The research unit deals with the challenges of the 21st century, which manifest themselves in various crises that were comprehensively analysed in their breadth and interconnectedness by Durkheim, the patron saint of the research unit. We encounter these developments as the consequences of climate change, the return of war, the dramatic crisis of democracy, the inequality in the distribution of wealth and prosperity on a global scale or the crises of the ‘mind’ in times of extensive digitalisation and the advance of artificial intelligence. We can add financial crises, pandemic crises, crises of meaning and interpretation, etc. to this list, as almost every aspect of the ‘human condition’ and all spheres of modernity (Max Weber) are susceptible to crises. They are in obvious interaction with discourses on justice and, as a whole, lead to a kind of ‘crisis of justice’ that radiates into all areas of society. Resentment, resistance and anger about existing living conditions are articulated worldwide in a feeling of injustice that requires closer analysis, distinguishing reflective discourses in philosophy, sociology and economics from justice discourses in the political sphere, gender, climate and remembrance discourses, and finally taking up the classic tension between positive law and substantive justice.
Dr. Ryszard Bobrowicz, Visiting Professor of Comparative Law and Religion, will give a talk on "Epistemic justice and ontological injustice: Roman Catholic construction of dissent in crisis".
Further information on the workshop can be found on the homepage of the Émile Durkheim Center for Crisis Analysis and in the attached flyer.