Dieter Rucht is a senior research fellow affiliated to the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) and to the Institute for Research on Protest and Social Movements in Berlin. Previously he was Professor of Sociology at the Free University of Berlin and co-director of the research group Civil Society, Citizenship and Political Mobilization in Europe at WZB. He has been affiliated with universities in Munich, the USA, France and Great Britain and his research fields include political participation, social movements, political protest, and public discourse.