Religion and Politics in Pre-Modern and Modern Cultures Cluster of Excellence Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster Schlossplatz 2, 48149 Münster Telefon: +49 (251) 83-0 Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics in Pre-Modern and Modern Cultures Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität WWU Münster Funding Period 01.11.2007 – 31.10.2012 Proposal Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics Proposal for the Establishment and Funding of the Cluster of Excellence "Religion und Politik in den Kulturen der Vormoderne und der Moderne" "Religion and Politics in Pre-Modern and Modern Cultures" Host university: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität / WWU Münster Rector of the host university: Coordinator of the cluster of excellence: Prof. Dr. Ursula Nelles Prof. Dr. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger Schlossplatz 2 Historisches Seminar 48149 Münster Domplatz 20-22 48143 Münster Phone: +49 (251) 8322211 Phone: +49 (251) 8324315 Fax: +49 (251) 8322125 Fax: +49 (251) 8324332 E-Mail: [email protected] E-Mail: [email protected] Münster, April 12, 2007 Münster, April 12, 2007 Prof. Dr. Ursula Nelles Prof. Dr. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger Rector Coordinator I Proposal Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics 1 General Information about the Cluster of Excellence Principal Investigators Surname, first name, acad. Year Institute Research title of area birth Albertz, Rainer, Prof. Dr. theol. 1943 Old Testament C, D Althoff, Gerd, Prof. Dr. phil. 1943 Medieval History A, B, D Basu, Helene, Prof. Dr. phil. 1954 Ethnology (Social B, C Anthropology) Bauer, Thomas, Prof. Dr. phil. 1961 Arabic and Islamic Studies A, B Berges, Ulrich, Prof. Dr. theol. 1958 Contemporary and Religious D History of the Old Testament Freitag, Werner, Prof. Dr. phil. 1955 Comparative Regional History B, C, D Funke, Peter, Prof. Dr. phil. 1950 Ancient History C, D Fürst, Alfons, Prof. Dr. phil. Dr. 1961 Early Church History D theol. Gabriel, Karl, Prof. Dr. soz.wiss. 1943 Christian Social Sciences A, C, D Dr. theol. Gutmann, Thomas, Prof. Dr. iur. 1964 Civil Law, Philosophy of Law A, C and Medical Law Hahn, Johannes, Prof. Dr. phil. 1957 Ancient History C, D Hensel, Silke, Prof. Dr. phil. 1964 History of the Non-European C, D World Jansen, Nils, Prof. Dr. iur. 1967 Legal History A, C Meier-Staubach, Christel, Prof. 1942 Medieval and Modern Latin A, B Dr. phil. Philology Oestmann, Peter, Prof. Dr. iur. 1967 Legal History A, C Pfister, Ulrich, Prof. Dr. phil. 1956 Economic and Social History C, D Reuter, Hans-Richard, Prof. Dr. 1947 Ethics and Related Social A, D theol. Sciences Siep, Ludwig, Prof. Dr. phil. 1942 Philosophy A Stollberg-Rilinger, Barbara, 1955 Early Modern History A, B, C Prof. Dr. phil. Thamer, Hans-Ulrich, Prof. Dr. 1943 Modern History B, D phil. Wagner-Egelhaaf, Martina, Prof. 1957 Modern German Literature B, C Dr. phil. Walter, Christian, Prof. Dr. iur. 1966 Public Law A, C Wolf, Hubert, Prof. Dr. theol. 1959 Medieval and Modern Church A, B, D History Research Programme 1.2.1 Summary Aus der Perspektive des „postsäkularen“ Zeitalters stellt sich das Verhältnis von Politik und Religion neu dar. Nach der weitgehenden Dekonstruktion der historischen „Meistererzählungen“ von Modernisierung und Säkularisierung sind die historischen Kulturwissenschaften (im weitesten Sinne) herausgefordert, zur Klärung und 1 Proposal Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics Bewältigung der daraus resultierenden Fragen beizutragen. Wir gehen davon aus, dass auch in Zukunft die historische Langzeitperspektive und die Untersuchung unterschiedlicher Kulturen unerlässlich sind, um die gegenwärtige Entwicklung angemessen einzuschätzen. Dazu bedarf es aber einer Ausweitung und Neuformulierung der historisch-religionsvergleichenden Fragestellungen und einer Überprüfung der hergebrachten, auf den christlichen Westen bezogenen Denkmodelle. Ausgehend von den interdisziplinären Erfahrungen, die an der WWU Münster mit neuen kulturwissenschaftlichen Forschungsansätzen gemacht worden sind, sollen in dem beantragten Verbund die vorhandenen historischen, theologischen, juristischen, sozial- und literaturwissenschaftlichen Kompetenzen zusammengeführt werden, um eine Neujustierung der Sicht auf das Verhältnis von Politik und Religion in verschiedenen Kulturen der Vormoderne und der Moderne zu ermöglichen. Ziel ist, durch genauere Kenntnis der vormodernen Strukturen den Horizont zur Beurteilung der gegenwärtigen Problemlagen zu erweitern und darüber mit einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit ins Gespräch zu kommen. Das Untersuchungsfeld erstreckt sich von der paganen, jüdischen und christlichen Antike über das jüdische, christliche und islamische Mittelalter und die religiöse Pluralisierung in der Frühen Neuzeit