Kategorie: News at the Max-Weber-Kolleg

New Collaborative Research Centre of the Universities of Erfurt and Jena explored the structural change of property

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding a new major scientific project at the University of Erfurt and the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena: As the DFG announced today, the Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio „Structural Change in Property“ at the two Thuringian universities will be supported with up to ten million euros over the next four years. The consortium brings together researchers from the social sciences, law, economics and history and will begin its work in January 2021.

The report on social inequality, which the international aid organisation Oxfam presents every year, shows a clear trend: while the wealth of some people is growing faster and faster, the vast majority of the world’s population has to get by with less. Currently, 26 billionaires own as much property as the poorer half of all humanity put together. „In view of the immense economic, ecological and technological challenges of our time, however, the concentration of wealth and the resulting property system is proving to be crisis-prone and highly controversial,“ is the assessment of Prof. Dr. Hartmut Rosa. The sociologist, who researches and teaches at the Max-Weber-Kolleg of the University of Erfurt and the University of Jena, is the spokesperson for the new Collaborative Research Centre.

In addition to this redistribution of wealth, completely new questions of ownership arise today, Rosa continues: Who actually owns the sunlight or wind from which energy is generated and sold? Who owns the genetic information of active substance-producing microorganisms or medicinal plants marketed by the pharmaceutical industry? Who can claim intellectual property rights in Wikipedia articles?

The approach of the new Collaborative Research Centre is to systematically analyse these questions and investigate the change in ownership structures. More than 30 experts and their teams from both universities as well as associated partners from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, the Free University of Berlin, the Technical University of Darmstadt and the University of Oldenburg are investigating the structural change of property on two levels: the change in the concept of property itself and the changes in social, political and economic structures caused by property. In addition to Prof. Rosa, the Jena sociologist Prof. Dr. Silke van Dyk and her colleague Prof. Dr. Tilman Reitz are the deputy spokespersons of the consortium.

With the new Collaborative Research Centre, the Universities of Jena and Erfurt are setting further strong accents in their respective research profiles. Under the title „Light, Life, Liberty – Connecting Visions“, the University of Jena is bundling its top-level research, with „Liberty“ bringing together the focal points of the humanities and social sciences, especially topics such as social change, contemporary history and Eastern Europe. The new Collaborative Research Centre strengthens this area with its discussion of the relationship between freedom and property and contributes to the interdisciplinary networking and further development of this profile area. Processes of social change through value and meaning concepts as well as different media and institutions are the subject of the University of Erfurt’s focus areas „Religion – Society – World Relations“ and „Knowledge – Spaces – Media“. Here the Collaborative Research Centre brings a new thematic focus to the field of property.

Julie Casteigt follows again invitation of the Gotha Research Center

Dr. habil. Julie Casteigt, Professor of Philosophy at the Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès, has been granted the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. This prize is awarded annually to scientists from abroad for outstanding scientific achievements. The award, which is endowed with 45,000 EUR, also includes the sponsorship of a research stay at a self-selected scientific institution in Germany. Julie Casteigt will return to the Gotha Research Center of the University of Erfurt for one year at the invitation of Prof. Dr. Martin Mulsow, where she has already spent two months as a Hiob-Ludolf-Fellow in 2019.

Julie Casteigt is an internationally outstanding specialist in the history of medieval philosophy and member of the Meister Eckhart Research Unit of the Max-Weber-Kolleg. With her also methodologically highly innovative work on Meister Eckhart, Albert the Great and the medieval commentaries on the Gospel of John, she has presented groundbreaking approaches for a new understanding of these texts. Her current research project, which focuses on textual bridges between the Middle Ages and the early modern period, intellectual networks, and the history of ideas in this period, will also be conducted in cooperation with the Max-Weber-Kolleg of the University of Erfurt.

Julie Casteigt: „I am very happy about this award and I am looking forward to working in Gotha and Erfurt again, where I have found an excellent research environment and exciting dialogue partners at the Gotha Research Center as well as at the Max-Weber-Kolleg“.

Stefan Schmalz receives Heisenberg research funding

PD Dr. Stefan Schmalz, currently deputy professor at the Latin America Institute of Freie Universität Berlin, will be included in the Heisenberg Programme of the German Research Foundation (DFG). The funding is based at the Max-Weber-Kolleg for Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt.

Schmalz will conduct research at the Max Weber College on „Globalisation in the Cancer Course: New Lines of Conflict in the International Division of Labour“. The project is devoted to current conflicts which are being caused by the rise of China in the world economy. One focus is on disputes over Chinese direct investment in the high-tech sector. It discusses what ‚deglobalisation‘ means. Schmalz also plans to conduct research in China and the USA in the coming years.

