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Margherita Cusmano

@margheritacusmano.bsky.social
1.1K followers 1.6K following 61 posts

Postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science | Sociology | Mixed Methods | Researching migrants’ perceptions of economic #inequality | margheritacusmano.com

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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Fun to see my paper on “intersectionality in the mind” in this month’s list of the most popular social science research on @scilove.bsky.social! If you're ready to commit, swipe right here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
‘Intersectionality in the mind’: Applying an intersectional lens to the study of lay perceptions of inequality - Margherita Cusmano, 2026
Research on lay perceptions of inequality has typically examined economic, gender, and racial inequalities separately and treated social positions additively. U...
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I also want to share a special thank you to Daniel Müller, who first brought this award to my attention. Excited to continue my work on migration and inequality, and on migrants' perceptions of the welfare state!
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
This milestone would not have been possible without the outstanding support of my supervisors, Prof. Karen Schönwälder, Prof. Silke Hans and Prof. Patrick Sachweh. I couldn't have asked for a better team in my corner.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
What is the best possible boost while stuck at home recovering from COVID? Getting news like this!🤧🤒✨ I am grateful to receive the Wolfgang Enke Award from @uni-goettingen.de and see my dissertation recognized in the fields of social policy and welfare state research 🏆
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Two core insights: 🧠 Intersectionality in the mind: an everyday awareness that inequalities interlock. 👷‍♀️ A view from the intersections: social position isn't simple addition; it’s co-constitutive. Full paper (OA) via @britsoci.bsky.social: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
As one participant told another during a group discussion: “If you look at the statistics, you’re at a double and triple disadvantage. First, you’re a woman. Second, you wear a headscarf. You’re a Turkish woman. And you’re also a single parent. And you are retired!”
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
When you ask people about economic inequality, what crosses their minds? In a new open-access paper in Sociology, I asked 47 participants this question. Almost no one talked about money alone. Instead, they pointed to gender, race, visa status, language, and disability. 🧵👇
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
If you're interested, the article is available #OpenAccess here: link.springer.com/article/10.1... @isjrorg.bsky.social
link.springer.com
Generation Matters: The Role of Migration and Generational Status for Distributive Justice Attitudes - Social Justice Research
People hold different preferences concerning the justice principles—such as merit, equality, and need—that should guide the distribution of resources. Additionally, they judge the existing distributio...
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The pros: A fun, engaging way to find interesting research. Highly recommend! The cons: My “to-read” list is now exponentially longer. (Thank goodness for the daily match limits, because the swiping process is addictive! 😅)
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I only discovered this app last week, and what can I say: I absolutely love it. It’s essentially “Tinder for papers”, allowing you to swipe through interesting pieces of research.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Very excited to see that my paper, Generation Matters: The Role of Migration and Generational Status for Distributive Justice Attitudes, is trending on @scilove.bsky.social ! 📈
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Please feel free to drop me a message if you will be around, I am always up for a coffee and a good chat about research. Hope to see you at the conference!
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Here is where you can find me: 🗣️ Panel: Socioeconomic, Political and Emotional Antecedents of Inequality Perceptions (Code: P487) 🗓️ When: Friday, September 11, 14:00–15:45 📍 Where: Faculty of International and Political Studies | Floor 4, Room 408
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Hello, Krakow! 👋 I have just arrived for the ECPR General Conference and cannot wait to dive in. I will be presenting my latest work on migrants’ welfare state attitudes later this week. #ecprgc26
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Max-Planck-Gesellschaft @maxplanck.de · 04/09/2026
Ist die deutsche Einheit gelungen? Steffen Mau erklärt in diesem Podcast, was man bei der #Wiedervereinigung hätte besser machen können und warum der Osten politisch so anders tickt. 🎧 www.zeit.de/gesellschaft... @zeit.de @steffenmau.bsky.social
zeit.de
Interviewpodcast »Nur eine Frage«: Ist die deutsche Einheit gelungen, Steffen Mau?
Der Soziologe Steffen Mau erklärt, was man bei der Wiedervereinigung hätte besser machen können und warum der Osten politisch so anders tickt.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
My amazing partner Massimo Maccalli deserves a massive shout-out for building the code magic and making the design look this good!
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I finally have a corner of the internet to call my own: margheritacusmano.com ✨ If you stop by, definitely go poke at the Venn diagram on the main page. Click on the intersections to see how different parts of my work and interests overlap.
