SCRIPTS – Contestations of the Liberal Script | Cluster of Excellence

The project examines how higher education institutions (HEIs) navigate the tensions between equality, diversity, and meritocracy. It aims to understand the different “diversity scripts” at play, focusing on how aspects like gender, race, and class are either included or left out in the academic context. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research compares diversity agendas across India, Turkey, Germany, and the UK, examining how HEIs strive to balance inclusion with merit-based values. This highlights the ongoing debates surrounding the liberal approach to diversity in higher education.

• Key Focus: Explores the broader aspects of diversity in higher education.

The project explores how individuals and groups from the Global South have historically engaged and continue to engage with liberal concepts in human rights debates. By treating human rights as a complex space where different norms intersect, it emphasizes the role of Southern actors in shaping international human rights standards. The project challenges the idea that human rights are solely a product of Western liberalism, showing how voices from the Global South have influenced and challenged the ongoing discourse on human rights.

• Key Focus: Highlights the voices of actors from the Global South

The "Race and Multilateralism" (RAM) project examines how multilateralism, an important aspect of the liberal international system, has contributed to creating, maintaining, or challenging racial hierarchies. It examines the roles of multilateral institutions in shaping racial concepts and structures through various policies, agreements, and conventions. By focusing on areas such as UN peacekeeping, international trade, and minority rights, the project analyses how race impacts global governance and the credibility of multilateral institutions while emphasizing the ongoing significance of racial hierarchies in the liberal international order.

• Key Focus: Investigates the relationship between race and multilateral governance.

The "Gender, Borders, Memory" (GBM) project explores the connections between gender, historical memory, and border disputes within liberal frameworks, focusing particularly on Catalan nationalism. By looking at both historical and contemporary movements, it investigates how gender identity and memory influence national identity, self-determination efforts, and ideological borders in liberal contexts. Through a combination of qualitative and historical analysis, the research sheds light on the gendered aspects of borders, nationalism, and liberal values.

• Key Focus: Examines the gendered dimensions of contestations of the liberal script.

This project explores how (perceived) socio-economic inequalities and migration influence support for populist parties across Denmark, Germany, and Italy. It examines the role of populist rhetoric, party communications, and affective and ideological polarisation, revealing how these factors vary in their impact depending on cultural and national contexts. The study highlights the complex relationship between these issues and populism, showing that while perceptions of inequality and migration can strengthen populist attitudes, they do not always lead to direct electoral support for these parties.

• Key Focus: Socio-economic inequality, migration and populist party rhetoric