the Institute
Abstract: Germany’s education system is in the midst of privatization. Although this trend, which started in the 1980s, ostensibly parallels neoliberal education reforms across Europe and the Anglophone world, Germany’s case is a special one. Privatization in the country is happening within a historical and legal context that favors public schooling; however, families increasingly exercise school choice to select “the best” for their children. The tension between historically and legally informed norms, on the one hand, and affective desires, on the other, is morally problematic for parents navigating between what is generally accepted as good for society and what they believe is good for an individual. At stake in this struggle is whether school choice becomes a “legitimate” part of the German education system, in a Bourdieusian sense. If it does, it risks strengthening social class closure mechanisms and heightening resultant social class anxiety.
Jens Beckert speaks in front of a group of people
Where Have All the Futures Gone? Towards a Sociological Explanation for the Crisis of Promissory Legitimacy Abstract It is widely acknowledged that perceptions of the future play an important role in shaping social outcomes. Imaginaries of how the future might unfold influence expectations, help coordinate social interactions and, consequently, impact the allocation of resources. While alternative and formative visions of society, creating collective expectations of the future, played an important role in social development over the past two centuries, many observers today note a widespread decline in future-oriented thinking, especially in countries of the global north—what some describe as a “loss of the future.” This article explores why inclusive social visions are so much less salient today compared to earlier times. In contrast to those who argue that stories of the future must simply be told more convincingly, this article highlights the fading of important social capacities for sustaining integrative collective visions.
Two women at an exhibition booth with the logo of the MPIfG, with books and flyers on a table in front of them
Eventposter with portrait of Kai Koddenbrock and details of the lecture: July 8, 2026, 16:30. "Understanding Germany in Times of Genocide: Franz Neumann and the Ongoing Question of Imperialism." Kai Koddenbrock, Bielefeld University
Das Bild zeigt eine Karte einer unbekannten Stadt, mit einem Bild von einer Villa sowie ein Buch "das Jahrbuch des Vermögens und Einkommens der Millionäre in Preussen".
June 10, 2026: Economic Statecraft in Emerging Middle Powers: Payment System Development in Indonesia and Nigeria. Florence Dafe, TU Munich and Lena Rethel, University of Warwick
Lucio Baccaro smiling
Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currencies. Inoperability, Fragmentation and Geofinance. Amy Verdun, University of Victoria.
May 28, 2026: 18:15. "Gendering Tax Optimization: Insights from Ethnography of Wealthy Families from the Top One Percent Across Continental Europe“ Céline Bessière, Paris-Dauphine University
"Share Deals bieten geroßen Unternehmen Vorteile, zu denen einzelne Käufer keinen Zugang haben." Dr. Hanna Doose, Politikwissenschaftlerin
MPIfG Lecture May 5: "The Undeserving Citizens: Erosion of Universalism as the Normative Basis of the Welfare State". Scholar in Residence Lecture 1, Hanna Kuusela, University of Jyväskylä
Job opening: Student Assistant for the research group on Technology and Statehood. Deadline: April 17, 2026.
Tenure Track Position: Senior Researcher, Political Economy. Application Deadline. April 20, 2026
Call for Visiting Researchers, Political Economy and Economic Sociology. Application Deadline: April 30, 2026.
Group photo showing the attending trustees, from left to right: Ferdos Forudastan (CIVIS Medienstiftung), Carsten Fiedler (BurdaForward), Andrea Blome (Stadt Köln), Andrea Kienle (Ministerium Kultur und Wissenschaft NRW), Witich Roßmann (DGB-Stadtverband Köln), Barbara Albert (Universität Duisburg-Essen), Michael Hüther (IW), Martin Börschel (NRW.Bank). Photo by Nina Poppe.
Journalist in Residence Fellowship. Für Medienschaffende mit Schwerpunkt Politik - Gesellschaft - Wirtschaft. Bewerbungsschluss 30. April 2026.
