Modern democracies are undergoing multiple, overlapping transformations, driven by globalization, digitalization, migration, inequality, and climate change. While some adapt with openness, others experience what Mau et al. (2023) term Veränderungserschöpfung – change fatigue: the sense that “too much is changing, too fast, and all at once.” This paper examines whether and how such fatigue translates into a more corrosive emotional response: ressentiment.
Unlike ordinary resentment, ressentiment denotes a persistent and socially embedded form of grievance that emerges when perceived loss or exclusion cannot be effectively acted upon. It involves the moral reinterpretation of powerlessness and redirects frustration into blame and symbolic hostility, thereby translating structural change into moral conflict.
Drawing on original survey data from Germany (N = 2,500; fielded 2025), this study analyzes how perceptions of societal transformation and experiences of change fatigue relate to ressentiment, and how these patterns are distributed across social groups. By linking subjective experiences of change to affective and moralized responses, the paper sheds light on the emotional underpinnings of grievance politics and democratic distrust.
Topics: Inequality , Well-being