New Doctoral Researchers Join IMPRS-SPCE

Five new doctoral students are beginning their dissertation projects at the International Max Planck Research School on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy (IMPRS-SPCE) this winter semester. Eleonore Kaerner (University of Cologne) is working on “The Interplay Between EU Regulation and Digital Sovereignty: Strategic Autonomy or (Platform) Dependency?” in Carola Westermeier’s Technology and Sovereignty Research Group. Niklas Kullick (Goethe University Frankfurt) likewise joins Westermeier’s group, where he is researching “Managing the Modular Monoliths: On the Infrastructural Economic Statecraft of Data Centers.” Jan Thewes (University of Potsdam) is embarking on his project, “Adapting to Populism: Party System Change and Its Effect on Economic Policy,” in Lucio Baccaro’s Political Economy Research Area. In Economic Sociology, led by Jens Beckert, Albert Nii Dodoo (University of Cape Coast, Ghana) is researching “China’s Distant Water Fishing in Ghana: Livelihood Vulnerabilities among Artisanal Fishers and Community Members in Elmina.” Similarly joining Jens Beckert’s Research Area is Mythili Chandrasekhar (University of Göttingen), who is working on “Credit, Consumption, and Class: The Middle Class and the Political Economy of Debt in India.” The IMPRS-SPCE is a joint international doctoral program of the MPIfG, the University of Cologne, and the University of Duisburg-Essen and currently hosts 21 doctoral researchers.