Five Research Themes for the Academic Year 2014-2015

The Max Weber Programme is launching five Research Themes to group the new cohort of incoming Fellows for the academic year 2014-2015.

The purpose of this exercise is to promote synergetic and interdisciplinary postdoctoral research.

 

 

 I. Governance, Constitutionalism and Democracy

This theme addresses national, transnational and supranational political systems in both democratizing and established democratic systems. It looks at issues of political equality, the shift from government to governance, and the relations between law and politics. It combines empirical and normative analysis, and perspectives from history, political science and law.

II. Citizenship and Migration

This theme explores the changing boundaries of citizenship brought about by migration. It examines the issues raised by this development from legal, political, sociological, historical and economic perspectives, and the various relations between these different dimensions. It also studies such novel transnational statuses as European citizenship, and the impact of regional economic areas more generally. It looks at how far increasing demands for multiple citizenships and the rise of multiculturalism are impacting the way citizenship is defined legally and politically, the historical precedents for such changes, and their economic causes and consequences.

III. Legal, Social and Political Theory and the History of Thought

This theme brings together researchers with an interest in normative theories of law, politics and society. It looks at both contemporary and past theorists and theories within different Western and Eastern traditions. The theme offers a unique occasion for exploring and comparing a range of different methodologies and traditions, and investigating the complex relations between social, legal and political theory and their different histories.

 IV. Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa: The Design, Regulation and Governance of Fiscal and Monetary Policies in the European Union

This theme is inspired by the work of the Italian economist and banker and former Minister of the Economy and Finance who is often credited as the ‘father’ of the European single currency. The theme brings together finance economists, economic historians,  political economists, and lawyers interested in the fiscal regulation and constitutionalism, to explore issues of finance, banking and monetary policy.

 V. Development

This theme addresses questions, such as, why nations grow and fail? It studies the role of institutions and governance in development, state fragility and the political economy of development. It also explores related issues, such as: human rights, with attention to gender and child rights; poverty and inequality; social protection, health, education and other public policies in historical perspective