New research group "Bedeutender struktureller Wandel" approved

8 July 2024

Photo: UHH/Lutsch

How and why do the perception and acceptance of political rules and institutions change? The new research group "Bedeutender struktureller Wandel" headed by Prof Dr Dr Lydia Mechtenberg (Chair of Economics, in particular Political Economy, Department of Economics) is looking into this highly topical question.

Using various theory-based laboratory and survey experiments as well as other empirical methods, the researchers in the new research group "Bedeutender struktureller Wandel" (FOR BISC) will investigate the causal mechanisms of social change. It is expected to receive more than three million euros from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Austrian Fund for the Promotion of Scientific Research over the next four years.

The focus is particularly on changes that have the potential to shake up social structures. "We live in a complex network of rules that determine how the state, economy and society are organised. As citizens, we agree on these rules and use them to define institutions that are supposed to fulfil certain tasks," explains group spokesperson Prof. Dr Dr Lydia Mechtenberg.

The FOR BISC is now investigating how three key drivers of change - climate change, globalisation and technological change as well as mass migration - affect the structure of society.

"These external influences lead to a redistribution of material and immaterial costs and benefits. This can, for example, change beliefs about the quality of existing institutions. New political, social and economic conflicts can also arise as a result of a change in one's own values. All of this can affect the legitimacy of institutions," says Mechtenberg.

These conflicts and the loss of legitimacy can be the cause of far-reaching structural change. The members of FOR BISC want to find out which reactions to social conflicts lead to what kind of change. "If the social structure itself loses legitimacy, the conflict can escalate and sudden profound changes occur. In other cases, the reactions and change are more gradual," explains Mechtenberg. In seven sub-projects, the researchers will investigate how the driving forces of change and the various processes of change are causally connected. The aim is to develop a comprehensive theory of this change.

The DFG has established a total of nine research groups and one Centre for Advanced Studies. This funding format enables researchers to address current and pressing issues in their fields and to establish innovative research directions. The projects are funded for four years in the first phase.

The Dean's Office congratulates Ms Mechtenberg on the approval of the project.