Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies

1984The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung, MPIfG) in Cologne is founded on November 23 by the Max Planck Society.

Students who attend our program investigate the crucial intersection between the economy, politics, and society and develop new approaches in economic sociology, comparative political economy, and organizational studies.

Research at the International Max Planck Research School on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy (IMPRS-SPCE) investigates the complex linkages between economic and social action. Just as politics and social life are affected by pressures for economic efficiency and economic power, economic action is embedded in and indeed presupposes an infrastructure of social institutions and political decisions. In this sense, the economy as a system of action is both politically and socially constituted.