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New Director Appointed

The Max Planck Society has appointed sociologist Prof. Dr. Steffen Mau (Humboldt University of Berlin) as Director. He will establish a new department focusing on Inequality, Transformation and Conflict.

Image montage from meetings of scientists and diagrams

About the Institute

The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity is one of the foremost centers for the multi-disciplinary study of diversity, in its multiple forms, in today’s globalizing world.

Colorful rectangular wood pieces representing diversity and inclusion in society

INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANISATIONS

The focus here is on the state at different levels, social and legal categorizations and meso-level organisations. Do organisations and political institutions reflect diversity? Are they open or closed to change?

Small wooden figures. Social inclusion, diversity and equality concept

SOCIAL INTERACTIONS AND ATTITUDES

How do different groups perceive the diversification of their cities, neighbourhoods, societies? How inclusive or exclusive are encounters and social interactions and what determines that?

Abstract figures to represent diversity and inclusion

INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES

Dynamics surrounding migration and diversity take many forms. What do the experiences of migration and diversification mean to individuals? How is that determined by age, gender, racism? What identifications develop in different contexts and interactions?

Portrait photos of the scientists who can be seen in one of the Insight videos

INSIGHTS@mpimmg

In INSIGHTS@mpimmg, our researchers give brief 3 minute insights into their work: what they research, how they do it and why it is significant.

News & Updates

New Department

The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity is embarking on a strategic orientation. As part of this realignment, Prof. Dr. Steffen Mau will establish a new department focusing on Inequality, Transformation and Conflict.

"Der große Umbruch"

Steffen Mau discussed major societal transformations with Ricarda Lang
As part of the Göttinger Literaturherbst, Steffen Mau, recently appointed Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, appeared in conversation with Green Party politician Ricarda Lang on Saturday, November 2, at 11:15 a.m. at the Sheddachhalle im Sartorius Quartier.

Portrait photo of Johanna at Göttinger Literaturherbst

Darf ich mal anfassen?

October 26, 2025, 7:00 p.m. | Paulinerkirche
As part of the lecture series "Science at the Göttingen Literaturherbst," Johanna M. Lukate spoke about her latest book Disentangled. Why Black Hair Can't Be Just Hair (Vaternahm, 2025). The subsequent discussion was led by Hannah Pool from the MPI for the Study of Societies.

Image with text “Festschrift in Honour of Steven Vertovec”, a portrait photo of Steve and a cover of Ethnic and Racial Studies

Transnationalism, Superdiversity and New Horizons

This Festschrift honours Steven Vertovec’s pioneering contributions to migration studies, transnationalism, and superdiversity, which have shaped academic and policy debates worldwide. It brings together leading scholars to reflect on his intellectual legacy through retrospective analyses and prospective engagements that expand, critique, and apply his ideas.

Sogar der Staat hat Bedarf an soziologischer Aufklärung

On the death of Claus Offe
Claus Offe shaped the social sciences with his astute analyses and socially critical perspectives. As someone who crossed boundaries between sociology and political science, his work remains groundbreaking. (In German) By Steffen Mau and Michael Zürn. • FAZ, October 3, 2025

How diverse is your neighbourhood?

The Superdiversity project website shows immigration and census data into interactive graphics and maps that showcase Canada’s changing landscapes and how socioeconomic indicators such as wealth, income, employment status and education play out across ethnic groups, generations of newcomers and neighbourhoods.

Beyond Encounters

The podcast series “Beyond Encounters” is a production of the “Encounters: Muslim-Jewish relations in urban Europe” research project, where a team of researchers did research on Jewish-Muslim relations in six European cities.

Margherita Cusmano receives DAAD Prize

Congratulations to Margherita Cusmano for being awarded the DAAD Prize for outstanding international students. The panel commended her expertise and dedication.

One to One @MPIMMG

October 07, 2025

One to One@MPI-MMG

Marriage, Migration & Black Identity: Karen Okigbo and Johanna Lukate in Conversation
What do marriage practices among second-generation Nigerians in the U.S. reveal about identity, belonging, and Blackness in the diaspora? Visiting Research Fellow Karen Okigbo sits down with Dr. Johanna Lukate to discuss the intersections of race, migration, and identity making. Together, they explore topics such as the symbolism of hair in marriage, theorising Black heterogeneity, and the ongoing debates around ‘migrantisation’ in Germany.

