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Invitation to the conference “Threatened Social Orders I”

The Arab Spring, the financial crisis, and the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima have all left significant marks on international politics, economies, societies, and cultures. Extreme situations like riots, revolutions, and disasters affect everyday life. Such circumstances make us aware of how fragile and full of prerequisites the foundations of our life and actions are. Extreme situations can also lead to rapid change in social perception and behavior patterns.

Working with the above mentioned threat scenarios, as well as others, the researchers of Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 923 will try to discover whether and how these social orders (which can structure social groups or entire societies) change, especially when they face threats to their very existence. Social orders are endangered when options for actions become unreliable, and when behavior patterns and routines are in question. It is also seen as a threat when reliability is insecure or a discourse of threat can be established. In the CRC’s four project areas—Riots, Disasters, Dissolution of Orders, and Competing Orders—empirical examples will be analyzed across conservative scientific structures of historical eras and geographical regions.

What is the scope of the participating disciplines for the four major projects areas? Which comparative results can be established with the concept of “threatened social orders” across regions and areas? How can the approaches to research history of the varying disciplines be categorized for the CRC’s studies?

The opening conference of the Collaborative Research Centre 923, which will take place from March 29 to April 1 2012 at the University of Tübingen, will try to approach questions on Threatened Social Orders in an interdisciplinary exchange with invited speakers.