Workshop med Markus Wagner og Magne Flemmen

Workshop titler og abstracts

Markus Wagner, Political Science, Vienna:

Title: Citizen Perceptions of the Wrongness and Prevalence of Partisan Discrimination: Evidence from Seven Countries (with Isabella Rebasso).

Abstract: 
A substantial share of citizens is willing to discriminate against out partisans, raising concerns about the consequences of increasing partisan divisions. Yet we know little about how wrong and widespread citizens think such partisan discrimination is. To fill this important gap, we measure the perceived wrongness and frequency of partisan discrimination using a pairwise comparison task, varying the characteristics leading to unfair treatment. Results from representative surveys in seven countries (Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, and the US) show that partisan discrimination is judged as less wrong than discrimination based on ascriptive social groups and less frequent than discrimination based on all other characteristics. Yet, discrimination against in partisans is viewed more critically, especially among radical right supporters. Discrimination based on expressed political views is perceived as both acceptable and frequent. While we find weak social norms around partisan discrimination, our results also raise the question of how widespread it actually is.

Magne Flemmen, Sociology, Oslo:

Title: Drawing symbolic boundaries in the climate crisis: Classed emotions and environmental judgements

Abstract:
Environmental concern and engagement is strongly patterned by class, and particularly by cultural capital. Yet we know relatively little about how people actively relate to this – whether they draw moral distinctions around environmental engagement, how they position themselves relative to others, and what emotions accompany these judgements. This paper addresses that gap using a unique mixed-methods design. Drawing on analysis of a large Norwegian survey, we first map the distribution of environmental attitudes across social space. We then draw on in-depth interviews with respondents sampled from across this space, allowing us to move from the structure of attitudes to the lived experience and moral reasoning behind them. The analysis reveals clear class-differentiated patterns of symbolic boundary drawing. Groups rich in cultural capital admire the committed, frugal environmentalist and distance themselves from the unengaged and the overconsumer. Groups rich in economic capital are more pragmatic and less morally invested in the issue, but characteristically challenge the legitimacy of environmental engagement by pointing to hypocrisy and the gap between rhetoric and behaviour. I argue this reflects a form of lateral boundary work. Groups rich in cultural capital valorise frugality, restraint and committed environmental engagement – values that carry genuine moral weight but that also implicitly indict the consumption-oriented lifestyles associated with economic capital. The economically privileged respond not by dismissing environmental concern outright, but by contesting the moral authority that may accrue to those making these claims. 

Meetings

If you are interested in meeting with either of the two to discuss your research, then drop Rune Stubager a note.