Democracy as Utopia, Experience and Threat
Forecasted
Democracy as Utopia, Experience and Threat supports humanities and social science research groups studying historical conflicts over social order to deepen understanding of competing ideas of democracy.
Funder: Gerda Henkel Foundation
Due Dates (Anticipated): June 2027 (application deadline)
Funding Amounts: Up to three scholarships per group for up to 36 months; research scholarship rates of €2,760 or €3,720 per month
Summary: Supports humanities and social science research groups studying historical conflicts over social order and competing understandings of democracy.
Key Information: Applications require a research group of at least two active scholars; individual applications are not permitted.
Description
The Gerda Henkel Foundation’s Special Programme Democracy has two subsections. This historically oriented call supports research into conflicts over the foundations of social order from ancient times to the present. It treats democracy as an imagined ideal, a lived experience or a perceived threat, rather than assuming that one present-day model of democracy applies across periods and societies.
Projects should examine competing ideas of participation, self-organization, justice, freedom, hierarchy and good leadership. The call asks researchers to consider both those seeking change and those defending established orders, including in societies that understand themselves as democratic. Its scope extends beyond protest, revolutions, constitutions, elections and parties to multiperspectival histories of conflict and culture.
