Interdisciplinary Near East studies

Interdisciplinary Near East studies

Based on the specific expertise at the FAU, this focus of research places the relationality of the spatial categories of “Europe” and “the Orient” at the center of analysis. The goal is to develop innovative Euro-Oriental “double perspectives” “beyond” the dichotomy between “the Orient” and “Europe.”

Analyses examine the relations between different cultures as well as issues of normative collision in interreligious and religious-secular contexts in the Near East and in Europe.

Projects:

Gravity Centers of Authoritarian Rule: a Comparative Perspective

The resilience of autocracies in various world regions and the emerging model of illiberal capitalist autocracies such as China or Russia has led to a growing scholarly attention on the durability of those regimes. Mainstream literature, however, focuses on the domestic dimension and neglects the international sphere, although autocracies not only seem to resist to the global spread of democracy but also display their own activities of autocracy promotion particularly within their regional realm.…

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Decentralization in the Arab World: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan from a comparative perspective

Since the early 1990s we have been witnessing the emergence of government-led decentralization strategies in the Arab world, which vary considerably with regard to timing, depth, success, reach and results. Despite these empirical findings, the scholarly literature remains vague when discussing causes and consequences of governments' decisions to further decentralize the body politic. This is the point of departure of our research project. It focuses on experiences with strategies of administrative…

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Al-Ghazālī in Discourse. Studies in the Modern Reception of "Iḥyā’‘ulūm ad-Dīn"

Habilitationsprojekt

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Publications: