Sign in

Tobias Widmann

@twidmann.bsky.social
2.4K followers 2K following 37 posts

Associate Professor in PolSci @AarhusUni | PhD @EUI_EU | Political Communication | Political Behavior | Political Psych | Computational Political Science

PostsRepliesMedia
Tobias Widmann @twidmann.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Only 3 more weeks left to apply! Please share widely 🙏
077
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Roman Senninger @rsenninger.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
⚽📚 The Ultimate World Cup Research Thread I've set up a little automated thread: every day of the 2026 World Cup (11 Jun–19 Jul) it shares one study on what football does to society: politics, economics, migration, health, crime & more. One paper a day. Kickoff below 👇
4012332
Tobias Widmann @twidmann.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
📢 I’m hiring 2 three-year postdocs at Dept of Political Science, @au.dk! Come work with me on The Politics of Shaming and Shamelessness — a new project on elite rhetoric, emotions, norms, hostility and political violence. Deadline: 31 August 2026 Start: Dec 2026–Feb 2027 Please share widely! 🙏
international.au.dk
2 three-year postdocs in political communication and political psychology at Aarhus University - Vacancy at Aarhus University
Vacancy at Department of Political Science, Aarhus University
17975
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Vicente Valentim @valentimvicente.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Back from hiatus with some good news: my book has come out in German! Thankful to @springer.springernature.com for publishing and to Patrick Kraft for his help with this.
413124
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Endre Borbáth @eborbath.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
I’m hiring 2 doctoral researchers in Politics of Climate Change at Heidelberg University 🌍 📊 Survey Research & Political Participation 🗣️ Qualitative Research & Group Formation Part of “The New Climate Divide” Deadline: 21 June 2026 Calls: www.ipw.uni-heidelberg.de/en/about-us/... Please share!
ipw.uni-heidelberg.de
Job Vacancies - Institute for Political Science
17067
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
MJ (Maryana) Balezina @mjbalezina.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Today I have joined the #PhDone ranks 🙂‍↕️ Thanks to the best committee, @turnbulldugarte.com & @twidmann.bsky.social & Jami Taylor; I’ve had a blast!!
4242
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Roman Senninger @rsenninger.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
New paper out in Nature Human Behaviour. "Government policy documents across 185 countries largely cite Global North sources" with @seramirezruiz.bsky.social DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s415... Ungated: rdcu.be/fh0Ss
doi.org
Government policy documents across 185 countries largely cite Global North sources - Nature Human Behaviour
This analysis of 1.2 million policy documents from 185 countries identifies global inequalities in whose knowledge is cited in policymaking. Governments in the Global South rely more on foreign source...
38730
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Kristina Bakkær Simonsen @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
📯One month left to apply 📯If you want to join our team @au.dk to study young people's beliefs about political power, this is your chance! Two 2-year postdocs in my ERC-funded project YOPOW: international.au.dk/about/profil...
international.au.dk
2 two-year postdocs on children’s political socialization at Aarhus University - Vacancy at Aarhus University
Vacancy at Department of Political Science, Aarhus University
12015
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Danbischof @danbischof.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
🚨 New paper accepted at the @bjpols.bsky.social: we were in the field while Brexit dominated British politics. Do MPs respond differently when constituents disagree with the party line? What we find surprised us: a null! url: osf.io/preprints/os...
36826
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Moritz Marbach @moritz-marbach.com · 27/02/2026
🧺 Paper Picnic 2.0 is here! More journals. New features. An easier way to keep up with the latest research in political science and adjacent fields. 🧵👇
17430
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Danbischof @danbischof.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
🚨📄 New paper (conditional accepted at @thejop.bsky.social): We test whether social desirability bias actually distorts answers in online surveys. Short version: It mostly doesn’t. w. @timallinger.bsky.social @kristianvsf.bsky.social @morganlcj.bsky.social URL: osf.io/preprints/os...
417758
Tobias Widmann @twidmann.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Very grateful to share that my project “The Politics of Shaming and Shamelessness” has been awarded a @carlsbergfondet.dk Semper Ardens: Accelerate grant. www.carlsbergfondet.dk/en/what-we-h...
carlsbergfondet.dk
The Politics of Shaming and Shamelessness | Carlsbergfondet.dk
3424
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Roman Senninger @rsenninger.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
📄 New WP version out: revised text, tightened argument, and new analysis. The Politics of Evidence Selection (w/ @jesperasring.bsky.social) Grateful for the helpful comments and presentation opportunities. Further feedback welcome! 🔗 osf.io/preprints/so...
14214
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Corinna Oschatz @corinnaoschatz.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
