Digital Geographies of Urban Drug Markets

Jaffe's project aims to understand how uneven urban landscapes of risk transform as drug dealing increasingly incorporates digital technologies. It focuses on micro-transactions in illicit drugs in Amsterdam and Rio de Janeiro. Are drugs sales starting to resemble other forms of ultrafast delivery, with spatially distributed app-based deliveries replacing street dealers? How do drug dealers, consumers and other residents experience safety as mobile deliveries replace place-based sales? The research team will study such spatial shifts and how they connect to differentiated exposure to harm across urban spaces and populations.

Social policy preferences, vote choice and trust

Wouter van der Brug will focus on Social policy preferences, vote choice and trust. A research project that was developed together with Gianna Maria Eick and Armen Hakhverdian.

Most citizens favour more economic equality. Yet, support for left-wing parties advocating this is declining. We think this is partly due to a lack of trust. People may agree with the principle of equality, but if they do not trust the government they will still not vote for left-wing parties that want to increase the role of government. Similarly, if they do not trust their fellow citizens, they will sometimes reject social policies (because they expect misuse). This project has two sub-projects, one on support for the welfare state and one on electoral behavior. Trust features centrally in both projects.