Elizabeth Soer Receives Doctorate

Elizabeth Soer was awarded her doctorate by the University of Cologne in June. In her dissertation project, “Imaginaries of Freedom: How Imagined Futures Shaped South Africa’s Transition from Apartheid, 1976–1996,” she examined the transition to democracy in South Africa around the central thesis that imagined futures shaped the anti-apartheid movement and that the transition was accompanied by a “rethinking” of the nation’s future. In her study, Soer analyzed archival material and conducted interviews to understand the influence of scenario planning exercises on the economic policy visions of the future government. Elizabeth Soer was a doctoral researcher at the International Max Planck Research School on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy (IMPRS-SPCE) from 2020.