Transfer English-Language Podcast Series on “Ambivalent Enmity”

Enmity, the most extreme form of opposition, is often marked by ambivalence. It involves not only hatred and fear but sometimes also respect and even admiration. The idea of an enemy is rarely as clear-cut as it seems. In the English-language podcast series “Enemy Encounters”, members of the Research Training Group “Ambivalent Enmity” of Heidelberg University and the Heidelberg University of Jewish Studies explore these complex aspects of enmity in different historical and societal contexts. They engage in discussions with experts from both research and applied fields.

Why should we study the ambivalent nature of enmity? Which academic approaches help us better understand enmity? How do current wars influence research on this topic? In the first episode, Dr Fabian Baumann, a postdoc in the Research Training Group, joins the group’s four spokespersons to discuss its origins and research program. The podcast aims to make the findings of the group’s doctoral and postdoctoral research fellows accessible to a wider audience. The next three episodes examine the Sri Lankan civil war, the ambivalent stance of the Arab world towards Israel, and extremist narratives and their impact on public discourse. Additional episodes featuring members of the group and guest experts will be released monthly.

As part of the “Ambivalent Enmity” Research Training Group, twelve doctoral candidates and two postdocs explore the transcultural, processual and ambivalent dimensions of enmity. They study the construction, representation and experience of adversarial relationships in an effort to understand their societal and historical impact. The interdisciplinary research group was established in autumn 2023 as a joint initiative between Heidelberg University and the Heidelberg University of Jewish Studies, with support from the German Research Foundation.

As a platform for junior researchers, the group brings together scholars from the humanities, social sciences and political sciences, focusing on the interrelations between the three macro-regions Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The research is grounded in Heidelberg’s expertise in transcultural studies – a field that systematically examines the complex interactions between countries, regions, cultures and religions. The spokesperson of the group is Eastern Europe expert Prof. Dr Tanja Penter from Heidelberg University’s Department of History. Her co-spokespersons are political scientist Prof. Dr Johannes Becke (Heidelberg University of Jewish Studies), as well as sinologist Prof. Dr Joachim Kurtz and psychologist Prof. Dr Svenja Taubner, both of whom teach and research at Heidelberg University.