Rethinking Order

... with the editors

1. Why a book on this subject?

The problem of order and how it is possible is key to social-theoretical and cultural-theoretical thinking. Yet it has only rarely been interrogated with a view to the question of how it creates a matrix for the unfolding of social and cultural thought. The concept of the idiom as introduced in this volume suggests that the fundamental accomplishment of the enigma of order lies in its capacity to create an entry point for social and cultural theory.

2. What relevance does this subject have in the current research debates?

The book is a contribution to current debates in the epistemology of the social sciences and the humanities. It makes a claim for a turning to the foundational moments of social and cultural analysis, that is, a moment prior to the formation of distinct research programs, theories and methodologies. Pursuing this epistemological direction, the book places contributions that deal with idiomatic moments in sociological theory, social research and social thought side by side with articles that discuss innovations in social and cultural theory from an idiomatic perspective.

3. What new perspectives does your book open up?

Unlike many other epistemological contributions, which concentrate on the ›discursive‹ structuring of social and cultural analysis, the book highlights the ›gestural conditions of possibility for such analyses. Just like a gesture creates a space and a relation to the world before signifying anything, the idiomatic moment of social and cultural analysis resides in a point prior to any analysis proper. It creates a world to be analyzed together with a register along which the analysis can then proceed.

4. Who would you preferably like to discuss your book with?

Scholars interested in the pre-analytical moments of social and cultural analysis may find this volume interesting, as it engages in discussions concerning the ›foundational scenes‹ or ›foundational figures‹ of social and cultural theory. The volume also offers a dialogue to scholars in the history of the social sciences and the humanities.

5. Your book in only one sentence:

The book offers new perspectives in the epistemology of the social sciences and the humanities, inquiring into their pre-analytical preconditions.