Political Deification

ERC starting grant 2023-28

Political Deification: Theorising from Asia 

Programme(s): HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)

Topic(s): ERC-2022-STG - ERC STARTING GRANTS

Call for proposal: ERC-2022-STG

Funding Scheme: ERC - Support for frontier research (ERC)

Grant agreement ID: 101077605

Objective

Political deification—i.e. the transformation to and treatment of political leaders as divine beings—occurs in various religious and national contexts in Asia and has been understood as instances of messianism, custodianship, sacred kingship, martyrdom, pacification, and charismatic authority among others. These concepts travel, intersect, and imbue the different political systems in Asian countries. Yet they have been studied only as discrete political phenomena, not as related and overlapping concepts under an overarching theory that explains the deification of political leaders. 


POLDEI will build a transdisciplinary theory of political deification by using case studies from East, South-East, and South Asian countries to analyse popular cultural concepts that address the deification of political leaders. This transdisciplinary project will use innovative methods from film studies, visual/performance studies, and culture studies, in addition to the study of religion, political science, and anthropology, to interpret the popular understanding of such religiopolitical phenomena. 


The project POLDEI will develop a theory of political deification to understand how the legitimacy of political rule is grounded in concepts derived from religious worldviews. This theory built from Asia is not just for Asia. The proposed theory will provide us with the analytical tools and conceptual categories we need to decode the contemporary challenge of rising religious nationalisms not just in Asia but at the global level. From the perspective of the history of science, the project will test the results of this radical act of relocating not just the ground of theory but also the geopolitical pattern of applicability.


Work Packages

Political Deification: Theorising from Asia 

The primary work package of the project will build on findings of the project to create a map of concepts from different Asian regions—such as martyrdom, messianism, religious custodianship, protectionism, sacred kingship, pacification and so on—to produce an overarching theory of political deification. 


Gods and Great Men: Civic Statuary and Body Politic 

PI project

A National Deity in the Ummah: Islamic Theology and Martyrdom

Senior researcher project

In the name of the Buddha: Reincarnation and Custodianship 

PhD project 

Red Deities: Communist nationalism and Deified Heroes 

Postdoc Project

The Sacred Bloodline: Monarchy and Dynasticism

Postdoc Project


 Apply here to join the team of reseachers

Questions?

Contact Moumita.Sen@mf.no to get more information on the academic aspects of the project.
Contact Anni.K.Rambek@mf.no to get more information on the administrative aspects of the project.

Disclaimer: “Funded by the European Union (ERC, POLDEI, 101077605). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.”