HPS³ - Lukas Haffert - "Abstiegsangst: Leveraging the relegation of football teams to study the political effects of regional status loss"We welcome Lukas Haffert on May 20, 2026 to the HPS³ Seminar Series

20. Mai 2026

The Hamburg Political Science Seminar Series (HPS³) features international speakers presenting cutting-edge research in all subfields of political science and political economy.

We welcome on Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - 17:15-18:45 CET in VMP9 A411:

Lukas Haffert (SOCIUM, Universität Bremen)

Titel: Abstiegsangst: Leveraging the relegation of football teams to study the political effects of regional status loss

Abstract: Political discontent and anti-establishment voting are regionally concentrated, yet the non-material sources of this geographic pattern are not well understood. Focusing on the role of regional identities, we argue that shocks to regional identity markers can generate geographically concentrated perceptions of social status loss. Because local football clubs are an important source of regional identity for many voters, we leverage their decline as collective, non-material threat to regional status. We combine evidence from a two-wave panel survey, focus groups, and local election results in Germany to study how football teams are connected to local identities and how identity shocks in turn can trigger status loss and political discontent.

We invite everyone interested to attend the HPS Seminar Series and are looking forward to seeing you. No prior registration is needed.

The HPS³ seminars take place in person at the UHH. Please find the preliminary program on the HPS³ Website.