B5: The Impact of War on Attitudes, Identities and Institutions

Prof. Dr. Gwendolyn Sasse (ZOiS)

The effects of wars and conflicts on attitudes and identities have remained insufficiently researched, because of – among other things – the difficulties of empirical data collection in war zones or among the displaced. The views of those affected by war have usually been reduced to aspects of fight or flight, but it is important to understand these people as full citizens and to integrate their views on general political, economic, and social issues into the analysis. In particular, greater focus should be put on the possible effects on attitudes and expectations toward the state and political institutions.

Russia’s war against Ukraine since 2014 offers the potential to explore these questions through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. This project focuses on the individual experience of war and the effects of war on individual-level attitudes. This perspective “from below” is of direct relevance to broader discussions about security and democracy.