The Heisenberg Programme is aimed at „outstanding scientists“ whose research projects are characterised by „high scientific quality and originality“. Hartmut Rosa, Director of the Max-Weber-Kolleg: „In this project, which focuses on problems of the international division of labour using the example of China, we also see great potential for inter-faculty cooperation with colleagues at the Faculty of Economics, Law and Social Sciences, and especially the Willy Brandt School.“

Academia Europaea appoints Prof. Dr. Hartmut Rosa

Prof. Dr. Hartmut Rosa, Director of the Max Weber College for Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt, has been appointed a full member of the Academia Europaea. He is part of the section „Social Change and Social Thought“.

Founded in 1988 on the initiative of the UK Royal Society and other European academies, the Academy brings together scholars from around the world who are committed to excellent scientific practice in their disciplines and the dissemination of education to all people and age groups. Its aim is to promote European science and to advise governments and organizations on scientific issues. The Academy strives to promote the highest possible standards in science, research and education and to improve the understanding of the general public of the benefits of knowledge and education and of scientific issues affecting society, quality of life and living standards. Membership is by personal invitation only. Hartmut Rosa: „It is a special honor to have been appointed to this prestigious body, which gives me the opportunity to contribute to the scientific debates on how to create a better society“.

Database on religion and urbanity is online

The DFG-funded research group „Religion and Urbanity: Reciprocal Formations“ (FOR 2779) of the Max-Weber-Kolleg of the University of Erfurt has now gone online with a database on religion and urbanity at the publishing house De Gruyter.

The database contains some 200 case studies and theoretical texts, making important research contributions on the interplay between religious change on the one hand and changes in urban spaces and urban lifestyles on the other, as well as on practices and discourses of urbanity publicly accessible. The contributions focus on questions concerning the role of religious actors, practices and ideas in the emergence and ongoing development of cities and urbanity, the role of urban actors, spaces and practices, and the discourse on urbanity in the emergence and development of religious groups and religion. „The background of our project is a rich research on the city in many disciplines, which, however, often neither bring together the different global spaces nor past and present developments – this is especially true for the topic of religion and urbanity,“ says Prof. Dr. Jörg Rüpke, who, together with Prof. Dr. Susanne Rau, heads the research group and is responsible for the database. „At the end of the research project in the year 2022, a three-volume handbook in digital and printed form is to be produced, documenting the research thrust initiated by the project and making it tangible for further research. But we didn’t want to hide the results for years, we wanted to put them up for discussion right from the start. Hence the form of a digital ‚journal‘ – seemed appropriate to us.

„The authors of Religion and Urbanity Online are currently mainly members of the research group, Fellows of the Max-Weber-Kolleg and conference guests,“ adds Prof. Dr. Susanne Rau. „But we would also like to encourage other researchers who are dealing with the general topic of religion and urbanity to submit contributions, which will then be reviewed in a peer-review process. We have just published an open ‚invitation‘ for this in our blog.“

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Prof. Benno Werlen in die Weltakademie für Kunst und Wissenschaft berufen

Auf Vorschlag der letzten Generalversammlung der World Academy of Art & Science (WAAS) wurde Prof. Benno Werlen, Inhaber des UNESCO Chairs on Global Understanding for Sustainability und Fellow am Max-Weber-Kolleg der Universität Erfurt, jüngst zum Mitglied der World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) ernannt. Die Weltakademie arbeitet nach dem Motto “Leadership in thought that leads to action” und versteht sich als ein Forum, in dem Vertreter*innen aus Wissenschaft, Kunst und Politik Lösungen für die Herausforderungen der Gegenwart entwickeln.

Die World Academy of Art & Science (WAAS) umfasst knapp 700 Mitglieder – darunter elf aus Deutschland – die für herausragende Leistungen in den Natur-, Technologie- und Sozialwissenschaften, in den Geistes- und Kunstwissenschaften sowie in verschiedenen Berufen und Bereichen des öffentlichen Dienstes ausgewählt wurden. Die Weltakademie wurde von bedeutenden Intellektuellen wie Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Bertrand Russell und Joseph Needham, dem Mitbegründer der UNESCO, im Dezember 1960 offiziell gegründet. Sie begreift sich als unabhängige Institution, die dem unparteiischen Dialog, frei von Eigeninteressen oder regionalen Bindungen, und der globalen Zusammenarbeit über alle Staatsgrenzen hinweg verpflichtet ist. Seit ihrer Gründung hat sich die Akademie zu einer wichtigen Stimme der transdisziplinären, sozial verantwortlichen Forschung entwickelt und besitzt u.a. Beraterstatus für die UNESCO und den Wirtschafts- und Sozialrat der UN (ECOSOC).

Für Prof. Werlen „ermöglicht diese Ernennung dem UNESCO-Lehrstuhl eine engere Zusammenarbeit mit den UN-Organisationen in den Bereichen Forschung und Bildung. Vor allem aber auch der Wissensmobilisierung für tiefgreifende gesellschaftliche Transformationen auf der Basis eines besseren Verstehens globaler Zusammenhänge“.

Going online: The Natural Law 1625-1850: Database

Die Natural Law 1625-1850: Database ist online gegangen

Seit 2018 hat die Forschungsstelle für frühneuzeitliches Naturrecht an einer bio-bibliographischen Datenbank für das internationale Forschungsnetzwerk zum Naturrecht gearbeitet. Jüngst ist die erste Stufe der Datenbankentwicklung abgeschlossen worden und die Datenbank online gegangen.

Die Natural Law 1625-1850: Database ist eine open-access-Datenbank, die Profile von frühneuzeitlichen Naturrechtsgelehrten in Europa und darüber hinaus enthält. Diese Profile, die von ausgewiesenen Experten erstellt und im peer-review-Verfahren geprüft werden, enthalten Beschreibungen zu Lebenslauf, Ideen und Publikationen einzelner Naturrechtsgelehrter. Besonderer Fokus liegt natürlich auf den jeweiligen Naturrechtsauffassungen der Gelehrten. Die strukturierte Darstellung dieser Informationen, insbesondere der umfassenden Bibliographien der Gelehrten, ermöglicht es den Benutzern auf einfache Weise neue Informationen und spezialisiertes Wissen über das komplizierte und sehr einflussreiche europäische Naturrecht zu erhalten. Die Datenbank ist ein kollaboratives Projekt und wird kontinuierlich um neue Daten und Profile erweitert. Zurzeit arbeiten mehr als 20 Forscher in Europa, Amerika und Australien an neuen Profilen. Außerdem sind bereits neue Nutzerfunktionen (z.B. IIIF-Viewer und Daten-Export) und Beitragsmechanismen (Webbased Contributor System) in Arbeit, sowie Visualisierungswerkzeuge in Planung.

Wir freuen uns sehr über diesen ersten erfolgreichen Schritt, der nicht nur Daten und Forschungserkenntnisse über frühneuzeitliches Naturrecht für die internationale Forschungsgemeinschaft und die breitere Öffentlichkeit bereitstellt, sondern auch weitere Forschungsprojekte innerhalb des Netzwerkes unterstützt und ermöglicht.

Die Datenbank wurde dank des Kooperationsvertrags zwischen den Universitäten Erfurt und Jena und durch die enge Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem Max-Weber-Kolleg, dem Forschungszentrum Gotha, der Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, der Thüringer Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek in Jena, dem IZEA in Halle und dem IT-Unternehmen JustOrange ermöglicht. Die Natural Law 1625-1850: Database finden Sie unter der Web-Adresse: http://naturallawdatabase.thulb.uni-jena.de/

Congratulations to Jana Ilnicka on winning the university award for her dissertation

Jana Ilnicka is the first winner of ‚Promotionspreis‘ at the University of Erfurt. In her Dissertation Jana Ilnicka worked on new found Manuscripts of Meister Eckhart and the concept of ‚Relatio‘. Her Dissertation was awarded with the ‚Promotionspreis‘ – Congratulations!

For more infomation:

Promotionspreis für Dr. Jana Ilnicka


Carsten Hermann-Pilath gives an interview on ‚On the Art of Co-Creation: A Contribution to the Philosophy of Ecological Economics‘ at the 13th international conference of the european society for ecological economics (ESEE)

Hermann-Pilath gives a Key note Lecture:ESEE 2019 | CO-CREATION – MAKING ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS MATTER, Turku, Finland, June 18-21 2019

Today, the status of science in society is increasingly contested. One reason is immanent to science: Facing hypercomplex systems and ‘wicked problems’, science cannot provide an unequivocal and binding basis for action and policy design. This problem is especially pronounced in systemic contexts in which epistemic subjects and objects are entangled in a co-creative relationship, as in the economy, which is the core driver of climate change, in turn. I argue that in these contexts, ‘art’ becomes an epistemic mode on equal status with ‘science’ conventionally understood: Art is the science of co-creation. This argument builds on the philosophy of post-Kantian German idealism and its intellectual metamorphoses, such as in American pragmatism. I discuss the essentials of this view, present examples from the field of Ecological Economics and draw practical conclusions for method.

In the Interview Herrmann-Pillath discusses the role of co-creation in designing sustainable economies by taking into account the interests of non-humans.

To see the Interview please follow this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIlBsaIQTss&feature=youtu.be