Larissa Deppisch Ph.D.
Working area(s)
Urban and Spatial Sociology
Contact
deppisch@ifs.tu-...
work +49 6151/16-57316
Work
S3|13 317
Residenzschloss 1
64283
Darmstadt
- Space
- Violence
- Social inequality
- Infrastructure
- Right-wing populism
- Qualitative and quantitative methods
‘Feelings of being left behind’ in rural areas?
The doctoral thesis examined the growing support for the AfD since its entry into the Bundestag in 2017, in light of the widely held thesis of ‘feelings of being left behind’ in rural areas. The study employed a multi-methodological approach. Through discourse analysis, it demonstrated that there was not just one narrative of ‘being left behind’, but three: economic, cultural and infrastructural’ – each with different forms of expression. The quantitative analysis revealed that rural areas were not uniformly AfD strongholds in 2017. Furthermore, a qualitative analysis showed that areas with high AfD vote shares were characterised not only by dissatisfaction with poor infrastructure, but also by a political climate opposed to immigration. The findings suggest that structural and cultural explanations for the popularity of right-wing populism should not be viewed in isolation, but rather as intertwined, and highlight the importance of differentiating between rural areas.
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| Professional Experience | |
|---|---|
| Since 04/2026 | Research Assistant, Chair of Urban Sociology and Sociology of Space at the Technical University Darmstadt |
| Since 04/2026 | Lecturer on the degree programme Human Geography at the Goethe University Frankfurt |
| Since 04/2018 | Research associate at the Thünen Institute of Rural Studies, Braunschweig |
| 10/2021 – 09/2022 | Lecturer on the degree programme Social Work at the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, Wolfenbüttel |
| 07/2016 – 03/2018 | Intern & research assistant at the Research area Energy and Climate Protection in Everyday Life at the Institute for Social-Ecological Research, Frankfurt |
| 10/2016 – 03/2017 | Tutor at the Institute of Sociology at the Goethe University Frankfurt |
| 04/2016 – 09/2016 | Research assistant at the Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz |
| Academic Education | |
| 10/2019 – 04/2025 | Doctoral studies at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at the University Göttingen, submitted 08/2024 (grade: magna cum laude) |
| 10/2014 – 02/2018 | Master Sociology at the Goethe University Frankfurt (grade: 1,1) |
| 04/2016 – 02/2017 | Interdisciplinary study programme Gender Studies at the Cornelia Goethe Center at the Goethe University Frankfurt (passed) |
| 10/2011 – 12/2014 | Bachelor Sociology with a minor in Educational Sciences at the Goethe University Frankfurt (grade: 1,3) |
- German Sociological Association (DGS) – (WG Sociology of the Far Right & Section Rural, Agricultural and Food Sociology)
- Nework Urban Research (NUR) at the TU Darmstadt (Coordination)
| 09/2025 | “Jenseits der Dichotomie: Ländliche Räume zwischen Kontinuität, Wandel und Krisen” at the 42nd DGS Congress, Duisburg |
| 09/2025 | “‘Green discontent‘ – den Widerstand ländlicher Räume gegen die sozial-ökologische Transformation verstehen” at the 42nd DGS Congress, Duisburg |
| 07/2025 | “From Declining Regions to Rising Populism: Unraveling the Complex Link between Rural Discontent, Democratic Satisfaction, and AfD Support in Germany” at the 30th ESRS Congress, Riga |
| 08/2024 | “From discontent to discontents. On economic, infrastructural, and cultural dimensions of discontent in ‘left-behind’ places” at the 35th IGC, Dublin |
| 09/2023 | “Von Stadtmenschen, die alles bestimmen und Ausländer*innen, die alles bekommen: Ruraler Populismus in Erzählungen zur Stadt-Land-Differenz” at the 62nd DKG, Frankfurt |
| 07/2023 | “On the losing track? How spatial peripheralization matters for the success of right-wing populism in rural areas of Germany” at the 29th ESRS Congress, Rennes |
| 03/2023 | “Stability and Acceptance of the Democratic System in Rural Areas” at the conference “Think Rural! in the Baltic Sea Region” at the University Greifswald |
| 01/2023 | “‘Dann wird es echt schwierig‘ – Zur Bedeutung von Krisen für den Erfolg des Rechtspopulismus in ländlichen Räumen” at the conference “Neue Kulturgeographie”, Halle (Saale) |
| 10/2021 | “‘Förderung des ländlichen Raumes – was für Schlager!‘ Über räumliche Ungerechtigkeitsvorstellungen” at the #GeoWoche2021, online |
| 09/2020 | “‘Zieht die Mauer wieder hoch!‘ – Über deutsch-deutsche Spannungsverhältnisse um die Zuwendung zur AfD” at the 40th DGS Congress, online |
| 08/2020 | “’People being left behind’ in rural areas and their relationship to politics” at the 14. ECPR General Conference, online |
| 09/2019 | “‘Gefühle des Abgehängtseins‘ in ländlichen Räumen? – eine sozialempirische Analyse” at the DKG, Kiel |
| 12/2018 | “‘Gefühle des Abgehängtseins‘ – ein Angstdiskurs” at the conference “Angst und Regression” at the Justus Liebig University Gießen |