Max Planck Partner Group for the Study of the Economy and the Public

The group was concluded in 2025.

The international Max Planck Partner Group for the Study of the Economy and the Public, set up in 2020 together by the MPIfG and Universidad Central de Chile, led by Felipe González, was concluded in 2025. As its main area of interest, the Group investigated the politics of economic expectations in the public sphere and drew in its research on the fields of economic sociology, and communication.

 

Group Profile

Economic sociology is an emerging field in Latin America, and Chile is currently hosting a significant number of young scholars who have devoted their careers to developing the “social studies of the economy” field. The Partner Group for the Study of the Economy and the Public set out to promote the institutionalization of economic sociology in Chile, supporting research activities and collaboration between the Faculty of Economics, Government and Communications at the Universidad Central de Chile and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies. Its main area of study was the politics of economic expectations in the public sphere. Economic expectations define social and political processes beyond the economic sphere, such as electoral outcomes, changes in public opinion, and decision-making among policymakers. Research conducted by the Partner Group drew on the fields of economic sociology, social media, and communication studies to investigate how actors in the economy and politics interact with the media to shape the way ordinary citizens perceive distant economic processes that are the basis of their expectations. Its second area of investigation was the financialization of households and the politics of debt. Worldwide, governments have relied on financial deregulation and the extension of credit as a way to provide public goods. During its lifetime, the Partner Group investigated the social and political conflicts that arise from the financialization of social policy, as well as the relationship between debt, social structure, and inequality.

Through its Partner Groups, the Max Planck Society (MPG) supports outstanding early-career researchers from its institutes who are returning to their countries of origin, and works with countries interested in strengthening their research through international cooperation.

As of 2026, the future of the successful collaboration between the MPIfG and UCEN has been secured by a cooperation agreement.