The formation of normative orders

Opening conference

The new Frankfurt Cluster of Excellence presented its interdisciplinary research program to a wider public for the first time at an international conference. A contribution from Eva Buddeberg

The formation of normative orders is the central theme of the Frankfurt Cluster of Excellence, which is based in the humanities and social sciences, and it was under this title that the international conference took place on November 14 and 15, 2008 at the Maritim Hotel in Frankfurt, at which the Cluster discussed its guiding concepts for the first time across research fields and with greater public participation. In line with the cluster’s division into four research fields, the conference was divided into four panels and supplemented by a fifth panel, which explicitly focused on interdisciplinary discussion.

To kick off the conference, Research Field 1 invited the philosophers Peter Stemmer (Constance) and R. Jay Wallace (Berkeley), both of whom have published groundbreaking work on the topic of normativity. This combination already made one of the aims of the conference clear, namely to discuss not only across disciplines, but also opposing positions within a discipline: While Stemmer, in his lecture “The Construction of Normative Reality”, as in his recently published study on normativity, took a position that ascribed only subject-relative normativity to norms or values, Wallace, in his contribution on “Conceptions of Normativity: Some Basic Philosophical Issues”, explored the terrain between constructivist and moral-realist positions that ascribe norms their own validity.

Professor R. Jay Wallace, Berkeley: “Conceptions of Normativity: Some Basic Philosophical Issues”

Wallerstein: Capitalist system in final crisis

After this philosophical introduction, the second panel of the historically oriented field of research became much more empirical – alongside the “grand seigneur” of the social sciences Immanuel Wallerstein, the historian Robert Harms (both from Yale) also came from the USA: His lecture, entitled “Slave Trading, Abolition, and Colonialism as Inter-Linked Normative Orders”(script), examined the internal connections between three interlinked international orders: the transatlantic slave trade, international efforts to end it, and the rise of colonialism in Africa. The focus of his presentation was on analyzing the different ways in which these orders were justified and the arguments used to present them as illegitimate.

Professor Robert Harms, Yale: “Slave Trading, Abolition, and Colonialism as Inter-Linked Normative Orders”

“In what Normative Order(s) has the World been Living in the Modern World System?”(script) was the title and guiding question of Wallerstein’s contribution, in which he linked the broad lines of the history of modernity with development trends in the current situation. Based on his thesis that all types of structures and, by extension, historical social systems do not last forever, but will eventually perish in final crises, he interpreted the current situation as that of such a systemic crisis.

Professor Immanuel Wallerstein, Yale: “In what Normative Order(s) has the World been Living in the Modern World System?”

The afternoon of the first day was dedicated to the legal theory research field of the cluster, which deals with the development of legal norms between nations. First, the legal philosopher Samantha Besson, who teaches in Fribourg, gave a lecture on “The Authority of International Law – Lifting the State Veil”. She explored the question of how the four main characteristics of legal authority that she identified should be understood in the context of international relations. In the second lecture, Armin von Bogdandy, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, presented his research on “Developing the Publicness of Public International Law: Towards a Legal Framework for Global Governance Activities”(article). His initial question was how legal scholars can contribute to the construction of international normative orders.

Prof. Dr. Armin von Bogdandy, Heidelberg: “Developing the Publicness of Public International Law: Towards a Legal Framework for Global Governance Activities”

Caney: A just world requires effective global institutions

Before the interdisciplinary panel discussion on the second day of the interdisciplinary conference between seven of the now almost thirty Principal Investigators of the Cluster, the large audience from all disciplines represented in the Cluster was able to listen to two political scientists (both from Oxford): Andrew Hurrel dealt with “Provincializing Westphalia: The Evolution of International Society as a Global Normative Order”. Starting from a question that continues to preoccupy historians, namely how a European international order based on states was able to expand into a global system, Hurrell came to conclusions about the role that generally emerging and increasingly important states play for the existing institutional and normative order.

Professor Andrew Hurrell, Oxford: “Provincializing Westphalia: The Evolution of International Society as a Global Normative Order”

Simon Caney, known for his work on contemporary international political theory, spoke on the topic of “Justice, Democracy and Global Governance”. His initial aim was to define the principles on which the institutional organization of our world should be based, in order to reinforce his main thesis that any form of an approximately just society at global level requires international institutions. He then compared these with alternative proposals on how to think about the relationship between justice, democracy and global order.

The interim results of the conference on the basic concepts of the cluster: the formation of normative orders, were then discussed once again across disciplines at the final panel. The two Cluster spokespersons Rainer Forst (political science and philosophy) and Klaus Günther (law) were joined on the panel by ethnologist Susanne Schröter, who recently joined the Cluster, and four other Principal Investigators: Rainer Klump (economics), who was recently elected Vice President of the University, ancient historian Harmut Leppin, HSFK Executive Board member Harald Müller (political science) and philosopher Marcus Willaschek. The most important topics discussed included the relationship between norms and sanctions as well as the controversy between cultural dependency and the claim of universal validity of norms.

Since these events at the latest, the discussion of content has been in full swing, and we can look forward to the next conferences to be held this year, e.g. on the concept of the “justification narrative”, which already plays a central role in the cluster application and was frequently mentioned at this conference.