Project acronym ACO
Project The Proceedings of the Ecumenical Councils from Oral Utterance to Manuscript Edition as Evidence for Late Antique Persuasion and Self-Representation Techniques
Researcher (PI) Peter Alfred Riedlberger
Host Institution (HI) OTTO-FRIEDRICH-UNIVERSITAET BAMBERG
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2015-STG
Summary The Acts of the Ecumenical Councils of Late Antiquity include (purportedly) verbatim minutes of the proceedings, a formal framework and copies of relevant documents which were either (allegedly) read out during the proceedings or which were later attached to the Acts proper. Despite this unusual wealth of documentary evidence, the daunting nature of the Acts demanding multidisciplinary competency, their complex structure with a matryoshka-like nesting of proceedings from different dates, and the stereotype that their contents bear only on Christological niceties have deterred generations of historians from studying them. Only in recent years have their fortunes begun to improve, but this recent research has not always been based on sound principles: the recorded proceedings of the sessions are still often accepted as verbatim minutes. Yet even a superficial reading quickly reveals widespread editorial interference. We must accept that in many cases the Acts will teach us less about the actual debates than about the editors who shaped their presentation. This does not depreciate the Acts’ evidence: on the contrary, they are first-rate material for the rhetoric of persuasion and self-representation. It is possible, in fact, to take the investigation to a deeper level and examine in what manner the oral proceedings were put into writing: several passages in the Acts comment upon the process of note-taking and the work of the shorthand writers. Thus, the main objective of the proposed research project could be described as an attempt to trace the destinies of the Acts’ texts, from the oral utterance to the manuscript texts we have today. This will include the fullest study on ancient transcript techniques to date; a structural analysis of the Acts’ texts with the aim of highlighting edited passages; and a careful comparison of the various editions of the Acts, which survive in Greek, Latin, Syriac and Coptic, in order to detect traces of editorial interference.
Summary
The Acts of the Ecumenical Councils of Late Antiquity include (purportedly) verbatim minutes of the proceedings, a formal framework and copies of relevant documents which were either (allegedly) read out during the proceedings or which were later attached to the Acts proper. Despite this unusual wealth of documentary evidence, the daunting nature of the Acts demanding multidisciplinary competency, their complex structure with a matryoshka-like nesting of proceedings from different dates, and the stereotype that their contents bear only on Christological niceties have deterred generations of historians from studying them. Only in recent years have their fortunes begun to improve, but this recent research has not always been based on sound principles: the recorded proceedings of the sessions are still often accepted as verbatim minutes. Yet even a superficial reading quickly reveals widespread editorial interference. We must accept that in many cases the Acts will teach us less about the actual debates than about the editors who shaped their presentation. This does not depreciate the Acts’ evidence: on the contrary, they are first-rate material for the rhetoric of persuasion and self-representation. It is possible, in fact, to take the investigation to a deeper level and examine in what manner the oral proceedings were put into writing: several passages in the Acts comment upon the process of note-taking and the work of the shorthand writers. Thus, the main objective of the proposed research project could be described as an attempt to trace the destinies of the Acts’ texts, from the oral utterance to the manuscript texts we have today. This will include the fullest study on ancient transcript techniques to date; a structural analysis of the Acts’ texts with the aim of highlighting edited passages; and a careful comparison of the various editions of the Acts, which survive in Greek, Latin, Syriac and Coptic, in order to detect traces of editorial interference.
Max ERC Funding
1 497 250 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-05-01, End date: 2021-04-30
Project acronym BUMP
Project BETTER UNDERSTANDING the METAPHYSICS of PREGNANCY
Researcher (PI) Elisabeth Marjolijn Kingma
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Every single human is the product of a pregnancy: an approximately nine-month period during which a foetus develops within its mother’s body. Yet pregnancy has not been a traditional focus in philosophy. That is remarkable, for two reasons:
First, because pregnancy presents fascinating philosophical problems: what, during the pregnancy, is the nature of the relationship between the foetus and the maternal organism? What is the relationship between the pregnant organism and the later baby? And when does one person or organism become two?
Second, because so many topics immediately adjacent to or involved in pregnancy have taken centre stage in philosophical enquiry. Examples include questions about personhood, foetuses, personal identity and the self.
