Biography

Zeth Isaksson is a Max Weber Fellow in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute, which he joined in September 2025. He is a political scientist working at the intersection of historical political economy, the politics of the radical right, and the political legacies of authoritarian rule.

He holds a PhD from Stockholm University, where his doctoral research examined the political legacies of authoritarian rule in Central and Eastern Europe. His broader work draws on archival, registry, and observational survey data, as well as original survey experiments, using causal inference methods to trace the long-run and structural roots of political behaviour. Recurring themes include political trust, structural change, political participation, and the rise of radical right-wing parties in Sweden and across Europe.

As a Max Weber Fellow, Isaksson works across two connected lines of research: the historical origins of political trust and voter turnout, and how structural change shapes contemporary support for the radical right. The latter is also supported by a Swedish Research Council (VR) grant (2026–2028) that he was awarded in 2025.

Mentor

• Filip, Kostelka

Fields of expertise