CMIST Afternoon Seminar- Frozen or Malleable: Political Ideology in the Face of Economic Hardship
| Dates: | 14 March 2017 |
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| Times: | 16:00 - 17:30 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | School of Social Sciences |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, Adults, Alumni, Current University students, General public |
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| Speaker: | Dr Dingeman Wiertz |
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Abstract:
To what degree do people adjust their political ideology in response to deteriorations in their material circumstances, such as job loss or negative income shocks? To answer this question, we draw on panel data for the Netherlands over the period 2007 to 2015. Our analyses yield two main findings. First, ideological left-right positions are on average fairly resilient, even during turbulent economic times. When people lose their job, they tend to revise their ideology to the left, but only slightly so, and negative income shocks have no impact to begin with. Second, however, we find substantial variation in people’s ideological responses to economic hardship, as a function of the intensity and implications of the economic shocks they experience. In particular, we identify four circumstances under which job loss triggers a stronger pull to the left: when someone is simultaneously confronted with other adversities, when the household has fewer resources that can act as an economic buffer, when someone has more pessimistic expectations about the future economy, and when job loss comes as a bigger surprise. These findings contribute to an improved understanding of the underpinnings of political preferences as well as the broader consequences of economic hardship.
Dingeman is a Research Fellow in sociology and his research focuses on civic participation, inter-ethnic relations, social networks, economic hardship, and their interrelationships. The overarching goal of his research is to improve our understanding of social inequalities and social cohesion, and to inform public debates on those issues. Dingeman also has a keen interest in quantitative research methods.
No registration needed. All Welcome. Tea & coffee from 15:45.
Speaker
Dr Dingeman Wiertz
Role: Research Fellow
Organisation: Nuffield College, University of Oxford
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
CMIST Seminar Room, 2.07
Humanities Bridgeford Street
Manchester
