Trust, social infrastructures and the politics of dissatisfaction and resentment
My research often concerns the interaction between the local environment and attitudes and values. The research examines how perceptions that one's own local community is disadvantaged or de-prioritized and what impact this has on political preferences. A particular focus has been on differences between rural and urban residents.
Furthermore, I am interested in how people themselves are involved in shaping their local context by, for example, engaging in civil society or acting together with others to solve local problems. I am particularly interested in issues related to housing and how the social networks between residents can contribute to community trust.
Civil society is often an important resource that can act as a kind of social infrastructure linking people together over time. I have been interested in how civil society can contribute to positive intergroup contacts. This is particularly important in an era of increasing population diversity. However, one important problem is that engagement in civil society is often unevenly distributed across groups and communities. Due to for instance socioeconomic and residential segregation.