This project launches the metaphysics of pregnancy as an important and fundamental area of philosophical research.
The core aims of the project are:
(1) to develop a philosophically sophisticated account of human pregnancy and birth, and the entities involved in this, that is attentive to our best empirical understanding of human reproductive biology;
(2) to articulate the metaphysics of organisms, persons and selves in a way that acknowledges the details of how we come into existence; and
(3) to start the process of rewriting the legal, social and moral language we use to classify ourselves and our actions, so that it is compatible with and can accommodate the nature of pregnancy.
The project will investigate these questions in the context of a range of philosophical sub disciplines, including analytic metaphysics, philosophy of biology and feminist philosophy, and in close dialogue with our best empirical understanding of the life sciences – most notably physiology.
Summary
Every single human is the product of a pregnancy: an approximately nine-month period during which a foetus develops within its mother’s body. Yet pregnancy has not been a traditional focus in philosophy. That is remarkable, for two reasons:
First, because pregnancy presents fascinating philosophical problems: what, during the pregnancy, is the nature of the relationship between the foetus and the maternal organism? What is the relationship between the pregnant organism and the later baby? And when does one person or organism become two?
Second, because so many topics immediately adjacent to or involved in pregnancy have taken centre stage in philosophical enquiry. Examples include questions about personhood, foetuses, personal identity and the self.
This project launches the metaphysics of pregnancy as an important and fundamental area of philosophical research.
The core aims of the project are:
(1) to develop a philosophically sophisticated account of human pregnancy and birth, and the entities involved in this, that is attentive to our best empirical understanding of human reproductive biology;
(2) to articulate the metaphysics of organisms, persons and selves in a way that acknowledges the details of how we come into existence; and
(3) to start the process of rewriting the legal, social and moral language we use to classify ourselves and our actions, so that it is compatible with and can accommodate the nature of pregnancy.
The project will investigate these questions in the context of a range of philosophical sub disciplines, including analytic metaphysics, philosophy of biology and feminist philosophy, and in close dialogue with our best empirical understanding of the life sciences – most notably physiology.
Max ERC Funding
1 273 290 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-04-01, End date: 2021-03-31
Project acronym COMPLEX
Project The Degradation of Complex Modern Polymeric Objects in Heritage Collections: A System Dynamics Approach
Researcher (PI) Katherine CURRAN
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2016-STG
Summary By viewing a scientific problem through the lens of heritage, COMPLEX will create an entirely new cross-disciplinary vision for understanding and modelling polymer degradation and build a world leading research team studying the degradation of modern polymeric objects in collections. Rather than focussing on specific chemical or physical processes, as has been done in the past, COMPLEX will consider polymeric objects as almost akin to living organisms, and by using a system dynamics approach will model objects in their environments in a way that reflects their real complexity, with multiple, inter-connecting interactions between material properties and environmental parameters.
As a polymer chemist, this project has been inspired by my 4 years of experience in the field of heritage, in particular by experiencing the problems raised by the conservation of modern polymeric objects such as plastics. The development of modern polymers during the 19th and 20th centuries has changed history and society and they are a part of our material heritage that it is essential to conserve for future generations. However, these objects are at risk due to their instability and a lack of knowledge within the museum sector as to their degradation behaviour.
System dynamics models will be developed incorporating multiple chemical and physical interactions between the components of polymeric objects and environmental parameters such as relative humidity or light. These will be used to predict the degradation behaviour of objects over time, to identify key parameters that are correlated to object change and provide practical solutions for heritage professionals. Above all, COMPLEX will provide a new way of looking at polymer degradation, that can be applied across a wide range of fields, including medicine, waste management and industry.
Summary
By viewing a scientific problem through the lens of heritage, COMPLEX will create an entirely new cross-disciplinary vision for understanding and modelling polymer degradation and build a world leading research team studying the degradation of modern polymeric objects in collections. Rather than focussing on specific chemical or physical processes, as has been done in the past, COMPLEX will consider polymeric objects as almost akin to living organisms, and by using a system dynamics approach will model objects in their environments in a way that reflects their real complexity, with multiple, inter-connecting interactions between material properties and environmental parameters.