🫵WE WANT YOU 🎓 Are you interested in political communication, negative campaigning, and social norms? Are you experienced in quantitative methods? Do you have good rain clothes? Then our postdoc position might be just for you: werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies... Thank you for sharing. Merry Christmas
werkenbij.uva.nl
Vacancy — Postdoc: "Role of Social Norms and Norms Transgression in the Acceptance of Negative Campaigning"
<p><span>Are you passionate about political communication, election campaigns, and quantitative empirical research? The Amsterdam School of Communication Research is seeking a highly motivated Postdoc for the research project<em> ‘That’s (not) appropriate’– Role of Social Norms and Norm Transgression in Voters’ Acceptance of Negative Campaigning, </em></span><span>led by Dr. Corinna Oschatz.</span></p>
12421
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Bastian Becker @beckerbastian.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
🥳 New year, new publication 📑"Contested memories: the political effects of de-commemoration proposals" @jeppjournal.bsky.social With Francesco Colombo, we study a street renaming proposal in Berlin and find -contrary to conventional wisdom- no political backlash, but a positive feedback effect.
24319
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Politikwissenschaft Universität Hamburg @politikuhh.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
📢On Wednesday, January 7th (5:15 PM, VMP9 B130), we are pleased to welcome @twidmann.bsky.social (Aarhus University) in our HPS³ seminar series. All are welcome to attend! No prior registration is needed. For more information 👇 www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/en/fachberei...
033
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
theresa gessler @gessler.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Last day 📢📢📢
0106
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Daniel Saldivia Gonzatti @dasalgon.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
"Mainstream parties are increasingly allowing the far right to set the agenda" - for the @theguardian.com, @ashifakassam.bsky.social summed up our study. @tevoelker.bsky.social and I answered some questions to put our results into context. Give it a read! Study: bit.ly/4hhRFUN
28429
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Nicolai Berk @nicolaiberk.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
I had the pleasure to teach a 3-day crash course on #LLMs for PhD students. We covered: 1️⃣ Text Representation and Embeddings 2️⃣ Machine Learning & Transformer Architecture 3️⃣ Generative Models for Social Sciences The 6 slide sets and 10 notebooks are available on github: github.com/nicolaiberk/...
github.com
GitHub - nicolaiberk/llm_ws: Materials for my Workshop on LLMs
Materials for my Workshop on LLMs. Contribute to nicolaiberk/llm_ws development by creating an account on GitHub.
3639
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Kristina Bakkær Simonsen @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
📣 MORAL APPEALS IN POLITICAL COMMUNICATION 📣 New version of @twidmann.bsky.social and my working paper answering: * Have moral appeals increased over time? * Is the tendency to moralize ideologically patterned? * Are some topics consistently more moralized than others? osf.io/preprints/os...
osf.io
OSF
24513
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Ronja Sczepanski @ronjasczepanski.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Ever asked yourself how to detect and extract social groups from texts with computational social science? @haukelicht.bsky.social and me have a solution for you out at @bjpols.bsky.social. You can also find the pre-trained models on huggingface!
29431
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Elias Koch @eliaskoch.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
This is such a great and important paper – especially when read alongside those two by @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social & @twidmann.bsky.social in @psrm.bsky.social & @bjpols.bsky.social: 📄 #1 (PSRM): www.cambridge.org/core/journal... 📄 #2 (BJPS): www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
1133
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Kristina Bakkær Simonsen @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Now in an issue @psrm.bsky.social: I show that the 🇩🇰 Social Democrats could have won policy support for a pro-immigrant platform if their messaging were framed in moral terms. Findings provide a central corrective to the popular notion that the Social Democrats were destined to go anti-immigrant 👇🏻
110242
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Roman Senninger @rsenninger.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
📣 Jobs, jobs, jobs! Aarhus University’s Department of Political Science is hiring: 🔹 Assistant Professor 🗓 Deadline: 25 August 🔗 international.au.dk/about/profil... 🔹 Associate Professor 🗓 Deadline: 8 September 🔗 international.au.dk/about/profil...
3102101
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Comparative Political Studies @cpsjournal.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
New Article from our latest issue (Issue 7, 2025): "The Evolution of Global Cleavages: A Historical Analysis of Territorial and Functional World Alignments Based on Automated Text Analysis, 1843–2020" by Daniele Caramani, Siyana Gurova, and @twidmann.bsky.social journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
132
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
🚨 New publication 🚨 : Happy to share that my paper, "Losing Touch: The Rhetorical Cost of Governing" is now forthcoming at @cpsjournal.bsky.social. Short 🧵 about the paper here 👇 1/10
