Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Giacomo Melli

Leo Azzollini @leoazzollini.bsky.social · 20d

Billions of 🇪🇺 money flow into regional development.
But do citizens trust the EU more in return?

🔬 Find out in this Electoral Studies article with Paul Maneuvrier-Hervieu and Anne-Marie Jeannet.

❗Spoiler: EU 💶 regional funds do build trust in the 🇪🇺 , especially among working-class citizens.

Cultivating trust? The role of European Union investments in bridging rural-urban divides

Over the last decades, agricultural policies and structural investment funds for regional development have been central to European integration. Howev…

www.sciencedirect.com

1 4 11

Reposted by Giacomo Melli

Kasimir Dederichs @kasimirdederichs.bsky.social · 24d

New Open Access paper published in PNAS Nexus! “Ingroup preferences, segregation, and intergroup contact in neighborhoods and civic organizations” with my co-authors Rob Franken, @dingemanwiertz.bsky.social, and Jochem Tolsma. doi.org/10.1093/pnas... Thread below.

doi.org

2 7 26

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · Aug 26

Happy to see this work in The British Journal of Sociology (@bjsociology.bsky.social)! Hope it sparks discussion on how social mobility interacts with democratic participation and what this means for representation and social inclusion.

Social Mobility, Self‐Selection, and the Persistence of Class Inequality in Electoral Participation

In recent decades, non-voting among the British working class has increased substantially, contributing to widening class-based inequality in electoral participation. This study examines the impact o...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

2 4

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · Aug 26

Using panel data from eight UK General Elections, we examined how occupational class mobility shapes the intergenerational transmission of electoral participation. The patterns we found suggests reinforcement of existing class inequalities in political engagement.

1 1

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · Aug 26

We found that upwardly mobile individuals are more likely to vote—but only after moving into the middle class. 📈Meanwhile, those who experience downwardly mobility (increasingly common today) show lower turnout even before their occupational change, reflecting self-selection.📉

1 1

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · Aug 26

Class-based gaps in voter turnout and political representation in Britain are likely to widen further. Our study, with Nan Dirk de Graaf and Geoff Evans (@nuffieldcollege.bsky.social), reveals how social mobility creates a cycle that reinforces democratic inequalities. 🗳️🪜

Social Mobility, Self‐Selection, and the Persistence of Class Inequality in Electoral Participation

In recent decades, non-voting among the British working class has increased substantially, contributing to widening class-based inequality in electoral participation. This study examines the impact o...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

1 8 19

Reposted by Giacomo Melli

The Conversation UK @uk.theconversation.com · Aug 12

In countries where income inequality is high, those who feel privileged are often more supportive of redistribution.

Where you think you are in society (not where you actually are) matters for how you think about inequality

In countries where income inequality is high, those who feel privileged are often more supportive of redistribution.

tcnv.link

6 8

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · Aug 25

If you’d like to go deeper, the full article - with @leoazzollini.bsky.social (@csisunitn.bsky.social - is published in Open Access in @ssreditorial.bsky.social).

@sociologyoxford.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk

Where I stand and what I stand for: Subjective status, class, and redistribution

While research is increasingly focusing on the political influence of subjective social status, it is yet unclear how the latter shapes attitudes towa…

www.sciencedirect.com

3

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · Aug 25

Why do people with similar jobs or classes see inequality so differently? My new piece in @theconversation.com explains why where you think you stand in society is key.

Where you think you are in society (not where you actually are) matters for how you think about inequality

In countries where income inequality is high, those who feel privileged are often more supportive of redistribution.

theconversation.com

1 4 18

Reposted by Giacomo Melli

Stefani Scherer @stefanischerer.bsky.social · Aug 18

Nice opportunity. Deadline closing soon.
TN-Square 6th Edition, Trento School of Applied Quantitative Research, 22-24 October 2025, Trento
Employment and Mobility over the life course in changing societies

CSIS @csisunitn.bsky.social · Jun 3

The 6th TN-Square is coming! 🏔️

This edition we are discussing employment, mobility trajectories and social inequality and we
couldn’t be more excited. ✨

Submit your application by August 25th and spread the news!

For more spoilers, check our website:
event.unitn.it/tn-square/

#TNSquare25

TN-Square 6th Edition, Trento School of Applied Quantitative Research, 22-24 October 2025, Trento

Employment and Mobility over the life course in changing societies

event.unitn.it

3 6

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · Jul 23

Available Open Access.
@sociologyoxford.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk @ess-survey.bsky.social @trinityoxford.bsky.social

Measuring populism in Europe. Comparison and validation in the European Social Survey - Quality & Quantity

Quality & Quantity - Populism has become a defining feature of European democracies, prompting extensive scholarly debate about its impact on political processes. This study refines the...

link.springer.com

1

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · Jul 23

New paper in Quality & Quantity, just in time for your summer methodological reading! With @giorgiodolci.bsky.social, we validate the measurement of populist attitudes in the @ess-survey.bsky.social. Because nothing says 'break' like Structural Equation Modelling and Measurement Invariance.

Giorgio Dolci @giorgiodolci.bsky.social · Jul 23

Super happy to share my new (well, actually first ever!) publication!
In this article, @giacomomelli.bsky.social and I set out to operationalize and validate a scale of populist attitudes, using data from Round 10 of the #EuropeanSocialSurvey.

