Rethinking Order

Stability is at the core of every discussion of order, organization or institutionalization. From an »inside« perspective, the stability of each order-constituting element is assumed. In contrast, in critical discourses instability (e.g. through ambiguity or non-control) is located at the outside of the social order as its negative. By treating this argumentative symmetrical structure as »idioms of stability and destabilization«, the articles try to rethink order: How can we describe structures from a perspective in which instability, non-control and irrationality are not contrary to ordering systems, but contribute to their stability? How might the notions of identity, knowledge and institutions in social and cultural studies be contested by this change of perspective?

Nicole Falkenhayner (PhD) is a research associate at the English Seminar, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany. Andreas Langenohl (Prof. Dr.) is professor of sociology at Justus Liebig University Gießen, Germany. Johannes Scheu (M.A.) has been a research associate at the Center of Excellence »Cultural Foundations of Social Integration«, University of Konstanz, Germany. Doris Schweitzer (PhD) is a research associate at the Center of Excellence »Cultural Foundations of Social Integration«, University of Konstanz, Germany. Kacper Szulecki (PhD) is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway.