Thematical orientation

As the doctoral programme is linked with the Programme Central Europe at the German Council on Foreign Relations, it only coaches lecturers with a reference to Central and Eastern Europe.

The content of the dissertation has to refer to the broader topic of ‘Central and Eastern Europe in the 21st century: change of values, norms and identity’. Besides the quality of the application it is decisive that the topic has sufficient links to a multidisciplinary discussion amongst all lecturers. The topic is multi-dimensional and can be interpreted by different scientific disciplines in several ways.

The doctoral programme intends to contribute to a better understanding of politics, society, culture and identity of the states in transition in Central, Eastern and South East Europe. Against this background, the programme aims at explaining current developments at the local, regional, national, European and international level as well as phenomena in bilateral and multilateral relations. In this way, a better mutual understanding between Germany and its eastern neighbours is supposed to be achieved.

In the majority of states in Central, Eastern and South East Europe, the process of political, economic and social transformation since the collapse of socialism is formed by an encompassing transfer of values and norms of a historical dimension, that is moving from West to East. One of the most important driving forces is the approach towards and respectively the accession to the European-Atlantic structures.

The ‘return to Europe’ has been and still is the declared aim, both in a social and political way, of the majority of states in transition, even though the associated transfer of values and norms partly leads to fierce political and social disavowals and reactions. Type and scope of the reaction is formed by historical, cultural, social, economical and political preconditions in the states of transition.

Simultaneously, considering the integration of the states in transition to the Pan-European structures, there is the possibility that states in Central, Eastern and South East Europe themselves play a role concerning their own values and norms and thereby assert themselves. In this way, the original process from West to East can now also continue in the opposite direction and possibly lead to mutual interaction.

Possible research questions of the doctoral programme are, for example: Which values and norms, lines of tradition, history, culture and identity shape current and future politics and society in the states of transition in Central, Eastern and South East Europe? To which extent, how and in which direction does a transfer of values and norms take place? How do they react to European and global challenges? How do they play a part in bi- and multilateral relations, at European and international level? How do they want to design national, European and international policies? Which strategies for their own development and for Europe as whole do they pursue?