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Thomas Lux @thomaslux.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Sociology in the tradition of Karl Mannheim says that what you live through in your impressionable years tends to leave a lasting imprint. But which events do people themselves count as formative for their lives? Our data visualization in Socius answers this. 1/6 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Herzlichen Dank! Ich freue mich ebenfalls darauf!🎉
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Herzlichen Dank für die wertschätzenden Worte! Diese Literatur hat mich tatsächlich dazu inspiriert, die Forschungsfrage auf ein anderes Themenfeld anzuwenden 🙂
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Uni Göttingen @uni-goettingen.de · 23/07/2026
Herzlichen Glückwunsch! Margherita Cusmano, die an unserer Uni in #Soziologie promoviert wurde, erhielt für ihre Dissertation einen Preis der #KörberStiftung. Sie untersuchte, wie Zugewanderte die ökonomische Ungleichheit in Deutschland wahrnehmen: s.gwdg.de/XsN29F @margheritacusmano.bsky.social
Margherita Cusmano

Foto: Kay Herschelman
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Thanks a lot! Likewise - loved your presentation!!👏
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
I am very much looking forward to the award ceremony on December 10, 2026, in Berlin! @koerber-ip.bsky.social @uni-goettingen.de #DeutscherStudienpreis #KörberStiftung #gesellschaftbessermachen #migration #inequality
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
👉 You can read more about my research here: koerber-stiftung.de/projekte/deu... 👏 Huge congratulations also to my fellow award winners Philipp Jann and @brunofeuerheerd.bsky.social.
koerber-stiftung.de
Der deutsche Traum: Ökonomische Ungleichheit aus Sicht von Zugewanderten
Margherita Cusmano, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
A huge thank you to my supervisors and to my colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science, the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, and at the The University of Göttingen for their support! @mpips.bsky.social @uni-goettingen.de
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
🏆 With this award, the Körber-Stiftung annually recognizes the best doctoral theses across all disciplines that have a high level of societal relevance.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
🎉 I could not be happier that my dissertation on migrants’ views on inequality has been awarded a 2nd prize in the Social Sciences section of the Deutscher Studienpreis!
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The Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science @mpips.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Our postdoc @margheritacusmano.bsky.social has been shortlisted for the Deutscher Studienpreis 2026 (Körber-Stiftung) - 30 nominees from 859 submissions. Her dissertation, "The German Dream: Economic Inequality through the Eyes of Migrants," asks how migrants perceive inequality & fairness.
koerber-stiftung.de
30 Promovierte für den Deutschen Studienpreis 2026 nominiert
Jury wählt Shortlist aus 859 Einreichungen aus
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The Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science @mpips.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Many assume that migrants are drawn to Germany by its welfare benefits. A new open access study by our postdoc @margheritacusmano.bsky.social complicates that. Many valued the safety net most for simply being there, even those who'll likely never need it. Not just the good life, but the good society
tandfonline.com
Germany as a ‘social state’: post-migration geographical imaginaries as visions of the good society
Migration research increasingly examines geographical imaginaries but typically treats them as pre-migration constructs that collide with post-migration realities and subsequently dissolve. This ar...
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Simone Varriale @simov.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
New article out! We rethink ‘meritocracy’ not as a fixed belief but as practical, embodied knowledge transformed through experiences of social and geographical mobility onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 1/6
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Meritocracy, Recognition and Double Consciousness: Why Black and Muslim Italians Move to (and Sometimes Leave) Post‐Brexit Britain
This article rethinks meritocratic ideology as practical knowledge that transforms through biographies of social and geographical mobility. Drawing on 37 interviews with Black and Muslim Italians liv....
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Looking forward to meeting you too!
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Many thanks to @uni-goettingen.de, the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, the @mpips.bsky.social, and to everyone who supported this research along the way.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
I am grateful to the Körber-Stiftung for this recognition and look forward to presenting my research and hearing the presentations of the other nominees.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
My doctoral project, The German Dream: Economic Inequality through the Eyes of Migrants, examines how migrants perceive economic inequality, what they consider a fair distribution of resources, and whether they support redistributive policies.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Each year, the Körber-Stiftung awards the Deutscher Studienpreis to outstanding doctoral researchers from all academic disciplines. This year, 30 nominees were selected from 859 submissions and invited to present their work in Berlin at the end of June.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
I am excited to share that my dissertation has been nominated for the Deutscher Studienpreis by the @koerber-stiftung.de 🎉 🔗 Official press release here: lnkd.in/dWXNTD7K 👇 Shortlisted candidates in the Social Sciences section #DeutscherStudienpreis #KörberStiftung #gesellschaftbessermachen
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The Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science @mpips.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Why do our societies seem so deeply divided when most citizens actually occupy a broad political middle ground? @steffenmau.bsky.social, @thomaslux.bsky.social & @lwestheuser.bsky.social unpack this paradox in Trigger Points, pub. today @brisunipress.bsky.social, Foreward @mikesavagelse.bsky.social
bristoluniversitypress.co.uk
Trigger Points
Trigger Points - Inequality and Political Polarization in Contemporary Society; Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Is society really polarized? This book explores key conflicts...
