The Research Unit Temporalities studies how expectations about time—progress, growth, future, sustainability, historical responsibility —shape contestations of the liberal script. Research from the first funding phase showed that many contestations originate from perceived breaks in liberal temporal promises, including stalled life trajectories, declining intergenerational mobility, and climate-induced uncertainties. Such ruptures can deepen frustration with liberal norms and motivate demands for alternative political futures.

In the second phase, Temporalities examines the temporal dynamics through which contestations unfold. One strand analyzes when unmet expectations are perceived as temporary setbacks and when they are understood as fundamental and irreversible breaks. A second strand explores how political actors respond to temporal grievances—through crisis management, redistribution, long-term planning, or short-term stabilization policies—and how these responses reshape the credibility of liberal commitments. A third strand investigates how liberal and illiberal actors construct competing narratives of past and future that influence legitimacy, solidarity, and the perceived viability of liberal orders.

 Combining sociology, political science, history, and education studies, Temporalities provides a temporal perspective on democratic resilience. It analyzes when temporal conflicts intensify contestations and when they create opportunities for re-scripting that renews the normative foundations of the liberal script.