Screenshot from InDialogue: Ulrike Bialas, Alexander Kustov, Marc Helbling and Karen Schönwälder in conversation

MPI-MMG in Dialogue

In the MPI-MMG in Dialogue series on May 20, 2025, Alexander Kustov, Marc Helbling and Karen Schönwälder discussed how immigration can be made popular. The event was moderated by Ulrike Bialas.

Vanessa Rau gives the interview in the center of Göttingen

Insights@MPIMMG

In this series, our researchers give brief 3 minute insights into their work: what they research, how they do it and why it is significant. This time: Vanessa Rau on “Love and diversity”.

Forthcoming Events

MPI-MMG@Conferences

▪	Margherita Cusmano: "Intersectionality in the Mind: How Migrants’ Experiences with Multiple Inequalities Shape Their Perceptions " International Conference “Facing Inequalities – Strategies for Change” November 6-7, 2025 \| Graz
▪	Elisa Lanari is co-organizing/hosting Workshop "On being accompanied: amulti-modal workshop on kin entanglements and ethnography" December 3-5, 2025 \| Amsterdam

MPI-MMG in Dialogue

Our series of events on new research findings and current debates will continue. We will be discussing superdiversity, German migration policy, diversity assent and age and migration. Videos of previous In Dialogue events can be found here.

all events

Career & Calls

Job Offers

Currently we do not have any vacancies.

CALL FOR BOOK PROPOSALS

Palgrave Macmillan
Global Diversities

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Recent MMG Publications | Monographs and Edited Volumes

https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/PerezMurciaLong

https://www.hodder.co.uk/titles/johanna-lukate/disentangled/9781399700993/

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-64725-3

https://www.routledge.com/Superdiversity-Migration-and-Social-Complexity/Vertovec/p/book/9780415834636#sup

https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/aspiring-in-later-life/9781978830400

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo208300969.html

https://www.bpb.de/shop/buecher/schriftenreihe/519287/religionsverfassungsrecht-revisited/

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/schooling-the-nation/C17A639E1EF9E1448842B6ACEA6216F5

https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-eu-migrant-generation-in-asia

https://profilebooks.com/work/how-to-live-with-each-other/

Journal Articles

Lang, C. (2025). Politics of belonging and urban space: Civil society interventions in French and German cities. Urban Geography, 1-23. Link

Udo, F., & Naidu, M. (2025). African indigenous performances, collective memory, and identity in Post-apartheid uMlazi Township, South Africa.Journal of Asian and African Studies, 00(0), 1-18. Link

Petermann, S., Schönwälder, K., Harris, E., & Cusmano, M. (2025). Diffuse Vielfalt: Migration in individuellen Wahrnehmungen und Kategorisierungen. Soziale Welt, 76(3), 215-243. Link Link zum Online-Anhang

Ursula Moffitt, U., Lukate, J. M., & Veen, D. v. (2025). Incorporating racialization, anti-blackness, and critical whiteness into European psychology: Moving beyond “migrant” integration. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 233(3), 206-216. Link

Cusmano, M. (2025). Traces of the past, visions of the future: How asylum seekers navigate legal im/mobilization. SocArXiv Papers, 1-20. Link

Emmerich, A., & Kalender, M. T. (2025). Islam at the margins: Salafi and progressive Muslims contesting the mainstream in Germany. Religions, online, pp. 1-18. Link

Fiń, A. (2025). Semantic framework for creation of migration photography and their role in visual governance in migration. Ethnicities, online, pp. 1-23. Link

Emmerich, A. (2025). Biodeutsch - (Un)word of the year: Emancipation or Exclusion? A cultural-sociology perspective. European Sociologist, 1(52), 1-3. Link

Sakti, Victoria K. (2025). Older refugee perspectives on death, remembrance, and burial: The East Timorese in Indonesia. Journal of Refugee Studies, 38(1), 66-79. Link

Fliess, N., & Schönwälder, K. (2025). Widespread, but also popular? Exploring attitudes to diversity policies. European Political Science Review, first view, 1-19. Link

Petermann, S., Harris, E., & Schönwälder, K. (2025). Understanding support for diversity: The role of fundamental beliefs. Warum Vielfalt befürwortet wird: Zur Bedeutung grundlegender Überzeugungen. KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie. Link

Special Issues

Yamamura, S. (Ed.). (2025). Special Issue: Transnationalism, Superdiversity and New Horizons: a Festschrift in Honour of Steven Vertovec [Special Issue]. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 48(9). Link

