Prof. Dr. Hanna Schwander - Coping with Affective Polarization

Prof. Dr. Hanna Schwander

Principal Investigator

Research Stream:
Individuals
Berlin Polarization Monitor

Website:
http://www.schwander-hanna.ch/
https://www.sowi.hu-berlin.de/de/lehrbereiche/sozpol/team/schwander/schwander
ORCID: 0000-0002-0352-7620

Short Vita

I am a professor and head of the Department of Political Sociology and Social Policy at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. At the interface between political sociology and comparative political economy, I work on the question of how structural challenges – such as the transformation of welfare states, inequality in the labor market and climate change – influence various dimensions of political life.

Key publications

Becker, B., Schwander, H., Shuttleworth, L., Faas, T., Gerstorf, D., specht, jule, & Teney, C. (2025). The Berlin Polarization Monitor: A Panel Study of Partisan and Issue-Based Polarization in Germany (2025–2027) (No. msc7e_v1). SocArXiv. https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/msc7e_v1/
Demel, R., Masch, L., Schieferdecker, D., Schwander, H., Hutter, S., & Specht, J. (2025). Empathy during crises: Investigating attitudes, tolerance, and ingroup–outgroup dynamics in response to refugee movements. Journal of Personality, 0, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.13012
Schwander, H., & Fischer, J. (2024). From a cultural to a distributive issue: Public climate action as a new field for comparative political economy. Regulation & Governance. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12620
Masch, L., Demel, R., Schieferdecker, D., Schwander, H., Hutter, S., & Specht, J. (2023). Shift in public opinion formations on defense, energy, and migration: The case of Russia’s war against Ukraine. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 35(4), edad038. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edad038
Schwander, H. (2023). Insider–outsider divides in rich democracies: Labour market policies, new inequalities and attitudes. In D. Clegg & N. Durazzi (Eds.), Handbook of labour market policy in rich democracies (pp. 27–43). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Manow, P., & Schwander, H. (2022). Eine differenzierte Erklärung für den Erfolg der AfD in West- und Ostdeutschland. In H.-U. Brinkmann & K.-H. Reuband (Eds.), Rechtspopulismus in Deutschland (pp. 153–175). Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-33787-2_8
Garritzmann, J. L., & Schwander, H. (2021). Gender and attitudes toward welfare state reform: Are women really social investment promoters? Journal of European Social Policy, 31(3), 227–241. https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928720978012

Press publications

Klimawandel und Demokratie: Die Erderwärmung gefährdet unsere liberale Gesellschaft. (Tagesspiegel, 2025)
Despite 2024’s ‘greenlash’, the fight against climate breakdown can still be won. Here’s how. (The Guardian, 2024)

BACK TO TEAM