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WiSe 20/21: Transformations of Political Culture? Exploring current phenomena and trends

Sebastian Büttner

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There is an increasing unease about major changes and transformations of political culture in established democratic societies. The rise of right-wing populism in many countries, the transformation of established party politics, the intensification of political conflicts and divides in public debates, the growth of radical critique in public protests, the changing rules of the game of public discourse through Twitter, Social media and new channels of information, the rise conspiracy theories and hate speech in public discourse, all these phenomena and many more have given reasons for concerns about a fundamental and rapid transformation of politics and political culture. However: is this impression backed by empirical evidence, or is it just a feeling that strongly correlates with actual curves of arousal in public debates and in the media? What are ways to study changes and transformation of political culture? If we want to grasp and make sense of the current situation, how can and should we do this? – These questions form the point of departure for our sociological explorations of current political trends and developments in this research seminar. Starting from introductions to basic terms, concepts, and debates the students are asked to development their own research questions and conduct their own research endeavours during the seminar. It will be interesting to see, what will be major research topics and which conclusions will be drawn by the students. There is no restriction regarding methods. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis are possible. However, it should be noted that there is a small preference for qualitative analyses or at least a mixture of different strategies of data analysis. close