Mapping (Anti-)Globalization Attitudes (MAGA): An Exploratory Geo-Coded Survey Analysis

Basic data for this project

Description

Anti-globalization attitudes, such as skepticism towards free trade, rejection of immigration or opposition to the transfer of national sovereignty to supranational organizations, are considered significant drivers of current political developments. In addition to the outcome of the Brexit referendum in 2016 and the election of Donald Trump as US President in 2018, the rise of populist radical right parties such as the Alternative for Germany is also attributed to anti-globalization attitudes among the population. Despite this importance, we currently lack a measurement tool to capture the multidimensionality of globalization attitudes. Moreover, the impact of local and regional factors on anti-globalization attitudes has not yet been sufficiently investigated. However, it is important to understand how regional characteristics such as unemployment rates, lack of access to public or private services, population migration or the proportion of people with a migration background affect citizens’ attitudes towards globalization. This research project therefore aims to develop a survey instrument to measure citizens’ attitudes towards the economic, cultural and political dimensions of globalization. Furthermore, spatial differences in attitudes are examined using a geo-coded survey, taking local and regional determinants into account.