The market-liberal approach to climate protection has failed. Neither international climate agreements in the wake of the “liberal compromise”, nor private initiatives or the individualization of responsibility have brought about significant emission reductions. The current issue of Economic Sociology: Perspectives and Conversations explores the promises and realities of climate governance in a capitalist world. With contributions from editor Leon Wansleben, as well as Stéphanie Barral, Matthias Täger, Jose Maria Valenzeula, Nacxitl Calva, and Kohei Saito.

Dustin Voss was awarded the Best Paper Prize by the journal Socio-Economic Review in April 2025. In his paper “Sectors Versus Borders: Interest Group Cleavages and Struggles Over Corporate Governance in the Age of Asset Management,” Voss examines the role of global asset managers such as BlackRock in the context of a reform to co-determination in Germany. Voss’s study shows how coalition-building is a crucial determinant of the political power of international financial actors and how corporatist institutions still act as a shield against financialization.

The Game: The Economy of Undocumented Migration from Afghanistan to Europe offers an ethnographic account of Afghan refugees navigating the perilous journey from Afghanistan to Germany. MPIfG researcher Hannah Pool accompanies a group of Afghan families and friends as they move through Iran, Turkey, Greece, and the Balkan route in pursuit of asylum and safety. Based on her award-winning dissertation, the book explores the “moral economy” of migration – the social norms, mutual obligations, and expectations that shape the actions of migrants.