The Protestant Churches in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Protest against Nuclear Energy 1970 - 1990

• Applicant: Dr. Michael Schüring
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2012 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 224549473

The research projects aims at a critical historical analysis of activities against nuclear energy by employees and officials of the West German protestant churches between 1970 and 1990. The manuscript will be handed in as a Habilitationschrift at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich.In the early 1970s the Federal Republic faced mounting public concern over a perceived crisis of growth and environmental problems. The debate especially focused on energy and the expansion of nuclear technology as planned by the German government and several corporations. Ongoing and vivid protest on a nation-wide level ensued, part of which was carried out through and within the churches. The commitment of pastors and parishioners to the cause ignited passionate internal debates. As church members mobilized protest in order to increase public awareness, the churches increasingly became public platforms for the debate surrounding nuclear technology. The guiding question concerns the historical and societal reasons for this engagement. What was the motivation to formulate protest from a decidedly Christian point of view, how did this change the church from within, and how much did this affect the debate in West Germany as a whole?The conflict allows a historical evaluation of the churches changing self-understanding as they were confronted with new challenges in the wake of the environmental and anti-nuclear movement. New demands concerning theological concepts as well as pastoral care arose. A thorough discourse analysis aims to assess the political and social challenges the churches faced in connection with environmental protest, eventually altering their societal role as they moved away from rigid, traditional authoritarianism towards a more open and liberal culture of protest and debate.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants