About Us

The Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script (SCRIPTS)” is an interdisciplinary research consortium that investigates why the liberal script— liberal ideas and institutions for organising societies —is increasingly contested worldwide and what strengthens the resilience of liberal democracies. At SCRIPTS, researchers analyze political, social, and economic conflicts that challenge core liberal principles including freedom, equality, pluralism, and democratic participation.

SCRIPTS has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under the German Excellence Strategy of the Federal Government and the Länder since 2019. Hosted by Freie Universität Berlin, the Cluster partners with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Hertie School, the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, the Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS), and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Boards and SCRIPTS Team

Video | The SCRIPTS research programme: Contestations of the Liberal Script

The world has experienced a series of political shocks in the last two decades despite huge economic and social achievements that range from a decreasing number of interstate wars to a delcine of absolute poverty in many parts of the world. Through its research programme, SCRIPTS has set out to investigate the puzzle of an increasing number and and frequency of contestations of the liberal script.

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Research

Scientists from more than 10 disciplines and numerous countries analyse contestations, contradictions, and developments of the liberal script worldwide. SCRIPTS research teams are made up of professors, postdoctoral, and doctoral researchers from social sciences and area studies. Research projects are linked to at least one thematic “Research Unit”, of which there are five (“Borders”, “Orders”, “Technology, Inequality and Freedomn”, “Temporalities”, and “Science”). The SCRIPTS Forum is a unique research format designed to build bridges betweendisciplines and towards public political debate. Each year, the SCRIPTS Forum highlights a cross-cutting theme, which gets explored in seminars, workshops, outreach activities, and an annual conference.

Find out more about SCRIPTS’ Research

Center for Career Development (CCD)

The Center for Career Development (CCD) brings together researchers from around the world and at every career stage. It hosts the BGTS doctoral programme and integrates postdoctoral researchers and guests into the SCRIPTS community. The CCD equips all researchers at SCRIPTS for impactful global careers in academia and beyond

Webpage of the Center for Career Development (CCD)

Knowledge Exchange Lab

Beyond that, SCRIPTS is well connected with research institutes and knowledge exchange partners, including the Humboldt Lab at the Humboldt Forum Berlin and the German Federal Foreign Office, with whom the Knowledge Exchange Lab has partnered with on several projects. Such collaborative enterprises are aimed at fostering a mutual exchange of knowledge.

Webpage of the SCRIPTS’ Knowledge Exchange Lab (KEL)