Majorities and Minorities

"Majorities, Minorities, and the Future of Nationhood," edited by Ruud Koopmans and Liav Orgad, focuses on the relationship between majorities and minorities.

At the end of the year we made music together at WZB. With a short music film we say goodbye to the year and wish all the best for 2023.

WZB researchers have investigated how long and unsociable working hours affect voter turnout.

The propaganda effect of the rulers in Qatar did not catch on everywhere. This is shown by the first results of the Qatar PAYOFF study.

A new publication covers the “University Autonomy Decline – Causes, Responses, and Implications for Academic Freedom".

Higher temperatures are causing people to move from rural areas to cities in the long run.

Münzen auf Smartphone mit Schriftzug Donate

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected pro-sociality?

"Majorities, Minorities, and the Future of Nationhood," edited by Ruud Koopmans and Liav Orgad, focuses on the relationship between majorities and minorities.

At the end of the year we made music together at WZB. With a short music film we say goodbye to the year and wish all the best for 2023.

WZB researchers have investigated how long and unsociable working hours affect voter turnout.

The propaganda effect of the rulers in Qatar did not catch on everywhere. This is shown by the first results of the Qatar PAYOFF study.

A new publication covers the “University Autonomy Decline – Causes, Responses, and Implications for Academic Freedom".

Higher temperatures are causing people to move from rural areas to cities in the long run.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected pro-sociality?

The WZB

The WZB Berlin Social Science Center investigates fundamental societal issues. Our focus is on education and work, markets and choice, migration, democracy and autocracy, international politics and law. At the WZB researchers from various disciplines work together – mainly from sociology, political science, economics, law and psychology.

Working at the WZB

The WZB offers a modern working environment, where both equal opportunities and the compatibility of work and family are highly valued. Find out more about it here.

WZB-Mitteilungen

Truth

How we see the world determines our behavior and our decisions. No wonder there is a bitter struggle for the truth. Various social groups claim them for themselves. They refer to expertise from science, to appearances, to widespread narratives. The situation is not made any clearer by the fact that some deliberately spread disinformation – profiting from the many possibilities that artificial intelligence offers. The WZB Mitteilungen have dedicated an issue to the question of truth, with analyzes of populist worldviews, fundamentalism, digitization and personal decisions. And with outstanding pictures that don't simply depict the truth.

Disinformation increasingly threatens democracy. How can this be prevented? Regulating platforms is often not enough to contain the dangers of disinformation for political processes. Thamy Pogrebinschi, Maria Dominguez and Mariana Borges Martins da Silva have examined the role civil society and collective intelligence can play in the fight against disinformation using the example of Brazil.

Do protesters perceive different truths and realities for which they go out to the streets? WZB Director Swen Hutter talks about the potential for radicalization at demonstrations, subjective truth and the power of extreme positions.

Critics of artificial intelligence have been vocal about the ethical and political implications of governments and corporations's use of automated facial recognition technologies. Less frequent are critiques of its technical aspects: Photography still gets a benefit of doubt as an accurate representation of reality. Anna Skarpelis looks at why we should remain vigilant and outlines how new technologies challenge social scientific understandings of the person.

News

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31 Jan 2023

Pathways to Democracy

Andrii Koval/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Utilising machine-learning, WZB researcher Sebastian Hellmeier, unit Transformations of Democracy, and Jean Lachapelle (Université de Montréal) have compared cases of authoritarian regime breakdown. Their study suggests a potentially decisive role for pro-democracy actors in shaping transition outcomes.

07 Dec 2022

A.SK Social Science Award 2023

Valerie Schmidt

For the ninth time, the WZB invites nominations for the A.SK Social Science Award, whose endowment of 100,000 euros makes it one of the largest international prizes in the social sciences. This year, for the first time, two “Bright Mind Awards” will be awarded to younger social scientists, with a prize sum of 20,000 euros each.

24 Jan 2023

Kremlin and elites in times of war

Martina Sander

Adrián del Rio Rodríguez, guest researcher of the Research Unit Transformations of Democracy, analyses in his research the origins and effects of elite divisions within authoritarian governments. For the online magazine The Conversation he wrote a piece on the current situation in Russia: “Kremlin and elites in times of war”.

Analyses on the war in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine keeps the world on edge. What does the Russian attack mean for Europe and the world, for our external security and domestic politics, for future coexistence at the state, economic and scientific levels? These are complex questions, and so are the answers; there is much we do not know at this point. In order to better understand the background of this war and to assess its potential consequences, the WZB is launching the series "War in Europe. Causes and Consequences". It offers WZB researchers a platform to share their thoughts, analyses and research questions with an interested public.