Project Description

Introduction and Research Focus
Western democracies have recently experienced powerful waves of populism, ethno-nationalism, and isolationism that have disrupted long-assumed neoliberal and multicultural trajectories. Events such as Donald Trump’s two electoral victories in the United States and the rise of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany exemplify this crisis. These developments challenge the foundational cultural codes that organize liberal democratic social orders. Our project, Democratic Futures, examines the scope and intensity of these challenges in the U.S. and Germany, drawing on Jeffrey Alexander’s Strong Program in Cultural Sociology and Civil Sphere Theory to analyze how key cultural structures underpinning democratic legitimacy are being destabilized.

Objectives and Methods
Using Alexander’s method of structural hermeneutics, we will reconstruct the binary cultural codes, narratives, and collective representations that shape democratic discourse in both countries. We will complement this interpretive approach with a computational hermeneutic analysis of large-scale digital text corpora (e.g., news media, speeches, online commentary), comparing and integrating both methods into an innovative mixed-method design. The comparative analysis will reveal how cultural codes of democracy endure or fracture under strain, offering new insights into the organization of civil spheres and answering Ann Swidler’s enduring question of how some cultural elements “control, anchor, or organize” others. The project will culminate in a comparative article and public-facing outputs to engage both scholarly and civic audiences.

Fellowship Duration: 

Summer Term 2026

Principle Investigators

• Host: Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schnettler | Inst. of Social Sciences, University of Oldenburg
• Fellow: Dr. Jason Mast | Research Associate, University of Trento