Anna Durnová wins the 2024 Mattei Dogan Foundation Prize in European Political Sociology

It is our pleasure to announce that the 2024 Mattei Dogan Foundation Prize in European Political Sociology has been awarded to Anna Durnová of the University of Vienna. 

This prestigious prize is awarded for a major contribution to the advancement of political sociology. It is presented every other year to a scholar with an ensemble of outstanding scientific publications and constructive professional achievements, or a team of several researchers enjoying a high reputation in the international community of political sociologists. 

We have created a short video with Jury member David Swartz and Anna’s nominator, Chris Weible, to celebrate Anna’s achievement and to share her work with our community. Congratulations! 

Our winner 

Anna Durnová is Professor of Political Sociology at the Department of Sociology, University of Vienna and holds the Habilitation à diriger des recherches diploma from Sciences Po in Paris. She is a Faculty Fellow at the Yale University Center for Cultural Sociology and serves on the Editorial Boards of Policy & Politics and Critical Policy Studies. Previously, she was a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna, and at Charles University in Prague. She has also held numerous international positions, including at Concordia University and the University of Essex.

Anna is the Consortium Leader of the CIDAPE Project (Climate, Inequality and Democratic Action: The Force of Political Emotions; Horizon Europe 2024–2027). She has published several articles and two books on the role of emotions in politics, The Politics of Intimacy (University of Michigan Press, 2018) and Understanding Emotions in Post-Factual Politics (Edward Elgar 2019). The main interest of this work is to understand the multiple tensions between citizen and institutions in democratic societies. In 2019, she was awarded the City of Vienna Award for Research.

A key component of Anna’s research philosophy is actively engaging in public debates on emotions, politics and society. She regularly contributes to TV, radio and print media across Austria and Czechia and, occasionally, Switzerland, Germany and the US. Her children’s book on politics and society, Proč existují sprostá slova když se nesmějí používat (Why do swear words exist if we’re not supposed to use them; Albatros Media, 2022) aims to impact discussions with children about politics and societal norms. 

 @evrop_anka 

In her own words

I am truly honoured to receive the Mattei Dogan Prize. My research on emotions and marginalised fields within political sociology began during my PhD, at a time when these areas were not central to the discipline. By challenging mainstream narratives and exploring institutions from alternative perspectives, I believe we can gain crucial insights into today’s complex world.

To have my work recognised in this way by ECPR is both rewarding and deeply inspiring, encouraging me to continue exploring these vital yet often overlooked dimensions of political sociology. 

Jury members

• Anne Rasmussen Jury Chair, Executive Committee Member
• Vincent Hoffman-Martinot President of the Mattei Dogan Foundation 
• Alon Helled University of Turin 
• Tatjana Sekulic University of Bicocca-Milan 
• David Swartz Boston University 

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Keywords: Democracy, Institutions, Political Sociology