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 (PD Dr.), geb. 1976, lehrt an der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg Englische Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft. Die Alumna des Konstanzer Exzellenzclusters »Kulturelle Grundlagen von Integration« hat zur Repräsentationsgeschichte britischer Muslime sowie zur Verzahnung von Medien, öffentlichen Emotionen und Überwachung geforscht und veröffentlicht. Ihre momentanen Forschungsschwerpunkte sind Helden und Heroisierungen in der Populärkultur.

Andreas Langenohl (Prof. Dr.) lehrt Soziologie an der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen. Seine Forschungsschwerpunkte sind Kulturtheorie, Finanzmarktsoziologie und sozialwissenschaftliche Epistemologie.

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.