“The ‘ecological imperative’ appeals to a critical consciousness in times of global ecological crises and disaster scenarios.”
INTERCULTURAL KNOWLEDGE
What contribution can culture make to overcoming the ecological crisis? The Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF is financing an interdisciplinary Sinergia research project of three institutes of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Bern with CHF 1.4 million – an incredibly large amount for Cultural Sciences.
The philosopher Hans Jonas coined the term “ecological imperative” in his book “Das Prinzip Verantwortung” (The Principle of Responsibility, 1979), in which he formulated an ecological maxim for action based on Immanuel Kant’s “Categorical Imperative”: “Act in such a way that the effects of your actions are compatible with the permanence of genuine human life on earth”.
Researchers in Cultural Sciences at the University of Bern are now taking up this ethical perspective to make a contribution to addressing the environmental crisis from a humanities point of view.
The SNSF research project “Mediating the Ecological Imperative: Formats and Modes of Engagement” is a joint research project of the Institutes of Art History, American Studies and Social Anthropology at the University of Bern in collaboration with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Research focuses on the visual politics of climate change, the role of ecological issues in art and literature, and social engagement with the environment in indigenous cultures.
“Culture enables us to develop scenarios, test utopias, permanently change perceptions of our position vis-à-vis the environment, and design options for action,” says Peter J. Schneemann, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History and Sinergia project lead: “This tremendously important role of culture in society goes far beyond a placative mechanism.”
With the Sinergia program, the SNSF targets established researchers and funds interdisciplinary, collaborative, and innovative research projects that look as if they could deliver breakthrough research. In 2020, the SNSF approved four new Sinergia projects under the leadership of the University of Bern, the research project “Mediating the Ecological Imperative” being one of them.