New Research Group on Contested Ecologies of Capitalist Democracies

The beginning of the new year also marked the beginning of a new research group at the MPIfG. Led by Leon Wansleben, Contested Ecologies of Capitalist Democracies turns its attention to one of the most urgent challenges facing contemporary society today: climate change and its consequences. As global awareness of climate change as an existential threat to humanity increases, so too do the political and economic conflicts over cost distribution, burden-sharing, and climate mitigation that are unleashed by the need to decarbonize. The research group investigates the dynamics of this transformation of society across different countries and contexts and working on the assumption that functioning institutions have a crucial role to play in facing up to the consequences of climate change. Leon Wansleben has been a research group leader at the MPIfG since 2019.