Professor Oliver Hidalgo

"My research interest is in an applied political theory, and I use the archive of the history of ideas as an arsenal for the development of sound analyses and normative positions. In so doing, my thematic focus is on democracy as a form of government, society and life which is currently facing formidable challenges, on the one hand, and the complex relationship between politics and religion (especially in Christianity and Islam), on the other. This is tied in with several lines of inquiry, like the transformation of democracy as a result of digitalisation, globalisation, inclusion and migratory movements, the threats to democracy from within and without on account of populism, extremism, antisemitism and conspiracy theories, the vulnerability to conflict and the polarising power of political and religious identities or also the potential of a transcultural and comparative political theory with a particular focus on non-Western democracies. One factor that always needs to be considered in this regard is that the democratic idea is built on paradoxes and immanent contradictions that render it susceptible to instrumentalization and mechanisms of self-destruction and this need to be reflected on in the light of political theory.

To paraphrase Paul Feyerabend: "Democracy is much too important to be left to politicians."