First opening ceremony of CERI’s academic year!

A look back at this wonderful day marked by the keynote lecture of Professor Rita Abrahamsen on the global radical right, the award ceremony for the best field research photographs, and the exhibition 'Gold Ming: Splendors of Imperial China.' Prof. Stéphanie BALME (鲍佳佳), director of CERI, shares a few words recalling the scientific project of our lab.

CERI’s scientific project is ambitious, encompassing all international sociopolitical issues within comparative politics, international relations, and their intersection—approached in an interdisciplinary and comparative manner. We study contemporary political phenomena through the lens of ethical values, which includes our research on migration, violence, discrimination, repression, climate issues, religion, war and peace, international political economy, the future of constitutional democracy, as well as technology and gender—all of which we seek to strengthen. A central focus of our research is history, as we explore both historical continuities and ruptures that may underlie seemingly stable patterns. In brief, one of our goals is to master “the art of comparison.” We connect phenomena that are typically unlinked or studied in isolation, whether geographically or historically. Furthermore, we strive to ensure that our comparisons are not unidirectional; we aim to avoid a perspective that moves exclusively from rich to poor countries, North to South, or from states to civil society...