512736
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Danbischof @danbischof.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
🚨 working paper (w. @morganlcj.bsky.social @markuswagner.bsky.social): Protesters are not judged equally - even if tactics of groups are similar. We ran an experiment in 🇩🇪 testing how people react to farmers vs. climate activists blocking roads. What we find is disturbing: osf.io/preprints/os...
10357145
Tobias Widmann @twidmann.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
👇
040
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Roman Senninger @rsenninger.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
When politicians use simple language, citizens understand more and see them as less elite. New paper with @danbischof.bsky.social out in @thejop.bsky.social! doi.org/10.1086/736693
journals.uchicago.edu
Can Simple Language Affect Voters' Political Knowledge and Their Beliefs About Politicians? | The Journal of Politics: Vol 0, No ja
212932
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Enrique Hernández @ehernandez.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Should democracies ban parties that threaten democracy? In the DEMOTRADEOFF project survey we asked people in 15 countries about this. A short 🧵 with some results Citizens are deeply divided about this issue Support for bans is highest in 🇮🇱 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇳🇱 🇵🇹 🇨🇭 🇩🇪 www.dw.com/en/germany-i...
37428
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Computational Communication Science Lab (CCL) @compcommlab.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Happening now at #COMPTEXT2025 🤩🤩🤩 @ahrabhikat.bsky.social @krangelie.bsky.social @indiiigo.bsky.social
0308
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
theresa gessler @gessler.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
We're organizing another round of the Summer School for Women* in Political Methodology 🎉 summerschoolwpm.org Our super-cool speakers include msands.bsky.social @allisonwkoh.bsky.social @melinscribe.bsky.social @rebeccakittel.bsky.social @fabiennelind.bsky.social & @indiiigo.bsky.social 📆01/05
summerschoolwpm.org
Summer School for Women in Political Methodology
20 to 26 July 2025 at the University of Bremen
06244
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Kristina Bakkær Simonsen @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
💥Postdoc call 💥 Join my @erc.europa.eu project #YOPOW at Aarhus University 🎇 3-y position (possibility of 1-y extension) ❓How societal norms give rise to biased beliefs about political power in youth 🤖 Computational social science (large-scale text & image data) Deadline May 15: bit.ly/4hIpSeD
29788
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Kristina Bakkær Simonsen @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
And if you won't be at COMPTEXT, feel free to get in touch at bakkaer@ps.au.dk if you have questions. Team members from my current research project are also happy to talk: @twidmann.bsky.social (widmann@ps.au.dk), Juliane Høgh Schmidt (jhs@ps.au.dk), Anna van Vree (aavv@ps.au.dk).
041
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Kristina Bakkær Simonsen @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
‼️If you haven't seen the call already, this is your reminder‼️ 3-year postdoc in computational social science at Aarhus University to study societal norms about political power 🫅 I'll be @comptext.bsky.social in Vienna (April 24-26) if you want to meet up and hear more about the position ☕🗣️
13635
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Lucy Kinski @lucykinski.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
⭐I am looking for 2 PhD candidates w/ focus on qualitative representation research in my ERC project INCONEX at University of Salzburg! On the project: sites.google.com/view/inconex... Applications due: 2 May 2025 Full ad: sites.google.com/view/inconex... #EUsky #poliscijobs #qualitativemethods
16963
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
theresa gessler @gessler.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Gestern vor 22 Jahren haben Rechte in Frankfurt (Oder) Enrico Schreiber ermordet. todesopfer-rechter-gewalt-in-brandenburg.de/enrico-schre... Auch jetzt, wo rechte Gewalt in Brandenburg wieder Höchstwerte erreicht ist es wichtig daran zu erinnern. www.opferperspektive.de/aktuelles/st...
todesopfer-rechter-gewalt-in-brandenburg.de
ENRICO SCHREIBER – Todesopfer rechter Gewalt in Brandenburg
0449
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Alessandro Nai @alessandronai.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Wonderful project, wonderful uni, wonderful opportunity! 👇👇
153
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
This is a fantastic postdoc opportunity, to work with a one of the top scholars of political behaviour in Europe. Go for it!
1126
Tobias Widmann @twidmann.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
For everyone interested in working with computational tools, this is an amazing Postdoc position at the Political Science Department in Aarhus If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me.
055
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Linus Westheuser @lwestheuser.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
📢 CALL FOR PAPERS 📢 "Moral Economies of the Polycrisis. Conflict, Critique, and Legitimation in Critical Times" Workshop, June 16-17 University of Hamburg Deadline for abstracts: 07/04 Supported by the Economic Sociology section of @dgsoziologie.bsky.social linuswestheuser.com/cfp-moral-ec...
Moral Economies of the Polycrisis
Conflict, Critique and Legitimation in Critical Times

