We are delighted to announce our new post-doctoral fellows for the academic year 2024/25. The Claus Wisser Postdoctoral Program at Normative Orders, funded by a generous donation from the late Claus Wisser and carried out in cooperation with the Pro Universitate Foundation, invites two outstanding postdoctoral researchers to Frankfurt every year to conduct research on central questions of the transformation of normative orders. Each year a specific topic is chosen; this year it will be “The Future of Democracy". The program is directed by Prof. Rainer Forst and Prof. Nicole Deitelhoff.

The fellows of the academic year 2025/26 are Francesca Cesarano and Sonja Riegler.

Francesca Cesarano works at the intersection of applied ethics, feminist philosophy, and political philosophy. Her research focuses on questions of moral and political responsibility in contexts of structural injustice, with a particular emphasis on gender-based oppression. Her current project investigates the practical implications of blaming individuals for their contributions to structural injustice, examining the expressive and epistemic functions of blame as well as the asymmetrical social positions of those involved in “the blame game”. She aims to develop a taxonomy that identifies the conditions under which blame can serve as a constructive moral response to structural injustice, and when it may be better avoided. 

Sonja Riegler’s research interests lie in the fields of social and political philosophy, feminist epistemology, feminist philosophy of science, and Critical Race Studies. Sonja recently completed her PhD in Philosophy at the University of Vienna. Her dissertation, titled A Functionalist Approach to Ignorance, supervised by Martin Kusch and Linda Alcoff, develops a novel account to studying socially relevant forms of ignorance. A central case study in her dissertation focused on the largely overlooked history of “guest worker” migration to Austria. During her doctoral studies, she conducted and published research on topics such as epistemic oppression, epistemologies of ignorance, standpoint theory, and the relationship between science and democracy. She completed research stays in New York (CUNY & NYU) and Paris (Paris 1, Sorbonne-Panthéon). Sonja is also a founding member of the Critical Political Epistemology Network and is involved in several initiatives aimed at supporting underrepresented groups in academic philosophy. Her current research project develops a critical epistemology of expertise, examining how social power structures shape whose knowledge is recognized or excluded in research and policymaking. It highlights how knowledge attributions are often informed by social hierarchies, leading to the marginalization of non-academic knowledge practices. The project also investigates specific forms of epistemic injustice that arise when certain groups are denied expert status. Ultimately, it aims to foster a more inclusive relationship between science, society, and political decision-making.