Normative Scaling and Crisis Knowledge : The Problematic Use of Selective Analogies to Compare Conflicts

Title data

Kühn, Florian P.:
Normative Scaling and Crisis Knowledge : The Problematic Use of Selective Analogies to Compare Conflicts.
In: Civil Wars. Vol. 21 (2019) Issue 4 . - pp. 569-593.
ISSN 1743-968X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13698249.2019.1654326

Official URL:

Abstract in another language

Comparing conflicts intentionally and consciously ascribes meaning to a political subject. When Afghanistan is linked to Vietnam, or its democratic development to Switzerland, normative scales are introduced to order discursive practice. Discovering meaning and making meaning is what Simone de Beauvoir (1947) views as existential condition of human beings: political acts are measured against existing norms of the acceptable. In conjunction with Mannheim’s sociology of knowledge (2015), this article explains the social situatedness of crisis knowledge and the norms enshrined therein. In conflict comparisons, reservoirs of knowledge are being connected and repertoires of action prescribed. Based on these theoretical approaches, the article unpacks the power relations and political intentions at work in these comparisons.

Further data

Item Type:	Article in a journal
Refereed:	Yes
Institutions of the University:	Faculties Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies > Chair Sociology of Africa Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies > Chair Sociology of Africa > Chair Sociology of Africa - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jana Hönke
Result of work at the UBT:	No
DDC Subjects:	300 Social sciences 300 Social sciences > 320 Political science
Date Deposited:	09 Jan 2023 13:47
Last Modified:	09 Jan 2023 13:47
URI:	https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/73221