International Workshop. 16-17 June 2025. University of Hamburg. Organizers: Laura Lüth (University of Hamburg), Till Hilmar (University of Vienna), and Linus Westheuser (Humboldt University Berlin).


By disrupting what is taken for granted, moments of economic, political, and ecological crisis reveal the implicit modus operandi of a society. As routines get derailed and settled arrangements come under strain, institutions are forced to explicate the “implicit social contract” (Barrington Moore) underpinning power, domination, and inequality. Who deserves protection when times get rough? Whose suffering matters and whose claims are made to count? Who is blamed? And what even counts as a crisis and what is shrugged off and fades into a ‘new normal’? 

These questions touch on a tacit structure of social expectations commonly discussed under the heading of moral economy. Drawing on thinkers like E.P. Thompson, James C. Scott, or Marion Fourcade, the moral economy perspective examines expectations of unequal reciprocity and distributive claims in economic relations; ideas of systemic legitimacy resting on mutual obligations between dominant and dominated groups; or political priorities tied to assumptions about the (un)deservingness and moral worth of social groups. Moral economy approaches focalize the ideational and institutional architecture of capitalist societies by parsing how legitimacy and hegemony are embedded in everyday moral reasoning. In addition these approaches also often look at social practices, struggles, and forms of critique centered around the violation of moral claims. 

At our workshop, we want to discuss work in the moral economy paradigm that sheds light on the current “polycrisis” composed of geopolitical turmoil, economic shocks, ecological breakdown, as well as crises of care and political legitimacy. 
    What can the moral economy perspective teach us about the way capitalist societies navigate these crises? 
    To what extent do crises open up a space in which dominated groups can critique inequality and demand a renegotiation of the implicit social contract? 
    How do demands and political responses informed by existing moral economies deepen inequality and domination? 
    How do institutions like the welfare state or social and eco-social policies seek to mend rifts in the moral economy? 
    What are moral background assumptions that make some developments (such as migration) but not others (such as poverty and extreme wealth) appear as crises? 
    And what is the explanatory status of moral economy as a concept? For instance, are popular moral sentiments and subjective aspirations a driver of political and economic action, or are they merely a symptom of existing power relations? Is moral economy about agency or structure? And if both, how exactly? 