Time: March 18, 13:00. Title: "Coalition Formation and the Sovereignty of Tax Havens: A Comparative Historical Analysis of the Bahamas and Bermuda". Speaker: Lukas Hakelberg, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg
Stellenangebot: Bibliothekar (m/w/d). Systemadministration und Open Science Beratung. Bewerbungsschluss: 20. März 2026
A blue booklet with the text "MPIfG Discussion Paper"
Workshop Flyer: February 11, 2026, 13:00. Franziska Cooiman, Humboldt University Berlin: "Asset Politics. The Making of a Green Venture Capital Fund"
Bild von Dr. Daria Tisch mit Zitat: "Einige der größten deutschen Privatvermögen sind heute im Besitz von Familien, die schon vor 100 Jahren Teil der ökonomischen Elite waren."
January 21, 2026. 13:00. Title: Finance and the far right. Financial Nationalist Politics in an Asset-Manager World. Presenter: Inga Rademacher, City St. George's University London
January 21, 2026, 16:30. How Mainstream Parties Fight Back Against Extremists. Explaning the Choice Among Strategies of Democratic Defense. Isabela Mares, Yale University
January 7, 2026, 16:30. "Are Limitarianism and Capitalism Compatible?" by Ingrid Robeyns, Utrecht University
picture of star-shaped lamps hanging from trees, with the text "Happy Holidays"
Wohnanlage Berlin, Text von Jannik Jürgens für Max Planck Forschung 4/2025.
Call for Doctoral Researchers. Deadline: February 15, 2026
Titelblatt des Magazins "Gesellschaftsforschung" mit dem Titel "Wo Reichtum herkommt"
Shipping containers with flags of china, the US and the EU
Date: December 17, 2025, 13:00. Title: "Making Global Migration More Acceptable? How the Rights and Obligations of Immigrants Upon Arrical Shape Preferences for Immigrant Admission." Speaker: Alexandre Afonso.
Jacob S. Hacker, Yale Law School, Americals Democratic Party and the Future of American Democracy
MPIfG Stand
November 19, 2025, 4:30 pm
Eventposter: 14.-16. November 2025, Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Cäcilienstrasse 29-33, 50676 Köln.
Application Deadline: December 15, 2025
Group photo of the participants
MPIfG Booth with two smiling employees, books and brochures
MPIfG information booth at ECPR General Conference 2025 in Thessaloniki
"Peripheral Growth Models and the Global Economy: A Second Image IPE Perspective" Authors: Michael Schedelik and Andreas Nölke
Deckblatt des MPIfG Discussion Paper 25/6. Titel: Sozioökonomische Segregation und Kitaversorgung: Eine georeferenzierte Analyse deutscher Städte Von Matthias Diermeier, Jan Engler, Melinda Fremerey und Leon Wansleben
Foto of the graduates with their certificates. Maximilian Kiecker, Tobias Arbogast, Marco Oberti, Muhammad Osama Iqbal, Jeremiah Nollenberger, Anna Hehenberger, Stephan Gruber, Hanna Doose, Camilla Locatelli, Valentin Rottensteiner, Ceren Çevik and Zarah Westrich
Title page "Shifting Paths? The Evolution of Southern European Growth Trajectories Between the Global Financial Crisis and the Covid Pandemic." Authors Fabio Bulfone, Mischa Stratenwerth, and Adrianna Tassinari
Book Cover "The Game. The Economy of Undocumented Migration from Afghanistan to Europe"
June 17, 16:30. European Society - Its meaning and its promise. Armin von Bogdandy, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
June 4, "EU Industrial Policy. Crowding in Financial Capital, Crowding Out Democratic Oversight". Angela Wigger, Radboud University
Valeria Pulignano, KU Leuven. Lecture Title: The Politics of Unpaid Labor. How the Study of Unpaid Labor Can Help Address Inequality in Precarious Work"
Partyguests talking in groups outside in the sunshine
Pauline Kohlhase presenting her poster
Susanne K. Schmidt
Ralf Heinen
Director Jens Beckert at the podium
Dustin Voss with Lukas Haffert, member of the Prize Jury
Title: Untrustworthy Authorities and Complicit Bankers: Unraveling Monetary Distrust in Argentina
Title of the lecture: Development Disrupted