Generational change and transgenerational identity. Comparative analysis of a tipping point of institutional stability using the example of selected religious communities
Principal investigator: Prof. Dr. Mirko Breitenstein
Collaborators: Dr. Michael Hänchen
Scientific counseling: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Gert Melville
Der hl. Benedikt übergibt seine Regel an seinen Nachfolger in Subiaco, den hl. Maurus, und weitere Brüder seines Ordens. (Miniatur aus einem Manuscript der Regula Benedicti, Abtei Saint-Gilles, 1129)
The project aims to use selected monastic institutions to comparatively analyze the phenomenon of generational change at the leadership level, which is so significant and challenging for all social communities, and to present it as a particularly precarious tipping point of institutional stability. This focus will make it possible to examine questions about the nature of the institutional and its mechanisms, in particular those of continuity and adaptability.
The orders to be examined (Antonites, Cluniacs, Cistercians, Cölestines, Dominicans, Franciscans, Gilbertines, Paulines, Premonstratensians) are characterized by fixed, cooperatively organized management and control bodies as well as norm-setting texts. With their help, the transgenerational identity and thus the timeless permanence of the communities was to be secured. Nevertheless, the institutional continuity of the communities was always fragile and required continuous maintenance. In addition to external influences that were difficult to influence, internal forces could also disrupt institutional stability and cause conflicts. Such conflict-inducing factors included, in particular, generational changes at management level and the associated changes in the field of tension between tradition and innovation.