Research
Profile: Eastern Europe and Transnational (Dis)Entanglements
The Institute for East European Studies (IEES) at Freie Universität Berlin connects and intertwines social sciences and humanities. In its interdisciplinarity, its range of subjects and in its size the institute is unique in Germany. The central premise of our agenda is the integration of historical, social, economical, political and cultural studies. To foster the dialogue between these disciplines, the IEES organises its research into three thematic clusters, which formulate guiding concepts within the disciplines and establish perspectives for trans- and interdisciplinary projects.
CLUSTER I: EASTERN EUROPE (DIS)ENTANGLED
Eastern Europe is viewed not as an isolated research area but from a comparative perspective, as a region whose development remains historically and currently intertwined with other parts of the world. This perspective correlates with a theoretical and methodological sensitivity: the diffusion processes of ideas, models and practices are considered in terms of (cultural) history, which includes political and economic interdependencies alongside language, culture and media. In this cluster, we focus on the interrelations between the frequently conflicting political and performative models of spatial organisation in historical and contemporary terms – and on the boundaries and disruptions of transnational processes.
CLUSTER 2: EASTERN EUROPE AND COMPETING DEVELOPMENT MODELS
In today’s Eastern Europe, dominant Western-influenced development models are competing with quite a few alternatives. These differ fundamentally from theories of transformation and post-socialism, which underestimated the inherent logic and scope of developments in Eastern Europe. This competition leads to massive conflicts regarding the validity of cultural (religious, linguistic, ethnic) reference horizons. The relationships between tradition and modernity are being constantly redefined, the ideas of liberal democracy revised, the role of the nation state in the economy disputed. These phenomena matter far beyond East European Studies. Considering the historical scope of these trends, the concept of alternative and multiple modernities is a fascinating field of investigation, enabling a confrontational reassessment of the Soviet era as a project of civilisation and colonisation. Therefore, it makes sense to analyse the history and the present of Eastern Europe from a decolonial perspective.
CLUSTER 3: AMBIVALENT SOCIAL PRACTICES – DOMINATION, CO-OPTATION, RESISTANCE
The third cluster focuses on the significance of social practices for the dynamics of societal change in Eastern Europe. While emphasising the context of social practices and their rootedness in a particular time and space, it also sees people and movements as sui generis objects of investigation. In particular, the aim is to better understand different groups of actors through interdisciplinary research – from civil society and artistic sub-milieus to political decision makers and entrepreneurs. Gender perspectives, so often delegitimized by Eastern European governments both scientifically and culturally, are of particular importance in this context.
You can find out more about our research projects on the pages of the individual departments: