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Exploring the Social and Political Foundations of Modern Economies

The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG) conducts basic research on the governance of modern societies. It aims to develop an empirically based theory of the social and political foundations of modern economies by investigating the interrelation between economic, social, and political action.

Independent and Non-Profit

The MPIfG is one of the more than eighty institutes of the Max Planck Society (MPG). The MPG is an independent, non-profit, non-university research organization that is primarily financed with public funds. Max Planck Institutes are independent and autonomous in the choice and pursuit of their research interests.

International Cooperation

The MPIfG works closely with partners pursuing comparable research interests in the social sciences. Cooperation, interdisciplinary thinking, and worldwide networking between research institutions and researchers are prerequisites for excellent research and results.

News

Renate Mayntz and Fritz W. Scharpf to receive honorary doctorates from the Hertie School

August 29, 2024

Renate Mayntz and Fritz W. Scharpf, both Emeriti Directors at the MPIfG, will receive top Hertie School honour for their academic contribution to the understanding of governance. “Renate Mayntz and Fritz Scharpf have inspired generations of scholars and policymakers and shaped how we think about our capacity to steer politics and society,” says Hertie School President Cornelia Woll.

ERC Starting Grant for Lisa Suckert

September 05, 2024

Economic sociologist Lisa Suckert has been awarded a prestigious Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC) amounting to around 1.5 million euros for her research project "REIMAGINE - Understanding the Role of Economic Imagination for Advancing Decarbonization in Europe."

Academic Freedom in Polarized Times

November 21 + 22, 2024 | The contributions to the 17th Annual Colloquium of the MPIfG will explore academic freedom and the challenges it faces in contemporary times. What tensions exist for institutions and those who work in them? What role can science play in increasingly polarized public debates? And what are the implications of these developments for the future of research in Germany?

The program is now online.
Please register by November 8.

Failure by Design: The California Energy Crisis and the Limits of Market Planning

Verkaufte Zukunft: Warum der Kampf gegen den Klimawandel zu scheitern droht

Wege aus dem Kapitalismus? Autorengespräche mit Colin Crouch, Nancy Fraser, Claus Offe, Wolfgang Streeck und Joseph Vogl

Austerity from the Left: Social Democratic Parties in the Shadow of the Great Recession

Dealing in Uncertainty: Insurance in the Age of Finance

The Rise of Central Banks: State Power in Financial Capitalism

Behördenconsulting: Unternehmensberater in der öffentlichen Verwaltung der Bundesrepublik, 1970er- bis 2000er-Jahre

Capital Claims: Power and Global Finance

Democracy at Work: Contract, Status and Post-Industrial Justice

Architectures of Hope: Infrastructural Citizenship and Class Mobility in Brazil’s Public Housing

Der erschöpfte Staat: Eine andere Geschichte des Neoliberalismus

Diminishing Returns: The New Politics of Growth and Stagnation

Recoding Power: Tactics for Mobilizing Tech Workers

Zwischen Globalismus und Demokratie: Politische Ökonomie im ausgehenden Neoliberalismus

Uncertain Futures: Imaginaries, Narratives, and Calculation in the Economy

MPIfG Discussion Papers

MPIfG Discussion Papers present results from ongoing research and contribute to current scholarly and public debate. They are subject to internal peer review and published open access.

MPIfG Journal Articles

Articles by MPIfG researchers that have previously been published in peer-reviewed journals are published online in the MPIfG Journal Articles series.

Neimanns, Erik, Lucio Baccaro

Growth Models and Voter Preferences: The Moderating Impact of Export-Led Growth on Centre-Left Voters. In: Journal of European Public Policy, 2024.

MPG.PuRe

DOI

Hadziabdic, Sinisa

The Wind of No Change: Union Effects on Partisan Preferences and the Working-Class Metamorphosis. In: West European Politics, 2024.

MPG.PuRe

DOI

All publications by MPIfG researchers