Metamorphoses of the Political

This research cluster examines the shifting structures, practices, and ideas or concepts of politics and the political over the long 20th century. The distinction between politics and 'the political' has become a key precept of modern social science, philosophy, and cultural history. The awareness of the demise of the sovereign nation-state as prime actor and object of political science gave rise to an intensive and interdisciplinary debate on the 'Metamorphoses of the Political'. Today, 'the political' changes its 'aggregate state' continually, encompassing new fields of social practice as it withdraws from others, frequently appearing as 'antipolitics'. In the long 20th century, the Indian subcontinent has been one of the most vigorous sources of distinctive conceptualizations and practices of 'the political' beyond the North Atlantic region, and provides fruitful ground for comparative and transregional research on the subject.

The Maria Sybilla Merian Centre for Advanced Studies cluster "Metamorphoses of the Political. A Comparative Perspective over the long 20th Century" (MICAS-MP) has been set up with external funding. This cluster is a significant research focus of CeMIS, with four of the five current CeMIS professors contributing to it. Apart from MICAS-MP, the results from this cluster are also presented to the scientific community at international events like the Workshop "Fissures, Mediation and Theories of Empowerment: Dalit Politics and Anti-Politics" (April 16-17, 2015).