The aim of the paper is to draft an outline of how an egalitarian justification of affirmative action might look like. I do so by injecting the ideas of parity, equal representation and participation into what has been established within the US philosophical debate on the policy. An egalitarian justification of affirmative action has to answer four questions, which, at the same time, structure the argument of my paper. First, I will consider whether and to what extent affirmative action measures are compatible with procedural fairness or may be even required by it, and which role equality plays in this connection. In the second paragraph, I will introduce a substantive account of equal opportunity and analyze how the policies in questions may contribute to the realization of this meritocratic ideal. In a third step, I will try to make sense of parity, equal representation and participation by connecting them to a concept of political equality, again, asking how affirmative action fits the bill. Finally, I explore the connections (and tensions) between procedural fairness, equal opportunity and parity and situate these ideas within a broader framework of democratic or relational equality.
Tullio Viola presents a working paper on ‚Edgar Wind on Symbols and Memory. Pragmatist Variations on a Warburgian Theme‘
This paper deals with Edgar Wind’s texts on symbols and cultural memory from the early 1930s. It emphasizes in particular the connection these texts establish between Warburg’s ideas and the pragmatist philosophy to which Wind was exposed during his first stay in the United States. I will argue that Wind’s interpretation of the polarity of symbols takes up a quintessential pragmatist focus on habit as the mechanism that lets us understand how expressive gestures develop out of practical actions. I will then show that Wind used the idea of a mnemonic power of symbols to fine-tune the pragmatist conception of thought and action as a permanent oscillation between doubt and belief.
Stephan Lorenz presents a working paper on ‚Food Supply and the Pandemic between Political Economy and Political Ecology ‚
The project is part of the package proposal ‘Regulation, Legitimization and Political Ecology of Property Regimes in the Pandemic’ (together with M.Schütt, C.Henning). The common starting point is the assumption that political measures taken to control the Corona crisis have challenged societal property relations. This project explores the political ecology of food supply, i.e. socio-ecological problems during the pandemic. A guiding thesis assumes that economic success in the prevalent food system is achieved at the expense of social and ecological issues, which intensifies the problematic societal consequences of the pandemic. The main focus of the project lies on the crisis-induced re-negotiations and possible re-arrangements of the socio-ecological issues of food supply regarding their property relations. It will be reconstructed how the different types and scales of property (small and big private businesses, regulations and public enterprises, cooperatives and use of commons) and their relations (private resources and/or public access and/or common participation) take effect as selective forces in these negotiations. It is expected that the integrated case findings will allow assessments of probable long-term consequences and suggestions for pandemic-preventive, sustainable food systems.
Carsten Herrmann-Pillath presents a working paper on ‚A Copernican Moment: Engaging Economics with Geoethics‘
Chapter draft October 1, 2020: Martin Bohle, ed. “Geo-societal narratives – contextualising geosciences” (Palgrave)
This chapter proposes a geocentric turn in economics that aims at radically transforming the performative functions of economics in contemporary capitalism: Inspired by an expression of John Stuart Mill, I outline the idea of the Earth as a ‘community of advantage’. The argument proceeds in two steps. The first is to switch from an anthropocentric to a geocentric conceptualization of the purpose of economic activity: The economy does not primarily serve human consumption but is a central element in Earth system regulation. This reflects the rise of the technosphere as a new regulatory layer in Earth system processes. The second is to combine the economic concept of externality with the creation of non-human rights which are represented in legal persons that are owned by non-human entities. This metamorphosis of rights is grounded in the fundamental norms of Rights of Earth. Non-humans are owners of legal persons which are managed by humans as stewards. As a result, the economy and the legal system morph to including both human and non-human interests in their operations. This implies that the performative functions of economics, after the geocentric turn, would also incorporate the geosciences and the life sciences. In the Earth as a community of advantage, geoethics would achieve a human scale, in the sense of realistic moral demands and commitments.
João Tziminadis presents a working paper on ‚Responding to Finitude: The Problem of Death between Ontological Insecurity and Technical Security‘
In this text, I would like to argue that one is able to identify two parallel trends in the sociological and cultural-critical accounts of modern society’s relation to death. On the one hand, modern subjects seem to be deprived from overarching and socially bonding interpretations of their mortality. However, on the other hand, differently from many who defend that modern society displaces death from public discourse and make it a hidden subject to which no more cultural answer is produced, it seems that later-modern society actively invests in a particular relationship with death: a technical one.. The unprecedented rise on life expectations worldwide is an indication of that. For most of the time these gain in technical control over death has been an indirect consequence of general improvement in life conditions. Nonetheless, it is observable that, in recent times, more direct and intentional attempts to transform mortality into a technical problem come to the fore. The general argument of this contribution is that it is possible to conceive of the technical taming of mortality as an active cultural response to the problem of death in modernity and, more explicitly, in late modernity. As religion, philosophy or the arts, technology constitutes a form of responding to the awareness of our inescapable finitude. But, differently from them, a technological response does not promise any transcending projection beyond death.
Christoph Henning presents a woking paper on ‚State Interference with property: How Covid-19 changes the Legitimation of Property‘
In this report, I introduce my new project (which is under review by the DFG). For this I first develop how the research question (see the title) was motivated and outline some of the key assumptions. Secondly, I formulate some hypotheses that I hope to be able to substantiate in the future.
Qudsiya Contractor gives a working paper on ‚Title of the paper Islamic piety and self-transformation in a Mumbai slum‘
In this paper I look at how participation in a transnational Islamic missionary movement as well as pious volunteerism during the month of Ramzan form a significant aspect of the public expressions of Islam and community consciousness in a poor Muslim neighbourhood. Public expressions of Islam through acts of charity, construction and maintenance of places of worship and the ‘public’ observation of days of religious significance (since these remain largely confined to the boundaries of Muslim localities in the city) not just mark the Muslim neighbourhood as a religio-cultural space distinct from the rest of the city but also seek to forge a civic solidarity rooted in ethics and fraternity that often transcend neighbourhood boundaries. For the Muslim poor, acts of piety that juxtapose discourses of morality, ethics and community within the public realm of the Muslim life space I suggest are also about exploring the possibilities and challenges of modernity and egalitarianism.
New publication about the long history of 1989
How did people in East Germany experience the last years of the GDR and the system change? How did they cope with and shape the 1990s? How do they remember it today? The research group „Die lange Geschichte der ‚Wende‘. Lebenswelt und Systemwechsel in Ostdeutschland vor, während und nach 1989“ explored these questions from several perspectives. The research group was headed by PD Dr. Kerstin Brückweh, Fellow at the Max-Weber-Kolleg of the University of Erfurt. Her research results have now been published by Ch. Links.
During a journey through East Germany in January 2020, contemporary witnesses were actively involved in this Citizen Science project. The artist Clara Bahlsen and the journalist Christian Bangel travelled along as observers. In an unusual combination of science, contemporary witness memories, photography and journalism, the book documents the research results, travel impressions and memories of the transformation in East Germany.
More information about the publication here.
Lecture Series in the Winter Term 2020/21 „Judaism and Education. Concepts and Media of Learning in and about Judaism“
Welcome to the lecture series in the Winter Term 2020/21 that investigates teaching and learning in and about Judaism. All lectures will be available online via a Live Stream on YouTube on Tuesdays between 6 and 8 pm. Students may also join the corresponding StuFu-course. After the event, the lectures will be archived and can be accessed throughout the semester.
You can find more information on the website of the lecture series.
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“.