Research project
Social Distance in International Relations
This project studies social distance—the degree of sympathetic understanding that exists between people—in relation to state foreign policy making. Does, and if so how does, social distance shape political biases, aid narratives, and, ultimately, state foreign policy priorities and decisions?
- Duration
- 2021 - 2024
- Contact
- Hilde van Meegdenburg
- Funding
- EU Horizon 2020, Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowship, NWO XS grant (2024-2025), LUF Project grant (2024-2025), Starter grant (2024-2028)
In relation to the politico-humanitarian situation in Venezuela following the death of Hugo Chavez, this project studies the foreign policy narratives of third countries and the ways in which social distance and socio-emotional ties are visible in aid narratives. As such, SoDiIR explicitly looks at international relations as a set of socio-emotional relations between people(s).