New research program by Goethe University’s Research Center Normative Orders receives funding from the Commerzbank Foundation Fund
Goethe University’s Research Center Normative Orders has been awarded generous funding for its new research program “Turning Points. Normative Orders in Transition?” by the Commerzbank Foundation Fund within the framework of the Stifterverband for German Science. A total of €750,000 will be made available over a period of five years. The project is set to launch this fall.
Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine in 2022 and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s use of the term “Zeitenwende” (turning point) to justify the response, the term and the idea behind it have permeated public discourse. Many speak of a new era marked by the challenge to a rules-based global order, a deep crisis of democracy, the rise of right-wing populist parties, and the strengthening of authoritarian regimes in various parts of the world.
The Research Center Normative Orders at Goethe University Frankfurt is addressing this topic in a new research program — whose title is deliberately kept in the plural: “Turning Points. Normative Orders in Transition?” The interdisciplinary program is supported by the Commerzbank Foundation Fund within the Stifterverband, which is making available financial resources totaling €750,000 over a five-year period.
The research project will focus on the following key topics:
1. The Crisis and Future of Democracy
2. A Changing World Order
3. Tolerance and Freedom
4. Sustainability Perspectives
The program will be conducted under the academic leadership of the Research Center’s directors Prof. Dr. Nicole Deitelhoff and Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst. It brings together the expertise of numerous internationally renowned Goethe University scholars from various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.
“We will be addressing current societal and political transformations as part of the ‘Turning Points’ project – without rushing to any premature conclusions,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst. “We are currently witnessing a profound transformation of normative orders, both nationally and globally, and there is a growing sense that these orders are disintegrating or regressing. The science emerging out of society must provide analyses and offer guidance in such times. The Research Center Normative Orders seeks to create spaces for reflection and public dialogue to meet this need.”
Prof. Dr. Deitelhoff adds, “Massive violent conflicts, such as Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine or the conflicts in the Middle East, are merely symptoms of a deeper crisis in the international order, which is closely tied to crises within national orders. Through our research program, we aim to explore these crises, analyze their causes, dynamics, and effects, and make them visible. At the same time, we place great importance on fostering dialogue with society — because addressing the causes and consequences of such transformations concerns us all and will shape how we live together in the future.”
Michael Kotzbauer, Deputy CEO of Commerzbank and member of its Foundation Fund’s Board of Trustees, highlights the bank’s motivation: “With this funding, we aim to support objective discourse and fulfill our corporate responsibility to society, particularly here at our Frankfurt headquarters.” The funding enables the Research Center Normative Orders to establish internationally staffed guest professorships, thematic fellowships, lecture series, international conferences, and public dialogue formats such as the “Frankfurter Stadtgespräche” (Frankfurt City Dialogues). These initiatives are designed to both contribute to academic research and to actively promote the exchange of knowledge with society.
The first guest professorship in the 2025/2026 winter semester will feature renowned political philosopher Prof. Michael Rosen from Harvard University, who is scheduled to lead a seminar on the current crisis of democracy and deliver a public lecture on the topic.
