News and Press Releases

Justus Liebig University Giessen awarded Eva Maria Gajek the venia legendi for Modern and Contemporary History in December following her habilitation lecture “Vom Unfall zur Ordnung: Die Kutsche und die Entwicklung von Verkehrsräumen im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert.” In her habilitation thesis, “Auf der Suche nach den Reichen: Eine Wahrnehmungs- und Wissensgeschichte von Reichtum im langen 20. Jahrhundert in Deutschland,” she focuses on the history of wealth in Germany from the 1880s to reunification. more

Philipp Golka was presented with the Timothy Sinclair Best Paper Award for 2024 at the annual convention of the International Studies Association in March 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. He received the award for his paper “Epistemic Gerrymandering: ESG, Impact Investing, and the Financial Governance of Sustainability,” which was published in Review of International Political Economy. more

The MPIfG Board of Trustees met in Cologne for its annual meeting in February 2025. Chaired by Michael Hüther of the German Economic Institute IW, the meeting was attended by Patrick Bernau (FAS), Witich Roßmann (DGB-Stadtverband Cologne), Andrea Blome (City of Cologne), Martin Börschel (NRW.BANK Düsseldorf), and Andrea Kienle (NRW Ministry of Culture and Science).  more

Stephan Gruber successfully defended his dissertation, “Discipline and Promise: The Rise of Neoliberalism in Peru (1945–2000),” at the University of Duisburg-Essen's Faculty of Social Sciences in February. His research shows that neoliberal hegemony in Peru was not primarily shaped by external influences but by internal developments. more

Philipp Golka was appointed to the extended editorial board of the journal Finance and Society in March 2025, where he will take up the position of Reviews and Communications Editor. He is one of five editors newly appointed by the publisher to introduce fresh perspectives to the journal’s publication agenda. more

In February, the Economic Sociology Section of the German Sociological Association (DGS) elected Isabell Stamm (Technische Universität Berlin) and Philipp Golka (MPIfG) to its board. The section’s role is to coordinate research and teaching in economic sociology in Germany, encourage academic exchange, and raise the public visibility of economic sociology. more

In February of this year, the doctoral researchers of the International Max Planck Research School on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy (IMPRS-SPCE) elected Angelo Giorgio Cuconato as their new spokesperson. more