How are social categories like race, gender, and migration status being transformed? Futures of Difference finds out. Hosted by Steven Vertovec (Max Planck Institute) and journalist Georg Diez, this academic podcast features leading scholars on human diversity, superdiversity, cosmopolitanism, ethnic diversity, right-wing populism, and intersectionality. Guests: Michèle Lamont, Dan Hiebert, Junjia Ye, Miri Song, Ann Phoenix. Vertovec is Director of the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science, originator of the superdiversity concept. Also on YouTube and Substack.
Beyond Essentialism: Social Complexity — Ann Phoenix
What is essentialism — and how does intersectionality challenge it? Ann Phoenix (UCL) explores social complexity and the future of difference.
In this final episode, Steven Vertovec and Georg Diez discuss essentialism, intersectionality, and the psychosocial approach to identity with Ann Phoenix (University College London). They examine how simplified thinking about social categories — groupism, culturalism, racialization — does harm, and how intersectional, multiple identities point toward a more complex and tolerant future.
Ann Phoenix is a renowned scholar in social psychology and sociology. Her psychosocial approach examines how people internalize social categories, construct identities, and navigate power relations in everyday life.
Futures of Difference is a research-based video podcast by the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science (formerly the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity) that explores how social categories are being challenged, contested, and transformed.
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Listen & watch: youtube.com/@FuturesOfDifference
Essays & more: futuresofdifference.substack.com
Produced by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity mmg.mpg.de
9 Apr 2026
Mixity and How Social Categories Change — Miri Song
How are mixed identities changing social categories — and what does the fastest-growing demographic mean for human diversity? Miri Song explains.
In this episode, Steven Vertovec and Georg Diez explore the concept of mixity with sociologist Miri Song (University of Kent / LSE). They discuss how the dynamics of assertion and assignment shape identity, why the fiction of monoracial thinking persists, and how mixed identities open up new possibilities for understanding social categories.
Key themes include the 2020 US Census finding that "mixed" is the fastest-growing social category, how people navigate multiple ethnic and racial identities, and what examples of social categories look like in a world of increasing mixity.
Futures of Difference is a research-based video podcast by the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science (formerly the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity) that explores how social categories are being challenged, contested, and transformed.
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Listen & watch: youtube.com/@FuturesOfDifference
Essays & more: futuresofdifference.substack.com
Produced by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity mmg.mpg.de
2 Apr 2026
Colonial Legacies and Cultural Diversity — Junjia Ye
How do colonial legacies still shape social categories today — and what does Singapore's model mean for the future? Junjia Ye explains.
In this episode, Steven Vertovec and Georg Diez examine how colonial pasts continue to structure present-day social categories, with a focus on Singapore. Junjia Ye (Nanyang Technological University) discusses the CMIO model of racial management, the enforcement of temporary migration, cosmopolitanism, and how skill regimes are creating new forms of social difference.
Key themes include cultural diversity examples from Singapore, diversity representation beyond the West, creating belonging in multiracial societies, and the implications of enforced transience for migrant workers' rights.
Futures of Difference is a research-based video podcast by the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science (formerly the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity) that explores how social categories are being challenged, contested, and transformed.
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Listen & watch: youtube.com/@FuturesOfDifference
Essays & more: futuresofdifference.substack.com
Produced by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity mmg.mpg.de
26 Mar 2026
How Migration Reshapes Diversity — Dan Hiebert
How is migration reshaping ethnic diversity worldwide — and what do demographic shifts mean for social categories? Dan Hiebert explains.
In this episode, Steven Vertovec and Georg Diez discuss migration and identity with geographer Dan Hiebert (University of British Columbia). They explore how aging populations, labor market needs, and media narratives shape migration dynamics — and how demographic diversity is transforming social categories across Western societies and the Global South.
Dan Hiebert is one of Canada's leading scholars on migration, multiculturalism, and urban diversity. His research examines how migration reshapes cities, labor markets, and social structures.
Futures of Difference is a research-based video podcast by the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science (formerly the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity) that explores how social categories are being challenged, contested, and transformed.
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Listen & watch: youtube.com/@FuturesOfDifference
Essays & more: futuresofdifference.substack.com
Produced by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity mmg.mpg.de
19 Mar 2026
Social Categorization and Populism — Michèle Lamont | Ep. 1
How does social categorization work — and how is right-wing populism reshaping it? Michèle Lamont (Harvard) explains.
In this episode, Steven Vertovec and Georg Diez explore the evolution of diversity discourse with sociologist Michèle Lamont. They discuss moral boundaries and social categories, the backlash against diversity, destigmatization, the shifting Overton window, and how generational change is reshaping attitudes toward social difference.
Michèle Lamont is one of the world's leading scholars on social categorization, moral boundaries, and the cultural dimensions of social inequality. Her work examines how societies draw boundaries between groups — and how those boundaries can be redrawn.
Futures of Difference is a research-based video podcast by the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science (formerly the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity) that explores how social categories are being challenged, contested, and transformed.
15 Mar 2026
Why Social Categories Matter | Steven Vertovec & Georg Diez | Futures of Difference Ep. 0
Why do social categories like race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality have such real impact on everyday life?
Steven Vertovec and Georg Diez explore.
Anthropologist Steven Vertovec (Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science (formerly the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity)) and journalist Georg Diez (author of "Anderland," former Spiegel columnist) introduce Futures of Difference — a research-based video podcast exploring how social categories are being challenged, contested, and transformed at this critical moment in history.
Drawing on decades of research and public debate, Vertovec and Diez discuss how social categories have historically shaped societies and inequalities — and why they are changing in unprecedented ways right now. Diez brings a journalistic lens on the migration crisis, othering, and what these shifts mean for the future of democracy.
In this podcast series, Vertovec and Diez are joined by leading scholars — Michèle Lamont, Dan Hiebert, Junjia Ye, Miri Song, and Ann Phoenix — to examine the malleability of social categories, the forces reshaping human diversity, and what these shifts mean for the future.
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Listen & watch: youtube.com/@FuturesOfDifference (https://www.youtube.com/@FuturesOfDifference)
Essays & more: futuresofdifference.substack.com (https://futuresofdifference.substack.com)
Produced by the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science (formerly the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity) mmg.mpg.de (https://www.mmg.mpg.de)
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