These are some of the questions we want to discuss with a group of international scholars. 

We invite papers taking a moral economy perspective to empirically research or theorize the current conjuncture. Papers can be at all stages of development, the event is meant to collaboratively discuss work in progress. We especially welcome submissions from doctoral and post-doctoral researchers. Limited funds are available to assist with travel and accommodation for those lacking institutional support.

Please send an abstract of max. 500 words to: laura.lueth@uni-hamburg.de, till.hilmar@univie.ac.at and linus.westheuser@hu-berlin.de 

Deadline for abstract submissions: 7 April, 2025

The workshop is supported by the Economic Sociology Section of the German Sociological Association (DGS), the Research Unit Economic Sociology at the University of Hamburg, and the Research Unit Macrosociology at Humboldt University Berlin.
19345
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Kristina Bakkær Simonsen @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Thanks to @twidmann.bsky.social for a wonderful collaboration - and go read his thread for the study's key take-aways: bsky.app/profile/twid...
021
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Kristina Bakkær Simonsen @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
‼️ No party is immune from the competitive pressures that polarization places on them to moralize: the language of right and wrong, good and evil is used by parties positioned at extreme ends as well as those in the middle of the ideological spectrum ⚡️⚡️⚡️ A key conclusion from our new study 👇🏼
24919
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Kristina Bakkær Simonsen @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Tomorrow, in the CIS Colloquium @ethzurich.bsky.social and @ipz.bsky.social I'll be presenting new work on the electoral potentials (and pitfalls) of using moral rhetoric for individual politicians 📣🗳️ Joint work with @twidmann.bsky.social Come if you're around!
1162
Tobias Widmann @twidmann.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
🚨 Very happy to have a new study out in @bjpols.bsky.social with @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social We research across 8 countries what drives parties to use moral rhetoric in their communication: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
When Do Political Parties Moralize?: A Cross-National Study of the Use of Moral Language in Political Communication on Immigration | British Journal of Political Science | Cambridge Core
When Do Political Parties Moralize?: A Cross-National Study of the Use of Moral Language in Political Communication on Immigration - Volume 55
49422
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
British Journal of Political Science @bjpols.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
NEW - When Do Political Parties Moralize?: A Cross-National Study of the Use of Moral Language in Political Communication on Immigration - cup.org/41t5yI4 - @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social & @twidmann.bsky.social #OpenAccess
BJPolS abstract discussing the evolution of political language regarding immigration, analyzing speeches from eight Western democracies over six decades to explore how moral language shapes party strategies on immigration issues.
0227
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Florian Keppeler @flokeppeler.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Something else Wilma was concerned about - so much of the election campaign was about migration, and often as a moral-emotional rather than fact-based debate. To understand how this can be, she read the study by her smart colleagues @twidmann.bsky.social and @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social 2/🧵
142
Tobias Widmann @twidmann.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Wir haben einen Blogbeitrag in @lseblogs.bsky.social über die deutsche Bundestagswahl und das Thema Einwanderung und Moralisierung geschrieben - mit viel Forschung aus unserem Projekt @kristinabsimonsen.bsky.social #BTW25 #Bundestagswahl
0113
Reposted by Tobias Widmann
Jürgen Maier @maierjuergen.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Morgen zweite Kanzlerdebatte - diesmal mit alle 4 Kandidaten! Los geht's um 20.15 Uhr bei RTL. Wer die Kandidaten live bewerten will, kann dies mit unserer App tun. Alle Infos zum Projekt sowie Link zur App gibt es hier: rptu.de/s/tvduell #TVDuell #btw25
21310