Druez, É., Peretz, D., & Shaw, D. (Eds.). (2025). Special Issue: Boundary work in Muslim-Jewish encounters in urban Europe [Special Issue]. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 28(1). Link

Contributions to a collected Edition

Torno, S. (2025). "We are not doing well and this is my fault." Care, intergenerational relations and the wellbeing of older adults in Tajikistan. In M. De Loenzien, & A. Varrel (Eds.), Asie en care / Asia in care (pp. 105-122). Paris: CNRS Éditions. Link

Emmerich, A., & Ebbiary, A. (2025). Becoming Salafi. In M. Bano (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to women and Islam (pp. 151-173). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Link

Book Publications

◼ Benjamin Boudou, Marcus Carlsen Häggrot (eds.) (2025). The politics of democratic representation: Enfranchisement and participation revisited. Routledge. Link
◼ Benjamin Boudou, Aurelia Bardon (eds.) (2025). Théorie politique [Political Theory]. Bruylant. Link
◼ L.E. Pérez Murcia (2025). A long journey home: Losing and remaking home following conflict and displacement. New York: Berghahn. Link
◼ Seyla Benhabib, Ayelet Shachar (2025). Lawless Zones, Rightless Subjects: Migration, Asylum, and Shifting Borders. Cambridge University Press. Link
◼ Dana Schmalz (2025). Das Bevölkerungsargument: Wie die Sorge vor zu vielen Menschen Politik beeinflusst. Berlin: Suhrkamp. Link
◼ Fabian Graham (forthcoming). Money God Temples in Taiwan: Transcendence and Metaphysics in Chinese Religion. Routledge. Link
◼ Bob van der Linden (forthcoming). Cultivating Sikh Culture and Identity: Art, Music and Philology. Routledge.

Appointment / Career

2025

Melody Tzu-Lung Chiu | Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Nanhua University, Taiwan
Neena Mahadev | Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Duke University
Damián Omar Martínez | Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Granada (Spain)
Sumeet Mhaskar | Visiting Professor at the Institute of Political Economy, Carleton University (January–April 2025) | Fulbright Fellow at the Department of Anthropology, Stanford University (September 2025–June 2026)

Grants & Awards

► Weidong Zhang was awarded the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award 2025–2026 for his research on China and the Global South.
► Neena Mahadev was awarded the Clifford Geertz Prize for 2024 from the Society for the Anthropology of Religion (SAR, a section of AAA) https://mailchi.mp/ircpl/news-events-from-the-ircpl-at-columbia-10594969?e=724542c624
► Dora Sampaio was awarded an ERC Starting Grant for her project RETIREWEL: Retirement across countries: A tripartite analysis of the welfare state, family care networks, and the retirement industry.

Online Media

The City Show

Podcast

The City show is a podcast about complexity and how people live and adapt to life in fast-changing cities across Africa, Latin America and Asia.

A demonstration by migrant workers in Singapore

Blogs

Researchers from the institute describe the development of their projects and the challenges, delights and frustrations of conducting social scientific research.

Hiroshi Motomura during his online lecture

Online Lectures

Video

Here you will find videos from lectures given by distinguished researchers at the MPI MMG.

Image montage from the portrait photos of several interviewees

Diversity Interviews

Here you will find transcripts of interviews with distinguished scientists, led by staff members of the MMG.

MPI-MMG linked Journals

NEW DIVERSITIES

New Diversities is an international, peer reviewed, scholarly and professional journal, published by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity.

Global Networks

Global Networks publishes high quality, peer-reviewed research on global networks, transnational affairs and practices, and their relation to wider theories of globalization. The journal provides a forum for discussion, debate and the refinement of key ideas in this emerging field.

CityScapes

CityScapes is a 144 page biannual print publication. It is a hybrid of forms, simultaneously invested in scholarly discourse around contemporary urbanism in Africa and the Global South, as much as individual everyday experiences and activities of the multitude of actors that are actively involved in shaping cities across the continent and the rest of the developing world.

All social scientific research at the Institute, particularly concerning informed consent and involving visual materials, is designed to follow the ethical guidelines formulated by the American Anthropological Association (see http://www.aaanet.org/... ).

All material on the Institute’s website is protected by copyright. If you wish to use material from the website, please contact Dr. Norbert Winnige (winnige(at)mmg.mpg.de).