As a polymer chemist, this project has been inspired by my 4 years of experience in the field of heritage, in particular by experiencing the problems raised by the conservation of modern polymeric objects such as plastics. The development of modern polymers during the 19th and 20th centuries has changed history and society and they are a part of our material heritage that it is essential to conserve for future generations. However, these objects are at risk due to their instability and a lack of knowledge within the museum sector as to their degradation behaviour.
System dynamics models will be developed incorporating multiple chemical and physical interactions between the components of polymeric objects and environmental parameters such as relative humidity or light. These will be used to predict the degradation behaviour of objects over time, to identify key parameters that are correlated to object change and provide practical solutions for heritage professionals. Above all, COMPLEX will provide a new way of looking at polymer degradation, that can be applied across a wide range of fields, including medicine, waste management and industry.
Max ERC Funding
1 499 394 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-04-01, End date: 2022-03-31
Project acronym CREWS
Project Contexts of and Relations between Early Writing Systems
Researcher (PI) Philippa Mary Steele
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Contexts of and Relations between Early Writing Systems
This project takes an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to the history of writing, redressing lingering problems that have hampered previous research and developing new methodologies for studying scripts and their social context. The staff on the project will work on specific case studies relating to inscriptions of the ancient Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean and Levant (c.2000-600 BC), developing a new and much deeper understanding of writing, literacy and social and cultural interrelations in the area than has ever been possible via the often out-dated traditional methods usually applied to these data. The focus will be on enriching our understanding of both linguistic and social aspects of the borrowing and propagation of writing. This planned research has the potential to change the way we think about writing systems, their societal context and the ways in which ideas were exchanged in early civilisations. Published and publicised through multiple outputs and media, the results will be of importance not only to the specific chronological period and geographical area under close consideration but also to the diachronic study of relationships between population groups and the significance of such relationships for the wider field of cultural history.
Summary
Contexts of and Relations between Early Writing Systems
This project takes an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to the history of writing, redressing lingering problems that have hampered previous research and developing new methodologies for studying scripts and their social context. The staff on the project will work on specific case studies relating to inscriptions of the ancient Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean and Levant (c.2000-600 BC), developing a new and much deeper understanding of writing, literacy and social and cultural interrelations in the area than has ever been possible via the often out-dated traditional methods usually applied to these data. The focus will be on enriching our understanding of both linguistic and social aspects of the borrowing and propagation of writing. This planned research has the potential to change the way we think about writing systems, their societal context and the ways in which ideas were exchanged in early civilisations. Published and publicised through multiple outputs and media, the results will be of importance not only to the specific chronological period and geographical area under close consideration but also to the diachronic study of relationships between population groups and the significance of such relationships for the wider field of cultural history.
Max ERC Funding
1 472 519 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-04-01, End date: 2021-03-31
Project acronym EMTECH
Project Emotional Machines:The Technological Transformation of Intimacy in Japan
Researcher (PI) Elena GIANNOULIS
Host Institution (HI) FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2016-STG
Summary EMTECH analyzes the relationship between aesthetic works on human-robot interaction in Japan and cutting-edge advances in robotics and artificial intelligence. Its central hypothesis argues that a tradition of literary, artistic, and other media forms of cultural production on human-robot relationships particular to Japan is currently being built into emotionally-intelligent companion robots with the ability to understand, record, and elicit emotions in its users, consequently expanding the capacities for humans to create affective bonds with machines and transforming structures of intimacy that sustain traditional social institutions. In its most ambitious claim, EMTECH argues that this cultural tradition has played a primary role in inspiring the recently-emerging mass production of domestic robots with technology that can register and record facial expressions, heart rate, skin conductance, and other signs of affect not consciously recognized by humans, thus generating new kinds of scientific data on human affect that fundamentally challenges previous understandings of emotion. Through the textual analysis of literary work on robot imaginaries and ethnographic fieldwork on human-robot interaction in homes, palliative care centers, and engineering laboratories, EMTECH’s purpose is to collect qualitative data on new technologies of emotion management in order to advance literary and cultural theory’s contributions to the affective sciences, as well as to inform public discussions on issues of data collection, privacy, and other ethical concerns raised by the adoption of emotionally-intelligent robots in the home. Leveraging research in the humanities to critique emotional models employed by robotics engineers and designers, and implementing novel research methods such as the use of robots in both literary critique and ethnographic fieldwork, EMTECH promises to yield groundbreaking data of both theoretical and methodological application across the human sciences.
