1. Why are you studying inequality?
To safeguard liberal democracy in times of crisis, it is extremely important to understand how economic inequality and ideology develop and influence each other (and how this development is perceived).
2. What are you working on?
Currently, our team is focusing on the interplay between economic crises, inequality and polarization in the OECD.
3. How did you end up here?
After studying international economics in Kyiv (Ukraine) and political economy in Konstanz, Germany, I decided to pursue a PhD in the field of inequality. Research on this complex phenomenon relates to both political science and economics, as well as methodological aspects. The cluster offers a perfect combination of these fields, and so I applied here!
4. Recent highlight?
To conduct a European panel survey on redistributive preferences (incl. perceptions of inequality) and ideological positioning of citizens that would allow to explore the evolution of political decision-making over a long period of time.
Oleksandr Shevchuk is a PhD candidate and researcher at the Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality" at the University of Konstanz, where he works on the project "From Bad to Worse? Financial Crises, Polarization, and Inequality". His research interests include the impact of financial crises on political polarization and economic inequality, ideological transformations under economic distress, and social conflict and mobilization.