New Hans Blumenberg visiting professors

Sociologists Árnason and Juergensmeyer are new Blumenberg visiting professors, with lecture series “On the Question of a Religious-Political Constitution of Modernity” and “Religion and War”

The Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” is looking forward to welcoming two renowned Hans Blumenberg visiting professors in summer semester 2018: Iceland-born sociologist Jóhann Páll Árnason, who will give lectures “On the Question of a Religious-Political Constitution of Modernity” (in German), and American sociologist and religious scholar Mark Juergensmeyer, who will present “Religion and War” in Münster.

The Hans Blumenberg Visiting Professorship of the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” is named after the influential Münster philosopher Hans Blumenberg (1920-1996). It is to contribute to bringing innovative stimuli from international research to Münster and consolidating the interdisciplinary compatibility at the Cluster of Excellence. Renowned researchers from varying disciplines are appointed to the Hans Blumenberg visiting professorship every semester. The Bochum historian Prof. Dr. Lucian Hölscher was the first visiting professor in 2016, succeeded by the Würzburg legal scholar Prof. Dr. Horst Dreier in the winter semester 2016/2017. In 2017, social and cultural anthropologist Prof. Dr Thomas Hauschild and sociologist of religion Prof. Dr Linda Woodhead were visiting professors at the Cluster of Excellence. (maz/vvm)

Lecture series “On the Question of a Religious-Political Constitution of Modernity”

In summer semester 2018, the renowned sociologist Prof. Dr Jóhann Árnason, emeritus of La Trobe University in Melbourne, will address various approaches to a religious-political constitution of modernity, both in a public lecture series and in his research as Hans Blumenberg Visiting Professor in Münster: What role does religion play in the process of modernisation? Did the transition from pre-modern to modern societies become possible because the importance of religion decreased, or was the examination of religion the precise prerequisite for the path to modernity? The series will focus on various theories about the emergence of modernity, including approaches by Hans Blumenberg, after whom the Visiting Professorship is named, Max Weber, Shmuel Eisenstadt , Marcel Gauchet and Hans Joas.

The public lecture series is entitled “Säkularisation, Entzauberung, Autonomie: Zur Frage einer religiös-politischen Konstitution der Moderne” (Secularisation, Disenchantment, Autonomy: On the Question of a Religious-Political Constitution of Modernity). On May 8, Jóhann Árnason will open the series by talking about “Hans Blumenberg and Carl Schmitt: Backgrounds and Horizons of a Dialogue”. The lecture will be held at 10.15 am in the Cluster of Excellence’s lecture theatre building, room JO 101, Johannisstraße 4 in Münster. On 14 May, an evening lecture at 6.15 pm in the same location is entitled “From Weber to Eisenstadt: Comparing Religion and Politics in Civilisation”. Two more lectures on 29 May and 5 June, respectively, both at 10.15 am, will discuss “Marcel Gauchet: Religion, Modernity and Democracy” and “Metamorphoses of the Sacred: Prolegomena Regarding an Analysis of Hans Joas”. During his stay, Jóhann Árnason and members of the Cluster of Excellence will host the workshop “The Unity and Diversity of Modernity: Clarifying the Idea of ‘Multiple Modernities’”. Sociologist Prof. Dr Wolfgang Knöbl, director of the Hamburg Institute for Social Research, will also participate in the workshop. The lectures and workshop will be in German.

Jóhann Páll Árnason

Jóhann Páll Árnason, born in Dalvík , Iceland in 1940, is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. After his doctorate with Jürgen Habermas in Frankfurt, his habilitation at Bielefeld University and his examination of the critical theory of the Frankfurt School, Árnason turned to macrosociological issues and developed a theory of modernity. He became a leading proponent of the comparative analysis of civilisations . After moving to Australia in 1975, Árnason stayed connected to European research through stays at renowned European research institutions. He has published widely-acclaimed works, including “Civilizations in Dispute” (2003) and, together with Shmuel N. Eisenstadt and Björn Wittrock, “Axial Civilizations and World History” (2004). Focusing on East Asia and Japan, Árnason addresses the comparability of civilisations and their different paths to modernity. The sociologist is a major representative of the theory of “multiple modernities”. (maz/vvm)

Lecture series “Religion and War”

As Hans Blumenberg Visiting Professor at the Cluster of Excellence in summer semester 2018, Prof. Dr Mark Juergensmeyer, the internationally renowned sociologist from the University of California, Santa Barbara, will give public lectures on questions of religion and violence. His research focus includes religious violence and conflict resolution as well as South Asian religions and politics. He examines how religion can stimulate, curtail and modify social and political conflicts. He also asks about the reasons for their dynamic potency and about the external conditions which may mobilise or even restrict religion.
In three public lectures held in English in Münster, Mark Juergensmeyer will speak about “Religion and War”. In his first lecture on 12 June, he will deal with “The Odd Appeal of War”, asking why disasters are so often, almost naturally, followed by wars. On 18 June, the sociologist will talk about the mystical dimensions of war under the title “Cosmic War” and on 19 June, under the title “God at War”, about a lasting cultural attraction of religion and war. He will discuss whether and how religion can curtail conflicts. The lectures will be held from 6.15 to 7.45 pm in the lecture theatre building of the Cluster of Excellence, lecture theatre JO 101, Johannisstraße 4 in Münster.

Mark Juergensmeyer

Mark Juergensmeyer is Professor of Sociology, International Studies and Religious Studies and founder of the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In recent years, the scholar has published important studies on religion and violence, including the internationally acclaimed work “Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence” (2000). It is based on interviews with religious activists worldwide such as jihadists, ISIS fighters, Hamas leaders and Christian militant pro-life activists in the USA. His publications also include “Global Rebellion: Religious Challenges to the Secular State, from Christian Militias to al Qaeda” (2009), “Gandhi's Way: A Handbook of Conflict Resolution” (2005) and “The New Cold War? Religious Nationalism Confronts the Secular State” (1993). (maz/vvm)