Summary
EMTECH analyzes the relationship between aesthetic works on human-robot interaction in Japan and cutting-edge advances in robotics and artificial intelligence. Its central hypothesis argues that a tradition of literary, artistic, and other media forms of cultural production on human-robot relationships particular to Japan is currently being built into emotionally-intelligent companion robots with the ability to understand, record, and elicit emotions in its users, consequently expanding the capacities for humans to create affective bonds with machines and transforming structures of intimacy that sustain traditional social institutions. In its most ambitious claim, EMTECH argues that this cultural tradition has played a primary role in inspiring the recently-emerging mass production of domestic robots with technology that can register and record facial expressions, heart rate, skin conductance, and other signs of affect not consciously recognized by humans, thus generating new kinds of scientific data on human affect that fundamentally challenges previous understandings of emotion. Through the textual analysis of literary work on robot imaginaries and ethnographic fieldwork on human-robot interaction in homes, palliative care centers, and engineering laboratories, EMTECH’s purpose is to collect qualitative data on new technologies of emotion management in order to advance literary and cultural theory’s contributions to the affective sciences, as well as to inform public discussions on issues of data collection, privacy, and other ethical concerns raised by the adoption of emotionally-intelligent robots in the home. Leveraging research in the humanities to critique emotional models employed by robotics engineers and designers, and implementing novel research methods such as the use of robots in both literary critique and ethnographic fieldwork, EMTECH promises to yield groundbreaking data of both theoretical and methodological application across the human sciences.
Max ERC Funding
1 489 919 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-08-01, End date: 2022-07-31
Project acronym ENERGY ETHICS
Project The Ethics of Oil: Finance Moralities and Environmental Politics in the Global Oil Economy
Researcher (PI) METTE HIGH
Host Institution (HI) THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2016-STG
Summary In October 2014, the Chairman of the Bank of England Mark Carney warned that many oil reserves cannot be developed. If so, they would contribute so significantly to increased greenhouse gas emissions that international targets to avoid dangerous levels of global warming would be exceeded. However, stock valuations of oil companies assume that all proven and probable reserves can indeed be produced. Amounting to a potentially enormous debt overhang, the Bank of England has launched an enquiry into the threat of a crisis similar to the subprime mortgage crash, known as the ‘carbon bubble’. This looming crisis with its ‘stranded assets’ raises urgent questions about the conflicting dynamics between finance moralities and environmental politics at a time of oil dependency and an uncertain climate future. Grounded in ethnographic fieldwork with oil companies in the US and Norway, energy analysts in the UK and the US, and fossil fuel divestment movements in Germany and the UK, ENERGY ETHICS will develop a new framework for understanding the relationship between oil, money and climate change that counters the prevalent tendency to interpret these issues through aggregated normative systemic analysis only. Taking its starting point in people’s own perceptions of and direct involvement in the oil economy, it will offer a major step forward in understanding how people in positions of influence within the oil economy make financial and ethical valuations of oil. This will contribute to public stakeholder dialogue and wider transdisciplinary engagements. Focusing on oil and its financialization, ENERGY ETHICS has three main research objectives: 1) to examine how people positioned strategically in relation to the global production of oil conceptualise and influence the oil market; 2) to understand the linkages and frictions between these different valuations of oil; and 3) to investigate how oil valuations relate to political reforms and new climate economic initiatives.
Summary
In October 2014, the Chairman of the Bank of England Mark Carney warned that many oil reserves cannot be developed. If so, they would contribute so significantly to increased greenhouse gas emissions that international targets to avoid dangerous levels of global warming would be exceeded. However, stock valuations of oil companies assume that all proven and probable reserves can indeed be produced. Amounting to a potentially enormous debt overhang, the Bank of England has launched an enquiry into the threat of a crisis similar to the subprime mortgage crash, known as the ‘carbon bubble’. This looming crisis with its ‘stranded assets’ raises urgent questions about the conflicting dynamics between finance moralities and environmental politics at a time of oil dependency and an uncertain climate future. Grounded in ethnographic fieldwork with oil companies in the US and Norway, energy analysts in the UK and the US, and fossil fuel divestment movements in Germany and the UK, ENERGY ETHICS will develop a new framework for understanding the relationship between oil, money and climate change that counters the prevalent tendency to interpret these issues through aggregated normative systemic analysis only. Taking its starting point in people’s own perceptions of and direct involvement in the oil economy, it will offer a major step forward in understanding how people in positions of influence within the oil economy make financial and ethical valuations of oil. This will contribute to public stakeholder dialogue and wider transdisciplinary engagements. Focusing on oil and its financialization, ENERGY ETHICS has three main research objectives: 1) to examine how people positioned strategically in relation to the global production of oil conceptualise and influence the oil market; 2) to understand the linkages and frictions between these different valuations of oil; and 3) to investigate how oil valuations relate to political reforms and new climate economic initiatives.
