Resources of Resilience in Antiquity: ecological, social, and cultural systems between persistence and transformation

• Applicant: Dr. Christopher Schliephake
• Subject Area: Ancient History ; Greek and Latin Philology ; Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 465443199

The network proposal with the title "Resources of Resilience in Antiquity: ecological, social, and cultural systems between persistence and transformation" aims at initiating a research network that brings together classical scholars from Germany and other countries to ask for the way ancient societies dealt with, negotiated, and overcame processes of transformation and crises. Our umbrella term “resilience“ will be used deliberately to underline the multidimensional and structural character of the coping strategies in question. The main assumption is that many parameters contribute to the resilience of a society and encompass different actors, institutions, ideas etc. that we call “resources“. Our network wants to test the applicability of the term “resilience” for antiquity in general, a term that plays a prominent role in contemporary sociopolitical discourses and in many scholarly paradigms, but that has not yet been dealt with systematically in classical scholarship.Therefore, the network’s aim is to illustrate the potentials, but also problems inherent in the study of resilience in ancient contexts. It builds on studies that have looked at different forms of crises in antiquity (e.g. wars, epidemics, natural catastrophes) and asks for the specific coping strategies involved in the handling of existential threats. Thereby, the focus lies on the structural aspects of these coping strategies that no only looks at the important role of social institutions, but also at sociocultural as well as material facets of self-preservation. This will result in an edited volume that systematically discusses types of sources, theories and methodological questions.In order to accomplish this, the network’s members will meet with external guests/experts for two conferences and at least three digital workshops in order to deal with different aspects of the subject: this will involve a critical evaluation of central concepts as well as interdisciplinary exchange. The network will be structured in three working groups with a respective focus on (1) the material practice of resilience, (2) performative forms of resilience, and (3) narratives of resilience. In addition to the applicant, Dr Anna-Katharina Rieger and Dr Andreas Hartmann each take on clearly defined project responsibility".

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Andreas Hartmann