The Excellence Cluster SCRIPTS is are organizing this lecture series

31.10.2022 - 13.02.2023

The stakes are high: the future of democracy and the international liberal order no longer seems secure 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Western chants of triumph that accompanied it. Russia's breach of international law in Ukraine and a new war in Europe, the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Trumpism in the U.S., the emergence of authoritarian populist parties everywhere, China's rapid rise, Brexit, or international terrorism - the external and internal challenges to what has been called the "liberal script" are manifold. The U.S.-led order established since the Cold War is weakening. At the same time, new protest movements point to the ambiguities and tensions in liberal societies: racism and exclusion of BIPoC and FLINTA*, militarized border regimes, or the extreme inequality in so-called meritocracies expose the promises of the liberal script as illusions. How do liberal societies respond to this? Will the "liberal script" perish, change, or emerge stronger from the crises? What response do competing order(s) have to the global climate crisis, migration, or international security?

SCRIPTS brings together outstanding research from the Cluster of Excellence and interdisciplinary perspectives on current contestations of the liberal order. Michael Zürn introduces the theoretical foundations and the problem and leads through the further sessions on regional and thematic emphases, internal tensions and critiques of the liberal script together with SCRIPTS researchers and selected guests.

To access more information, please click here. All times in Central European Time (CET).

31 October 2022, 6:15-7:45 PM

Michael Zürn (WZB/SCRIPTS)

The liberal script: Does it exist and what could it be? (in German)

07 November 2022, 6:15-7:45 PM

Tanja Börzel (FU Berlin/SCRIPTS) and Thomas Risse (FU Berlin/SCRIPTS)

Liberal partial orders: Liberal orders beyond the national community (in German)

14 November 2022, 6:15-7:45 PM

Marianne Braig (FU Berlin/SCRIPTS)

Co-write. Writing in. Writing on: Challenges of the Liberal Script in Latin America. (in German)

Amrita Narlikar (Universität Hamburg/SCRIPTS)

Rejection and Ownership: Variants of the Liberal Script in Asia