Max ERC Funding
1 498 052 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-07-01, End date: 2022-06-30
Project acronym Hidden Galleries
Project Creative Agency and Religious Minorities: ‘hidden galleries’ in the secret police archives in 20th Century Central and Eastern Europe
Researcher (PI) James Alexander Kapalo
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK - NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, CORK
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2015-STG
Summary This project concerns the creative agency of religious minorities in the transformation of Central and Eastern Europe societies in the 20th century. It constitutes the first comparative research on the secret police archives in the region from the perspective of the history and anthropology of religion and offers a radical perspectival shift on the value and uses of the secret police archives away from questions of justice and truth to questions of creative agency and cultural patrimony. Interdisciplinary in nature it combines archival, anthropological and cultural studies approaches to provide a re-examination and re-contextualization of the holdings of secret police archives in three states; Romania, Moldova and Hungary. The secret police archives, in addition to containing millions of files on individuals monitored by the state, also constitute a hidden repository of confiscated religious art and publications of religious minorities that were persecuted in the 20th century under fascism and communism. The investigation of these materials will be complemented by ethnographic research and the impact of the research will be extended through a public exhibition of previously hidden materials. The project has three principal stages: 1) copy/retrieve and catalogue examples of this creative material from the archives; 2) engage in ethnographic research with the communities that produced this material in order to explore the meaning and power of these artistic creations at the time of their production and in the context of post-socialism; 3) curate and stage a touring exhibition that re-presents the narratives and experiences of religious groups through their own artistic creations in order to conduct research in real time on questions of religious pluralism and intolerance in contemporary society. Through these three steps, this project will shed fresh light on the role that minority religious groups played in challenging the hegemonic order and in extending pluralism.
Summary
This project concerns the creative agency of religious minorities in the transformation of Central and Eastern Europe societies in the 20th century. It constitutes the first comparative research on the secret police archives in the region from the perspective of the history and anthropology of religion and offers a radical perspectival shift on the value and uses of the secret police archives away from questions of justice and truth to questions of creative agency and cultural patrimony. Interdisciplinary in nature it combines archival, anthropological and cultural studies approaches to provide a re-examination and re-contextualization of the holdings of secret police archives in three states; Romania, Moldova and Hungary. The secret police archives, in addition to containing millions of files on individuals monitored by the state, also constitute a hidden repository of confiscated religious art and publications of religious minorities that were persecuted in the 20th century under fascism and communism. The investigation of these materials will be complemented by ethnographic research and the impact of the research will be extended through a public exhibition of previously hidden materials. The project has three principal stages: 1) copy/retrieve and catalogue examples of this creative material from the archives; 2) engage in ethnographic research with the communities that produced this material in order to explore the meaning and power of these artistic creations at the time of their production and in the context of post-socialism; 3) curate and stage a touring exhibition that re-presents the narratives and experiences of religious groups through their own artistic creations in order to conduct research in real time on questions of religious pluralism and intolerance in contemporary society. Through these three steps, this project will shed fresh light on the role that minority religious groups played in challenging the hegemonic order and in extending pluralism.
