Religion & Theology

The series focusses on the relation between law, ethics and society in the Middle East and in North Africa. It contains works that combine two or more research approaches or works that are situated at the intersection between two or more disciplines, like Middle Eastern Studies and History, Islamic Studies and Gender Studies, Law and Medicine. Books that are based on a differentiated set of sources, ranging from textual to oral sources, are welcome. The series will include excellent PhD dissertations and habilitations, but also monographs and edited collections. On the chronological perspective, books from the pre-modern up to the modern and contemporary era are published. The books will be published in German, English and Italian language.

This series presents new findings of research on Japan and its place, connections, and interactions within East Asia. Politically, people often perceive Japan as part of the “West”, whereas culturally the nation appears to many still as “the (essential) Other”. Instead of localizing Japan in such a simplistic way – be it as part of “the West” or as part of the “East” – it is assumed here that a historical configuration exists in East Asia which distinguishes interactions in the region. The present situation of East Asia should be understood against the background of Japan’s role in modern and contemporary history. In addition, Japan will be analyzed also as a pioneer when it comes to integrating East Asian countries into international institutions and scholarly exchange. Methodologically, the contributions to the series are not limited to one single approach. However, it will be mandatory to use primary sources in Japanese and other East Asian languages and to refer to research results of Japanese scholars in order to fulfil a truly international standard of research. An internationally composed advisory board guarantees the scholarly quality of each volume. Contributions to this series are of interest for scholars and students in History, Political Science, Intellectual History, Sociology and, of course, in area studies of East Asia.

The series ”Religion – Wirtschaft – Politik“ (Religion–Economy–Politics) provides a platform for academic publications by the Centre for Religion, Economy and Politics (www.zrwp.ch ), a joint venture by the Universities of Basel, Fribourg, Lausanne, Lucerne, Zurich, and the Collegium Helveticum. The ZRWP aims to analyse the interactions between religion, economy, and politics in an inter- and transdisciplinary way by encouraging innovative research on religion. By publishing monographs and edited volumes focused on content and methods, the series contributes to a better understanding and explanation of religion in society at a local, regional, national, and transnational level in a globalizing world.

The series of publications entitled “Ethik in den Sozialwissenschaften” (Ethics in Social Science) provides a forum for academic contributions to the debate on the current moral problems affecting social structures and systems. From an ethical point of view, this series focuses on addressing the question of what ef-fects social institutions and regimes have on human dignity and the welfare of communities. It discusses moral dilemmas so as to highlight general acceptable solutions to them. It takes up the challenge of using normative theories to ana-lyse sociological problems in order to develop ethical criteria for developing operable solutions to them. As a result, the series welcomes contributions from the entire range of subjects related to social science and ethics. Its goal is to constructively criticise structural contexts to which no satisfactory solutions have been found so far.

Anyone who talks about animals makes human beings their subject. Turning to animals as an object of research in various contexts certainly does not only facilitate a better understanding of animals, but also of humans and society. In animals, researchers discover themselves and their world. This ‘animal turn’ now encompasses many academic disciplines and often begins or ends with ethical questions. This series of books deals with different developmental paths in animal ethics, which should not be understood as an isolated field of ethics, but rather as a specific perspective in an interdisciplinary discourse on moral questions of human–animal relations. The series is open to all disciplines in the humanities and natural sciences. It is bilingual (German/English) and is supervised by its editors in conjunction with an academic advisory board. A peer review process is carried out on all submissions to ensure their quality.

Islamic Religious Education is a dynamic new discipline in German higher education, evolving alongside Islamic Theological Studies and the expansion of religious instruction in schools. This series bridges theory and practice by developing optimized learning processes for a pluralistic society. Closely linked to interreligious pedagogy, it intentionally embeds Islamic contexts into dialogical settings with other traditions to foster encounter, shared responsibility, and deeper interreligious reflection. We explore the full spectrum of Islamic Religious Education—from schools to community spaces. Our goal is to highlight concepts that enable collaborative learning among people of all religious and secular backgrounds, providing the theoretical and practical tools to meet today’s educational challenges. We provide a high-profile stage for cutting-edge research, including innovative dissertations and habilitation theses, monographs, edited volumes, and conference proceedings.

This publication series is dedicated to advancing the research on terrorism and extremism, to fleshing out possible countermeasures, and to discussing policy responses on national and international levels. By combining the different perspectives and methodologies of scientific fields like political science, psychology, religious and cultural studies or sociology, the series analyses the issue of terrorism and extremism in all its complexity. Each publication adheres to high scientific standards and presents new results in its respective academic field. At the same time, they offer relevant insights into various aspects of terrorism and extremism, and are therefore directed not only at a professional audience but equally at readers who share an interest in these important topics.

The series will deal with the socio-political development and transformation processes of Turkish society in the 20th and 21st century. The process of modernization, initiated from above, in the late Ottoman phase, has brought about the movement of entire social fields and actors and continues in conflict-laden processes in the neoliberal age until today. The series would like to take a closer look at the developmental paths, the course forms and the contradictions of this modernization process in political, social and cultural terms. To achieve this goal, it is planned to use different methodological and theoretical perspectives. The series is open in this respect for various scientific accesses to these subject areas. A special focus is the analysis of the current transformation processes, which have taken place in neo-liberal traits in Turkey since the 1980s and produce overall social effects.