WZB - Berlin Social Science Center

In the current WZB-Mitteilungen, WZB researcher Minju Choi asks what the declining importance of liberal norms means for the role and authority of academic knowledge.

How often do established parties cooperate with the AfD at the local level? WZB researchers have analyzed this question comprehensively for the first time and found that the political firewall in Eastern and Western Germany is similarly stable.

Conspiracy narratives have a demonstrably negative impact on social relations. People exposed to such narratives develop more negative attitudes towards outgroups.

People with a university degree are more likely to live in central locations with good infrastructure. They can therefore travel in a more environmentally friendly way than people with a lower level of education.

In a research brief on the political effects of climate protests, WZB researchers Daniel Saldivia Gonzatti and Swen Hutter show that sustained mobilisation can positively shape public perceptions and policy outcomes. 

Kai Barron and South African health scientists have investigated the effects of South Africa's alcohol ban during the Covid19 pandemic.

Governments across the globe have introduced digital ID systems, in an attempt to make populations more legible to the state. A study asks whether the systems reduce or exacerbate political inequalities.