Stellenticket Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

The Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script (SCRIPTS)” examines why liberal democracies around the world face growing pressure and what strengthens their resilience. Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under the German Excellence Strategy since 2019, SCRIPTS is hosted by Freie Universität Berlin partners with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Hertie School, the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS), and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
The project ID 4 explores the consequences of liberal script contestations within UNESCO and the OECD, focusing on the field of science ethics (Bioethics and AI ethics). UNESCO and the OECD are the two key international organizations (IOs) that are actively involved in global science governance and institutionalization of science ethics, a domain that is increasingly subject to contestations by state and societal actors. These contestations target not only the authority of UNESCO and OECD in global science governance, but also the epistemic foundations underpinning such governance: its reliance on universalism, human rights, transparency, evidence-based rationality, and the privileged role of scientific experts.
Drawing on political science and macro sociological perspectives, the project investigates under what conditions these contestations affect the respective institutional designs (polity), legitimacy claims and practices (politics), and policy outputs (standards in bioethics and AI ethics) in UNESCO and OECD. By systematically distinguishing between internal and external forms of contestation, as well as power differentials and polarization of contestants, we explore when and how contestation leads to progressive re-articulations of liberal norms to regressive re-scripting, resistance, or outright de-scripting. In doing so, the project contributes to broader debates on the consequences of contestation for the liberal script and its resilience under conditions of increasing political and epistemic challenge.