Modernitätskonflikte in der Weltgesellschaft. Zur kulturellen Konstruktion globaler Konflikte

The article is a follow up on the discussion on sociological theories beyond the so called »methodological nationalism« that equates borders of societies with national boarders. The problems of this methodological nationalism are particularly severe as the development of conflict dynamics since 1945 or at least since the end of the cold war cannot distinguish between international conflicts and conflicts in a society in an appropriate way. With this background the first task shall be to examine the use of two new macrosociological theories, which both use a perspective of world society for explaining contemporary conflict constellations: On one hand the cultural based theory of Samuel Eisenstadt and on the other hand the Stanford-school neo-institutionalism-theory based on the work of John Meyer. Characteristic for both is a fundamental criticism with the theory of modernisation. Secondly building up on the previous, the thesis of a far reaching separation between national statehood and modernity that grounds on the contemporary conflict constellation is displayed. As a result of this separation between modernity as a cultural and political programme and the national state as its dominant institution, conflicts arise between different competing models of society: the global, the national and the subnational model. This is demonstrated by some empiric development, for example the possibilities of intervening in the process of state collapse

Political science · Global Economic and Social Development · Globalization, Historical Perspectives, and International Relations · Religion, Theology, and Education

• (Post)Moderne

  T Bonacker, Oliver Römer•Handbuch Soziologie•2008

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• Conflict in the world polity - neo-institutional perspectives

  Open Access•M Koenig, Julian Dierkes•Acta Sociologica•2011

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