The speech held by the Minister of education and research at the Holberg - dinner

Your Excellencies, Professor Eisenstadt, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure for me to host this dinner on behalf of the Norwegian government in celebration of the award of the Holberg International Memorial Prize 2006. First of all, let me congratulate this year’s Holberg Laureate, Professor Eisenstadt!

The Holberg International Memorial Prize is awarded annually to honour outstanding contributions to research within the arts and humanities, social sciences, law and theology, or interdisciplinary work within these areas. By the award of the Prize, the Norwegian government wishes to raise the status of these academic fields and to increase awareness of the importance of research in these fields among the general public. Our goal is also to stimulate increased interest among children and young people, and the Holberg Prize School Project is part of the work to this effect.

These fields are first and foremost concerned with human interaction, and with our understanding of ourselves and others, of our societies, of history and of different cultural expressions.

They are broad and complex, and variety or plurality of method is often typical of the different disciplines the fields include.

This year’s Holberg Laureate, Professor Eisenstadt, has had an impressive academic career. For more than half a century he has made important contributions not only within his primary field, sociology,

but also in the fields of history, science of religion, anthropology and other social sciences. I understand that an important mark of his work has been an openness to different methods and perspectives. He has brought different disciplines together, combining theoretical and empirical approaches.

In this respect we may say that he follows in the footsteps of Ludvig Holberg, the scholar and playwright that we have honoured by giving this prize his name. Holberg himself was a man who worked within several fields, and was an open minded character, appreciating new perspectives.

Holberg travelled widely around Europe and learnt about the different cultures there.

Eisenstadt, I know, has travelled farther, and has among other works written influential books on the development of the Japanese society and Muslim societies, as well as that of China, India, and of his own country, Israel.

Ludvig Holberg was born in Norway, in this beautiful city where we are celebrating today, Bergen.

He is, logically enough for us, regarded as one of the great Norwegian intellectuals. He lived most of his life in Denmark, however, and if you ask the Danes they will be inclined to regard him as one of theirs.

This is a very simple illustration of an important fact: the same things may be regarded in different ways by different people and different cultures.

“People are the same, problems are the same, but the solutions are different” – I have heard that this is an expression that you, professor Eisenstadt, have used to describe the diverse development of human societies. I believe that this is a very important perspective to bring into current debates. Every day we experience how there are many different views on central political, social and cultural issues.

To lay the foundation for a good dialogue between diverse views is one of the main aims in a democratic society.

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple” – this is a well-known quote from a play by the Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde. It is, I think, a point to have in mind in discussions concerning cultural development, tolerance and democracy.

What is most striking in some of the discussions we have seen recently, in Norway as elsewhere in the world, is the complexity of concerns, views and issues. Human beings and our relations are complex: the simple picture of “us” and “them” is inadequate – because one who belongs among “us” in one context can always turn out to belong to “them” in another. It’s all a question of definition.

Here I wish to point to the importance of the kind of research to which Eisenstadt has given outstanding contributions. In an interview Eisenstadt has described social science as having “the crucial role of broadening the range of discussion and of awareness of different possibilities, good and bad, in a society”. He added that social science should not give easy prescriptions.

According to the Holberg jury’s statement, Eisenstadt himself has succeeded very well in contributing to such a broad critical awareness.

I believe that Eisenstadt here points to an arena where the whole range of academic fields that are covered by the Holberg Prize may play an important role.

I talked earlier about the openness of approach, method and perspective of Eisenstadt’s work. As mentioned, this is a common trait in many of the disciplines that fall under the headings covered by the Holberg Prize.

Sometimes this makes it difficult to compare academic contributions from different traditions.

But at the same time it allows for the analysis and understanding of many different experiences of human existence in society.

In this connection we may remember a point from Aristotle, one of the first examples of a philosopher who worked in several fields, and also took a scientific interest in empirical matters.

He underlined the importance of knowing that different disciplines have different methods and different levels of precision – ethics is not mathematics, neither is social science mechanics.

Eisenstadt’s openness and willingness to question accepted opinions have made its mark on his conclusions also.

I understand that one of his very influential contributions is his work concerned with what he has called “multiple modernities”. Here he has challenged our western concept of what a modern society is and of how it develops.

I agree with Eisenstadt that social science should not give easy prescriptions.

On the contrary it should, as his research has done, contribute to our understanding of the complexity that we need to deal with, both in our own society and on the global scene.

Holberg too was a figure who questioned the accepted opinion of his day. In all his work, his commitment to tolerance can be read between the lines.

I believe that still in our times, science and research have an important role to play in furthering tolerance and understanding. I am glad to see that Eisenstadt, at the age of 83, is still busy making his contribution, serving as an inspiration for new generations of researchers.

Please join me in a toast in the honour of this year’s Holberg Laureate, Professor Shmuel Eisenstadt!