On morality in historical research

In this context, the research group invites you to two public events in the research building "Weltbeziehungen": Benjamin Möckel from the University of Göttingen will speak in his lecture on Thursday, 4 December at 6 p.m. on "Economies of Morality. Consumption as a moral practice in the modern age'.

And on Friday, 5 December, a panel discussion will address the question of whether historians as reflexive moral subjects represent the new "normality" or whether this perspective should be seen as a new challenge for them. The background to this is the finding that academic research is currently under renewed political scrutiny. Scholars – especially in the humanities – who critically examine the historical past and bring non-Western or marginalised perspectives to the fore often find themselves accused of "ideological bias" or "identity politics". How can historical scholarship prepare itself for this challenge? Do values and morals necessarily precede the production of historical knowledge if we recognise that truth and objectivity are discursively produced and historically conditioned categories? Should historians think more deeply about their biased perspectives? Or does recognising personal, political and moral values in their work pose a professional risk?

The panel discussion moderated by Jürgen Martschukat (University of Erfurt) with Tania Al Hashimi (University of Oxford), Meike Katzek (University of Erfurt) and Alexander Stöger (Saarland University) will approach these questions from three different perspectives: First, it will examine the history of the historian as a (reflexive) moral subject and how morality, virtues and vices have been constituted, contested and instrumentalised in historical scholarship in the past. Secondly, the historical case study of the science wars will be used to historicise accusations of “ideological bias” that were levelled against critical science studies in the 1990s. Thirdly, the discussion will turn to contemporary questions of how historians can position themselves in the current political climate. For example, how can we build our research on the unconditional recognition of human rights while still recognising their historicity?

All interested parties are cordially invited. The event will start at 10 a.m. in the seminar room of the "Weltbeziehungen" research building (room C19.00.02_03). Please register by e-mail to fg.freiwilligkeit@uni-erfurt.de.