Conditions of validity of particularistically produced norms with universalist claims under the conditions of cultural heterogeneity

Project management: Prof. Dr. Harald Müller

The project questioned Western claims to universality. Instead of the classic communitarianism-universalism controversy of political theory, empirical studies were brought into play. The research was pursued in two directions. On the one hand, the problems of norm-based Western warfare and its involvement in contradictions on the ground were examined on the basis of the development of justification narratives for the German deployment in Afghanistan. Secondly, competing notions of justice and their impact on international diplomacy were examined. The heterogeneity of the norms advocated by international actors was examined using case studies – the debates in the United Nations Security Council on “humanitarian intervention” using the example of the Sudan conflict and on the “Responsibility to Protect”. The results indicate serious divergences in the normative setting of priorities in favor of individuals and collectives and a different value of “obligation to protect” and “sovereignty”. On the other hand, a combination of literary topical analysis with Barthes’ concept of myth developed a new approach to the self-enclosure of Western normative ideas for international relations. If universalization claims made in Western politics in favour of their own values meet with resistance in international negotiations and it becomes apparent that various strands of justification are rooted almost indiscriminately in the same historically and culturally produced myth structure, then this structure of ideas does not provide a basis for universalizability. Universalism that achieves validity in the real world is instead an empirical phenomenon that arises from global intercultural negotiations.

The most important publications in the project include Müller, Harald (2012): The Responsibility to Protect: Universal norm or smoke and mirrors? In: Thomas Nielebock/Simon Meisch/Volker Harms (eds.), Civil clauses for research, teaching and studies. Universities committed to peace , Baden-Baden, Nomos, 129-149; Müller, Harald/Wolff, Jonas (2011): Democratic war in the Hindu Kush? A critical analysis of the Bundestag debates on German Afghanistan policy 2011-2011, in: Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik, No. 4, 197-211; Müller, Harald (2011): “Demokratie, Gerechtigkeit und Frieden: The good things don’t always go together”, in: (ed.): On the way to Just Peace Governance. Contributions to the launch of the HSFK’s new research program , Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2011, 277-309 and Harald Müller (2010), “Liberal Democracies and War. Why some fight and others do not. Ergebnisse einer vergleichenden Inhaltsanalyse von Parlamentsdebatten” (with A. Geis and N. Schörnig), Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen 17, 171-202. As part of the project, the panel “How Do We Know Justice When We See it?” was offered at the ECPR General Conference, 23.8.-28.8.2011 in Reykjavik.