Max ERC Funding
990 087 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2020-08-31
Project acronym INNOVATION
Project Authority and Innovation in Early Franciscan Thought (c. 1220-56)
Researcher (PI) Lydia Ann SCHUMACHER
Host Institution (HI) KING'S COLLEGE LONDON
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2016-STG
Summary INNOVATION anticipates a breakthrough in scholarly understanding of the medieval origins of modern Western philosophy. This breakthrough will be achieved by exposing the pioneering nature of early thirteenth-century Franciscan thought and its pivotal significance for the subsequent formation of the Western philosophical identity. The work of early Franciscans has largely been neglected in scholarly circles, on the assumption that they merely codified the work of past authorities, where later Franciscans developed innovative ideas that laid the foundation for the development of modern philosophy. INNOVATION will contest this assumption by producing the first comprehensive study of the sources, method, content, and later medieval reception of early Franciscan thought. In conducting this study, I will implement a groundbreaking method of reading scholastic texts, which is attentive to the way that practice informed theory in the high Middle Ages. This ‘practice-led’ hermeneutic will provide a resource for re-envisaging the entire state of the art in the study of scholasticism. As regards early Franciscans, it will allow me to identify novelty, often due to the use of Islamic sources, where past scholars have perceived unoriginality. On this basis, I will highlight previously unnoticed connections between the early and late Franciscan schools. By these means, I will illustrate how Western thought has been nourished by the ethos of a particular religious order and by Islamic thought, pointing up a shared Muslim-Western philosophical identity that is often overlooked but urgently needed to overcome severe fractures in today’s society. At the same time, I will emphasize that Franciscan ideas only became modern once removed from their practice-led context. In juxtaposing the cultural paradigms of philosophy and religious practice, consequently, I will advance knowledge by producing the first nuanced scholarly account of the Franciscan origins of modern Western thought.
Summary
INNOVATION anticipates a breakthrough in scholarly understanding of the medieval origins of modern Western philosophy. This breakthrough will be achieved by exposing the pioneering nature of early thirteenth-century Franciscan thought and its pivotal significance for the subsequent formation of the Western philosophical identity. The work of early Franciscans has largely been neglected in scholarly circles, on the assumption that they merely codified the work of past authorities, where later Franciscans developed innovative ideas that laid the foundation for the development of modern philosophy. INNOVATION will contest this assumption by producing the first comprehensive study of the sources, method, content, and later medieval reception of early Franciscan thought. In conducting this study, I will implement a groundbreaking method of reading scholastic texts, which is attentive to the way that practice informed theory in the high Middle Ages. This ‘practice-led’ hermeneutic will provide a resource for re-envisaging the entire state of the art in the study of scholasticism. As regards early Franciscans, it will allow me to identify novelty, often due to the use of Islamic sources, where past scholars have perceived unoriginality. On this basis, I will highlight previously unnoticed connections between the early and late Franciscan schools. By these means, I will illustrate how Western thought has been nourished by the ethos of a particular religious order and by Islamic thought, pointing up a shared Muslim-Western philosophical identity that is often overlooked but urgently needed to overcome severe fractures in today’s society. At the same time, I will emphasize that Franciscan ideas only became modern once removed from their practice-led context. In juxtaposing the cultural paradigms of philosophy and religious practice, consequently, I will advance knowledge by producing the first nuanced scholarly account of the Franciscan origins of modern Western thought.
Max ERC Funding
1 499 095 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-01-01, End date: 2021-12-31
Project acronym JapPrehistMigration
Project How and when was Japan settled by speakers of Japanese? Exploring the clues to Japanese prehistory preserved in old dialect divisions
Researcher (PI) Elisabeth Margarita de Boer
Host Institution (HI) RUHR-UNIVERSITAET BOCHUM
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2015-STG
Summary It is thought that the Japanese language was brought to Japan in a series of west-to-east migrations from the Korean peninsula in prehistoric times. Through fieldwork on the tone systems of a cluster of outlying and not sufficiently documented dialects in Japan (the so-called Gairin or ‘outer circle’ dialects), a genealogy of the members of this dialect group will be reconstructed.
A central question is whether the similarities between the Gairin dialects are the result of parallel developments or a common descent. If these dialects share a common descent, the next question is what the relative timing of the dialect splits is, and the degree to which the different Gairin dialects are related to each other.
The outcomes of my research project will answer these questions and put approximate dates to some of the main phonological developments. These outcomes will add unprecedented detail, based on linguistic data, to migrations that so far could only be traced through archaeology: The project will make it possible to reconstruct the prehistoric migration routes that resulted in the present-day scattered geographical distribution of this dialect group.