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
The findings suggest that many migrants don’t just evaluate a country by the opportunities it offers them. They also evaluate the kind of society it creates for everyone. They develop visions not only of the good life, but also of the good society. 🔓 Open access article: doi.org/10.1080/1369...
doi.org
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
As one participant put it: "Something really outstanding in this country is that if you end up broke-ass, they pick you up and come to your aid. And you don’t end up on the streets, that’s for sure."
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
They often contrasted these perceptions with both their countries of origin and, in some cases, the United States, which was viewed as offering greater equality of opportunity but also tolerating much sharper inequalities of outcomes.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Drawing on interviews and group discussions with 47 migrants in Germany, I found that participants frequently described Germany as a "social state", a society characterized by low inequality, strong labor market protections, and extensive welfare provisions.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
📢 New OA paper in JEMS @scmrjems.bsky.social We assume migrants evaluate destination countries in terms of jobs and opportunities. But many migrants in my study valued something else: living in a society where those who fall on hard times are not left behind. 🔓 doi.org/10.1080/1369...
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The Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science @mpips.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Is Germany's middle class eroding? In this piece, 3 experts give a differentiated answer, among them our director @steffenmau.bsky.social. He warns that faith in progress has faded: under 10% think the next generation will fare better. He points to 'clear fault lines' that could deepen polarization
focus.de
Erosion der Mitte: Experten über Wege aus der Verunsicherung
Viele Deutsche fürchten sozialen Abstieg und Spaltung. Forscher erklären die Ursachen – und zeigen, wie Politik und Bürger gegensteuern können.
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The Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science @mpips.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
We launched our Open Lectures Series 2026 with a fascinating talk by John Levi Martin (U Chicago, editor of AJS), on the Weimar Reichstag – revealing a 2D political field that left–right alone can't capture. Based on work with Benjamin Rohr (Uni Mannheim) #OpenLectures2026 #Sociology #WeimarRepublic
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Steffen Mau @steffenmau.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Artikel mit @julianheide.bsky.social und @thomaslux.bsky.social (1) Ostdeutsche gelten als besonders unzufrieden mit der Demokratie, migrationsfeindlich, rechtspopulistisch. Oft werden diese Orientierungen durch Sozialisationseffekte des DDR-Systems erklärt www.degruyterbrill.com/de/document/...
degruyterbrill.com
Der lange Schatten der DDR? Zum Zusammenhang von ehemaliger Systemnähe und aktuellen politischen Orientierungen von Ostdeutschen
Zusammenfassung Ostdeutsche gelten als besonders unzufrieden mit der Demokratie, migrationsfeindlich und dem Rechtspopulismus zugeneigt. Oft werden diese Orientierungen durch Sozialisationseffekte des...
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Thomas Lux @thomaslux.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Gehen kulturelle Lebensführungen mit polarisierten politischen Einstellungen einher, wie oft behauptet wird (etwa von Goodhart & Reckwitz)? Die FAZ bespricht einen Aufsatz, in dem ich das zusammen mit @steffenmau.bsky.social & @lwestheuser.bsky.social geprüft habe www.faz.net/aktuell/wiss...
faz.net
Neue Studie hinterfragt die Zweiteilung der Gesellschaft
Deutschland zerfällt nicht in zwei Lager, sondern in neun. Eine neue Studie zeigt komplexe Konfliktlinien und hinterfragt die Spaltungsthese.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Thank you, Tabea!
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Curious to hear your thoughts!
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
· Salience does not equal negativity: noticing migration in one’s neighborhood does not mean holding negative views toward it. This contradicts widespread assumptions in the literature. · Even terms like “foreigners” (Ausländer) show little connection to political attitudes.
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Margherita Cusmano @margheritacusmano.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
💡 Key insights: · Most people perceive their neighborhood as diverse, with migration as a key (but not sole) category of differentiation. · We find what we call “diffuse diversity”: boundaries become blurred, sharp distinctions are losing relevance over time.
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