Class

The democracies of the advanced capitalist world have become demobilized class societies: While inequalities are mounting, class conflict has become muted in the public sphere. How does this reshape and limit how citizens critique inequality and what political futures they imagine? Which new forms of class consciousness and classed politics arise among working and middle class citizens?

Read e.g.: Moral Disapproval: The Political Consciousness of the Demobilized Working Class

Morality

Moral distinctions between worthy and unworthy, deserving and undeserving groups are a powerful force in citizens’ reasoning about politics and inequality. In my work, I am interested in how morality shapes worldviews, opinions and political disagreements. How does everyday morality cement or assail the naturalization of inequality? How do moral ideas of good and bad define “trigger points” fueling conflict and polarization?

Read e.g.: Trigger Points. Inequality and Political Polarization in Contemporary Society

Cleavage politics

Political divides are being reshuffled in struggles over migration, ecology, recognition redistribution. I am interested in the social alignments of this new political conjuncture. In particular, I study the ways in which group identities anchor today’s political cleavages. How does people’s sense of who they are shape where they stand on contentious issues?

Read e.g.: Cleavage Theory Meets Bourdieu. Studying the Role of Group Identities in Cleavage Formation

Qualitative studies

Much of my research is based on mixed-methods approaches. I believe that studies of public opinion needs to complement survey-based research with ‘listening methods’ that help us understand politics from the point of view of ordinary citizens. How do people outside elite circles make up their minds about politics? What is politics about in their words? And what makes some issues, policies, and styles resonate more strongly than others?

Read e.g.: Cleavage Politics in Ordinary Reasoning. How Common Sense Divides