Liberalism and its core ideas of human rights and self-determination seem to have undergone a global triumph. Two decades ago, it was widely regarded as the dominant political creed, ideology, and praxis, at least in the Western world. Nevertheless, we observe today that liberal societies are under pressure. Liberalism’s capacity to solve the major global problems is increasingly put into question. Democracy is routinely called as being in crisis, and so is the liberal international order. Rising populism and a seeming attractiveness of authoritarianism values are often combined with growing nationalist sentiments and might represent an alternative political order in the future. The Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script” (SCRIPTS) is dedicated to analyze these developments, ask for its causes as well as its likely consequences. The rationale for this course is to provide the PhD candidates at the BGTS with an overview over the topics of the Cluster SCRIPTS. As such, the course should give orientation for the PhD candidates to situate their own research in the broader agenda of the Cluster. Organizationally, the course is designed to run over two semesters. In the first semester, we aim at familiarizing the participants with the overall framework and guiding research questions of the Cluster. In the second semester, the work of the four Research Units “Borders”, “Orders”, “Re-Allocation”, and “Temporalities” will be emphasized. close