Full article here:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Measuring populism in Europe. Comparison and validation in the European Social Survey - Quality & Quantity

Quality & Quantity - Populism has become a defining feature of European democracies, prompting extensive scholarly debate about its impact on political processes. This study refines the...

link.springer.com

1 2 14

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · Jun 12

Check this out!

Sociology at Oxford @sociologyoxford.bsky.social · Jun 12

🧠 A paper by DPhil student Giacomo Melli highlights the power of subjective social status in shaping attitudes to wealth redistribution.

But context matters: in more unequal societies, support for redistribution is less divided by perceived status.

🔗➡️ www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/article/stud...

Image of Giacomo Melli with quote: "Globally, these results reinforce the relevance of subjective social status as a central predictor of socio-political outcomes. By showing that contextual structural inequality moderates these relationships, these results reaffirm the sociological perspective of individuals as agents embedded in different social structures."

2

Reposted by Giacomo Melli

Sociology at Oxford @sociologyoxford.bsky.social · Jun 12

🧠 A paper by DPhil student Giacomo Melli highlights the power of subjective social status in shaping attitudes to wealth redistribution.

But context matters: in more unequal societies, support for redistribution is less divided by perceived status.

🔗➡️ www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/article/stud...

1 1

Reposted by Giacomo Melli

Christiaan Monden @cmonden.bsky.social · Jun 9

1-year opportunity for a Departmental Lecturer in Sociology at @sociologyoxford.bsky.social for the academic year 25/26. This position has a focus on life course research and quant methods. Apply by 27/6. tinyurl.com/2tydswwj

Job Details

tinyurl.com

11 8

Reposted by Giacomo Melli

Leo Azzollini @leoazzollini.bsky.social · May 22

Should the government 🏛️ fight economic inequality?
You probably have a strong take. But why do you believe that? 📌 Spoilers from our new Social Science Research paper with Giacomo Melli: it depends jointly on where you think you stand in society🪜 and how unequal your surroundings actually are!

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · May 22

What happens when we look at support for redistribution through the lens of how people feel about their place in society? 🔎 My new article in Social Science Research with Leo Azzollini (@leoazzollini.bsky.social) explores this in 25 countries, 1987-2019. 🚀
@ssreditorial.bsky.social

Where I stand and what I stand for: Subjective status, class, and redistribution

While research is increasingly focusing on the political influence of subjective social status, it is yet unclear how the latter shapes attitudes towa…

www.sciencedirect.com

6 12

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · May 22

Full Open Access here.
@sociologyoxford.bsky.social
@trinityoxford.bsky.social
@ox.ac.uk

Where I stand and what I stand for: Subjective status, class, and redistribution

While research is increasingly focusing on the political influence of subjective social status, it is yet unclear how the latter shapes attitudes towa…

www.sciencedirect.com

2

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · May 22

This all started as a master's thesis with @stefanischerer.bsky.social (@csisunitn.bsky.social) and Geoff Evans (@nuffieldcollege.bsky.social), and turned into something much bigger.
Big thanks to @leoazzollini.bsky.social, from whom I learned a lot, and to everyone who helped along the way.

1 1 6

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · May 22

What this shows: how we feel about our place in society matters for politics, sometimes as much as where we are.

1 1

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · May 22

Context matters too. In countries with high inequality, even people who feel they're near the top start supporting redistribution. Self-perception meets structural conditions.📊

1 1

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · May 22

People who feel lower in the social hierarchy tend to support redistribution more, even when their social class says otherwise. Subjective status matters on its own. 📈

1 1

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · May 22

What happens when we look at support for redistribution through the lens of how people feel about their place in society? 🔎 My new article in Social Science Research with Leo Azzollini (@leoazzollini.bsky.social) explores this in 25 countries, 1987-2019. 🚀
@ssreditorial.bsky.social

Where I stand and what I stand for: Subjective status, class, and redistribution

While research is increasingly focusing on the political influence of subjective social status, it is yet unclear how the latter shapes attitudes towa…

www.sciencedirect.com

1 3 10

Reposted by Giacomo Melli

Catherine E. de Vries @catherinedevries.bsky.social · May 2

🗳️ Populism is a warning sign.

English local elections show it again: People feel abandoned & look scapegoats.

Drawing on own research & others, I argue 👇🏽

💡 To counter populism: We need to reinvest in citizens, e.g. housing, health & dignity.

Short 🧵

📖 www.socialeurope.eu/to-counter-p...

To Counter Populism and Bolster Security, Europe Must Reinvest In Its Citizens

Facing security threats and rising populism, Europe needs state investment in citizens, not austerity that fuelled discontent.

www.socialeurope.eu

8 80 150

Reposted by Giacomo Melli

Catherine E. de Vries @catherinedevries.bsky.social · Apr 21

That blinking cursor. The empty page. The weight of what should be written.

Every writer, academic, student knows this feeling.

I unpack the fear of the blank page & share practical tips for moving past it.

🧵

🔗 catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/meeting-th...

Meeting the Blank Page

On Discomfort and the Quiet Practice of Showing Up

catherineeunicedevries.substack.com

2 4 20

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · Apr 10

Today!

Giacomo Melli @giacomomelli.bsky.social · Apr 3

Excited to share my first insights on how class and family socialisation influence electoral participation over the life course at the University of Milan on 10 April at 3:30 PM (CEST)! Join me in person or online, details below or on the website.

2