Study of the oldest historical records of the tone systems of this dialect type will add greater detail and time-depth to the analysis.
Summary
It is thought that the Japanese language was brought to Japan in a series of west-to-east migrations from the Korean peninsula in prehistoric times. Through fieldwork on the tone systems of a cluster of outlying and not sufficiently documented dialects in Japan (the so-called Gairin or ‘outer circle’ dialects), a genealogy of the members of this dialect group will be reconstructed.
A central question is whether the similarities between the Gairin dialects are the result of parallel developments or a common descent. If these dialects share a common descent, the next question is what the relative timing of the dialect splits is, and the degree to which the different Gairin dialects are related to each other.
The outcomes of my research project will answer these questions and put approximate dates to some of the main phonological developments. These outcomes will add unprecedented detail, based on linguistic data, to migrations that so far could only be traced through archaeology: The project will make it possible to reconstruct the prehistoric migration routes that resulted in the present-day scattered geographical distribution of this dialect group.
Study of the oldest historical records of the tone systems of this dialect type will add greater detail and time-depth to the analysis.
Max ERC Funding
1 394 040 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-05-01, End date: 2021-04-30
Project acronym JUSTAM
Project Justice, Morality, and the State in Amazonia
Researcher (PI) Harry Laird WALKER
Host Institution (HI) LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2016-STG
Summary The project will investigate the social, cultural and cognitive bases of justice, or the morally correct assignment of goods and evils, with a focus on the indigenous peoples of Western Amazonia. It will develop an analysis of issues ranging from emotions, fairness, entitlement and equality in contexts of resource distribution, to punishment, vengeance, and attributions of responsibility. This will enlarge our understanding of how and why patterns of moral judgement vary across cultures, with particular attention paid to the role played by cultural constructions of personhood. The current situation of rapid social change in Amazonia, driven largely by the increased presence of the state in everyday life, provides a unique opportunity for assessing how morality and ethics are shaped by social conditions such as the size of networks of cooperation, processes for generating consensus, and the management of conflicts and disputes. This will be used to address longstanding questions concerning the evolution of morality, including how fairness is linked to cooperation within ever larger groups. The innovative methodology, combining ethnography with experiments and games adapted from psychology, economics, and experimental philosophy, will allow for a vastly more comprehensive set of data on justice in action than has previously been achieved. This will permit the elaboration of a sophisticated and distinctively Amazonian theory of justice, grounded in emotional responsiveness to others and respect for personal autonomy, that is capable of entering into critical dialogue with mainstream Western theories and understandings, while also challenging a number of dominant stereotypes of small-scale, non-state societies. The results will further be used to formulate a general framework for development projects and policy interventions with indigenous peoples, which could drastically improve their success rate and potentially be adapted for use in a range of global contexts.
Summary
The project will investigate the social, cultural and cognitive bases of justice, or the morally correct assignment of goods and evils, with a focus on the indigenous peoples of Western Amazonia. It will develop an analysis of issues ranging from emotions, fairness, entitlement and equality in contexts of resource distribution, to punishment, vengeance, and attributions of responsibility. This will enlarge our understanding of how and why patterns of moral judgement vary across cultures, with particular attention paid to the role played by cultural constructions of personhood. The current situation of rapid social change in Amazonia, driven largely by the increased presence of the state in everyday life, provides a unique opportunity for assessing how morality and ethics are shaped by social conditions such as the size of networks of cooperation, processes for generating consensus, and the management of conflicts and disputes. This will be used to address longstanding questions concerning the evolution of morality, including how fairness is linked to cooperation within ever larger groups. The innovative methodology, combining ethnography with experiments and games adapted from psychology, economics, and experimental philosophy, will allow for a vastly more comprehensive set of data on justice in action than has previously been achieved. This will permit the elaboration of a sophisticated and distinctively Amazonian theory of justice, grounded in emotional responsiveness to others and respect for personal autonomy, that is capable of entering into critical dialogue with mainstream Western theories and understandings, while also challenging a number of dominant stereotypes of small-scale, non-state societies. The results will further be used to formulate a general framework for development projects and policy interventions with indigenous peoples, which could drastically improve their success rate and potentially be adapted for use in a range of global contexts.
Max ERC Funding
1 483 992 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-04-01, End date: 2022-03-31