bis zur Gegenwart. Um dieses Feld systematisch zu strukturieren, richten wir das Interesse auf vier Dimensionen, in denen sich das Verhältnis von religiöser und politischer Vergemeinschaftung diachron und synchron vergleichend beschreiben und systematisch reflektieren lässt: 1. Normativität, 2. Inszenierung, 3. Integrative Verfahren, 4. Gewalt. Summary Seen from the perspective of the “post-secular age”, the relationship between politics and religion appears in a completely new light. Following upon the far-reaching deconstruction of the historical “master narratives” of modernisation and secularisation, the historical cultural sciences (in the broadest sense) face the challenge of adapting to the new situation in order to help clarify and deal with contemporary problems. We take it for granted that, in order to accurately evaluate present-day developments, the historical long-term perspective and the diachronic examination of various cultures will also be indispensable in the future. But to this end, historical questions of comparative religion must be expanded and newly formulated, and traditional paradigms based upon the Christian West need to be reconsidered. Starting from the interdisciplinary experiences gathered from new approaches to the cultural sciences at the WWU Münster, the proposed cluster would bring together the existing capabilities in the departments of history, theology, law, social sciences and literature. This would enable a readjustment of the relationships between religion and 2 Proposal Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics politics in various pre-modern and modern cultures. The goal is to expand the horizon of possibilities for evaluating present-day problems through a more precise understanding of pre-modern structures and, moreover, to enter into discussion with a broader public. The area of investigation extends from pagan, Jewish and Christian antiquity through the Jewish, Christian and Islamic Middle Ages and the religious pluralisation in the early modern period up to the present. To structure this area systematically, we will direct our interest to four dimensions in which the relationship between religious and political communitarisation can be described historically and comparatively: 1. Normativity; 2. Staging; 3. Integrative procedures; 4. Violence. 1.2.2 Description 1.2.2.1 Relevance of the Subject Religion has reappeared on the daily political agenda and has assumed a central place in the public awareness. In an apparently secularised world, the “return of the gods” has been noted with a certain irritation; this new mass-media visibility of religious phenomena extends from esoteric private religion to fundamentalist violence. The experience of cultural and economic globalisation has permanently called into question Europe’s long-familiar, self-evident truths. The conviction that the historical process of modernity realises its goal in the sovereign secular state and makes religion a legally guaranteed private matter, or possibly allows it to fade completely, has been vigorously shaken. In the wake of global economic interdependence, mass migrations and the electronic media revolution, states and institutionalised churches are losing their ability to provide guidance and national identities are losing their ability to unify, on the one hand, while trans-cultural and trans-national group identities are being newly formed on the other. In this, religion plays a central role. Fundamentalisms of various kinds, whether Islamist or evangelical, take control of the political arena, attack modernity with its own devices and challenge the very existence of the secular state. Religion is once again the battlefield for struggles over socio-political power and meaning. Much of what poses as analysis of the present – above all the talk of the “clash of civilizations” – intensifies the conflictive aggravation of the situation. Humanities and cultural studies are thus faced with a considerable challenge, one that demands a complete readjustment of our perspective on the relationship between political order on the one hand, and religious norms, practices, and beliefs on the other. 3 Proposal Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics 1.2.2.2 Long-term Scientific and Structural Goals The cluster shall take up this challenge. The present-day situation can be adequately understood only in a synchronically as well as diachronically comparative perspective. Only a comparison with the “foreignness” of other periods and cultures creates the necessary detachment from what the modern Western perspective holds to be self-evident and thereby enables the adjustment of such a view. Sensitising the broader public to this seems to us to be one of the most important challenges that the humanities and cultural sciences can assume. Thus the long-term goals of the cluster are as