Science & invention / Politics
Ronald Inglehart
1934–2021 · political scientist
Founding president of the World Values Survey and theorist of 'post-materialist' values, who taught at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from 1966 until his death in 2021.
- Born
Milwaukee, Wisconsin- Died
Ann Arbor, Michigan
aged 86- Birth name
- Ronald F. Inglehart
- Detroit years
- 1966–2021
- Field
- Science & invention, Politics
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Inglehart was born in Milwaukee in 1934 and raised in Glencoe, Illinois. He joined the political science faculty of the University of Michigan in 1966 and stayed for 55 years, becoming a research professor at the Institute for Social Research and holder of a chair in democracy and human rights. In The Silent Revolution (1977) he used survey evidence to argue that generations raised in secure, affluent societies shift from material concerns toward 'post-materialist' values such as self-expression and participation. To test such ideas worldwide he became the founding president of the World Values Survey, a network that has surveyed the publics of more than 100 countries since 1981; its data produced the widely reproduced Inglehart–Welzel cultural map of the world. One of the most cited political scientists, he died in Ann Arbor in 2021.
Highlights
- The Silent Revolution (1977) introduced post-materialist value change
- Founding president of the World Values Survey, begun in 1981
- Co-creator of the Inglehart–Welzel cultural map of the world
- University of Michigan faculty, 1966–2021; Institute for Social Research
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1966–2021
Institute for Social Research (University of Michigan), Thompson Street building
His research base for decades as a research professor; the World Values Survey grew out of work here.