Alexander Thumfart

Alexander Thumfart (born December 23, 1959 in Uffenheim ) is a German political scientist , university professor and local politician .

Career

Born in Middle Franconia , Thumfart studied philosophy , political science and Protestant theology in Munich and Augsburg from 1979 to 1984 , which he completed in 1984 as a Magister Artium in philosophy, political science and Protestant theology at the University of Augsburg . In his master's thesis he devotes himself to the design of a human dignity in the "Oratio" of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola . Also in Augsburg, Thumfart received his doctorate in 1991 with a thesis on "The perspective and the signs. Hermetic encodings with Giovanni Pico della Mirandola" . Until his doctorate, Thumfart worked as a research assistant with Arno Baruzzi and Theo Stammen . After completing his doctorate, he was employed as a lecturer for philosophy at the Technical University of Ilmenau and for politics at the University of Augsburg until 1994 , before accepting a position as a research assistant to Arno Waschkuhn at the PH Erfurt in 1994. There he completed his habilitation in political science in 2000 with a habilitation thesis on the political integration of East Germany. This was followed by a substitute professorship for Wolfgang Jäger at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg until 2001 .

From 2001, Thumfart has worked as a university lecturer at the newly founded University of Erfurt , where he was appointed adjunct professor for political theory in 2011 . In addition to many tasks in the university sector, he has been a member of the scientific advisory board of the Ettersberg Foundation since 2012 .

Thumfart regularly received prizes for good teaching at the University of Erfurt, for example in 2005, 2007, 2018 and 2019.

Thumfart was with Kai Hafez in February 2020 in the context of the government crisis in Thuringia coordinator of a declaration by 163 scientists from the University of Erfurt, who demanded democratic cohesion, turned against the AfD Thuringia and spoke out in favor of new elections to the Thuringian state parliament .

Research focus

His research focuses particularly on political theory and cultural theories from ancient times to the present. Thumfart pays particular attention to humanism , the Renaissance and classical modernism . He also deals with theories of transformation , particularly related to the transformation in East Germany, as well as theories of justice and the theories of republicanism .

Political offices

Thumfart is a member of the Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen party and was on the city council of the Thuringian state capital Erfurt from 2004 to 2019 . He was last chairman of the parliamentary group there. He also held the position of a supervisory board at the Erfurt transport company . He is currently chairman of the supervisory board of Stadtwerke Erfurt Energie Gesellschaft (SWE Energie GmbH). He is also a member of the board of the KulturQuartier Erfurt eV association for the new use of the old theater in Erfurt as a cultural and creative quarter.

On November 23, 2017 he was elected by the Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen party as a candidate for the 2018 mayoral election in Erfurt. He finally received 6.4% of the vote in the mayoral election.

Publications (selection)

• The perspective and the signs. Hermetic encryption by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola , Fink Verlag, Munich 1996.
• State discourse and self-confidence. Linguistic-rhetorical forms of their institutionalization , Gordon + Breach Publishing Faculty, Amsterdam 1996.
• with Andreas Dornheim , Winfried Franzen and Arno Waschkuhn (eds.): Justice - Interdisciplinary Basics , Opladen, Wiesbaden 1999: Westdeutscher Verlag. ISBN 3-531-13302-0 .
• The political integration of East Germany (habilitation thesis), Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 2002 [Parts of this book appeared in Korean translation Seoul 2007, 383 pages].
• with Arno Waschkuhn: State theories of Italian citizen humanism. Political theory from Francesco Petrarca to Donato Giannotti , Nomos-Verlag, Baden-Baden 2005.
• Arno Waschkuhn / Alexander Thumfart (ed.): Discourses of dignity. Social-philosophical concepts on the fragility of human existence , Suhrkamp Verlag, 2012.
• Politics in East Germany. Textbook on transformation and innovation , Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich-Vienna 1999.
• Arno Waschkuhn / Alexander Thumfart (eds.): Political-cultural approaches to the Weimar State Discussion , Nomos-Verlag Baden-Baden 2002.
• Dorothee Kimmich / Alexander Thumfart (eds.): University without a future? , Suhrkamp-Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 2004.
• Gisela Riescher / Alexander Thumfart (eds.): Monarchies. An introduction , Baden-Baden, Nomos-Verlag 2008.
• with Arno Scherzberg , Tilmann Betsch , Helge Peukert , Peter Walgenbach , Gerhard Wegner : Klugheit. Term - Concepts - Applications , New Political Science Series , Volume 8, Mohr-Siebeck Verlag, Tübingen 2008.
• with Arno Scherzberg, Hermann-Josef Blanke , Gerhard Wegner, Jürgen Backhaus , Hans-Friedrich Müller , Helge Peukert: Dimensions of competition - European integration between momentum and political formation , New Political Science series, Volume 4, Verlag Mohr-Siebeck, Tübingen 2010.
• with Moritz Brunn, Frank Ettrich , Jan H. Fahlbusch, Raj Kollmorgen , Thees Spreckelsen: Transformation and Europeanization. Characteristics and (inter) dependencies of post-socialist change and European integration Münster 2010.

Web links

• Alexander Thumfart's website at uni-erfurt.de
• 25 heads: Alexander Thumfart - Erfurt by choice with commitment beyond the borders of the university , portrait from July 18, 2019, for the 25th anniversary of the University of Erfurt.
• Alexander Thumfart in the Who is Who of the University of Erfurt (has not been updated since 2020)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Old CV ( memento from January 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) on uni-erfurt.de (as of February 2, 2014).
2. ^ Alexander Thumfart in Kürschner's German Scholar Calendar Online. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. (As of April 14, 2014).
3. ^ Prize for good teaching on uni-erfurt.de (accessed December 7, 2018).
4. ↑ Prize for good teaching on uni-erfurt.de (accessed April 14, 2019).
5. ↑ "Strengthening Democracy": Scientists from the University of Erfurt call for democratic cohesion , article on mdr.de from February 13, 2020.
6. ↑ Declaration by scientists and lecturers at the University of Erfurt on the election of the Prime Minister in Thuringia , on ungleich-magazin.de (declaration of February 13, 2020 in the wording and list of supporters; last accessed on February 24, 2020)
7. ↑ With Thumfart for a "relaxed city" . ( thueringer-allgemeine.de [accessed on November 24, 2017]).
8. ↑ Mayor election 2018 - results on erfurt.de (accessed on April 14, 2019).