Conceptual Forum addresses fractality

The next Conceptual Forum on 26 and 27 April 2023, organised by Prof. Dr. Ulrike Ludwig (Käte Hamburger Kolleg Münster), will tackle the approach of "fractality" (Fraktalität), developed by Christophe Duhamelle and Falk Bretschneider for the history of the Old Empire. The concept relates the spatial structures of the Empire and its elements directly to its political and social order. Based on a metaphor inspired by mathematics, it highlights the high number and complexity of internal boundaries, the lack of a centre or a clear hierarchy of responsibilities, and the permanent intertwining of the levels of action (from the Imperial Diet to the smallest village). In doing so, it proposes a method that results from German and French traditions of historical scholarship and invites us to combine general, regional, imperial and social history.

With the first Conceptual Forum, which focused on Thomas Duve's concept of "normative knowledge", a new format was successfully launched at the end of last year. The Kolleg invites experts to present their approaches and discuss them in detail with the fellows and academic staff as well as external guests in two-day workshops. The main aim is to explore the applicability for various research questions as well as the possibilities and limits of the respective approaches from different disciplinary perspectives. The fruitful discussion and the positive response of the participants of the first Conceptual Forum have encouraged the organisers to continue the format.

You are welcome to attend the Conceptual Forum on “Fraktalität”. The conference language will be German. For the programme and to register for the event, click here.