This volume takes up an analytical concern shared in many historical and ethnographic studies of public administration: tackling the complexity of decision making which cannot be simply reduced to the application of legal norms to specific circumstances. The Weberian ideal typical construction of bureaucratic processes belies this complexity, on which anthropological and micro-sociological studies of bureaucracy, however, focus. See exemplarily Bruno Latour: La fabrique du droit. Une ethnographie des Conseil d’Etat, Paris 2004; Jean Marc Weller: Fabriquer des actes d’État. Une ethnographie du travail bureaucratique, Paris 2018; Robert Garot: »You’re Not a Stone«. Emotional Sensitivity in a Bureaucratic Setting, in: Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 33/6 (2004), pp. 735–766. On the reception of Niklas Luhmann’s concept of functional differentiation cf. Benjamin Ziemann: The Theory of Functional Differentiation and the History of Modern Society. Reflections on the Reception of Systems Theory in Recent Historiography, in: Soziale Systeme 13 (2007), pp. 220–229.
We consider the concept of On the role of stereotypes cf. Robert Garot: Sprachspiele im Wohnungsamt, in: Peter Becker (ed.): Sprachvollzug im Amt. Kommunikation und Verwaltung im Europa des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, Bielefeld 2011, pp. 157–184.
Administrative multinormativity provides the conceptual resources to understand the public servants’ negotiation between different normativities by way of the legacy of modern statecraft, which operates within the contradicting expectations of equality and specificity. The introduction of Peter Collins, positioned at the beginning of our volume, spells out its theoretical framing in more detail.
This volume would not have been possible without the generous support made available by many institutions and colleagues. We would like to use this opportunity to thank our authors, who joined us in the exploration of a new concept and provided fascinating insights into the logic and functioning of public administration in a broad range of settings. We are equally indebted to all institutions which opted for supporting the yearbook despite the fact that they operate within the multinormative figuration of budgetary discipline and support for academic excellence. Our special thanks go to the Max-Planck-Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory for providing support to organise a workshop on this theme. A long-term publication venture needs innovative ideas and the sacrifice of time and energy. We are privileged to have Stefan Nellen and Thomas Rohringer as part of our editorial team, as they provide both and keep us running.
Frontmatter State Authority and Competing Arrangements in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes/Yugoslavia (1918–1941) »Wandel durch Annäherung«: Multinormativität und informelle Politik in der europäischen Integration zwischen den 1960er und 1990er-Jahren Mehrdimensionale Rechtsmaßstäbe als Herausforderung für die Verwaltung: das Beispiel der Hafenstaatkontrolle Editorial Turbulente Lebensläufe: Multivalente Bewerbungsstrategien für den preußischen Staatsdienst nach 1815 Mulitinormativität und administrative Logik – neue verwaltungshistorische Perspektiven Multinormativity Emerges From Multilevel Governance. Uses of the Council of Trent in Examinations for Ecclesiastical Benefices in 19th-Century Brazil Zwischen Gesundheit und Wirtschaft: Normen und Interessenkonflikte in der behördlichen Arzneimittelregulierung im Deutschen Reich 1871–1945 Normative Konfliktlagen: Eheschließungen mit AusländerInnen in Deutschland als administrative und interkulturelle Herausforderung (ca. 1900–1930) Public Administration and the Challenge to Introduce Egalitarian Legal Order: The Jewish policy of the Duchy of Warsaw (1807–1815) Gestalten statt verwalten? These zu Janusköpfigkeit als Kern des verwalterischen Habitus in NS-Zeit und Gegenwart.Administrative Multinormativität in der Krankenhaus-Verwaltung am Beispiel der Charité in Berlin, 1820er- bis 1850er-Jahre Litigious Bukovina: Eugen Ehrlich’s ›Living Law‹ and the Use of Civil Justice in the Late Habsburg Monarchy Politikfelder als multinormative Ordnungen. Multiple Multinormativitäten im preußischen Chausseewesen am Beispiel der Volmethalstraße, ca. 1816–1850er-Jahre Expropriation and the Challenge to Liberal Thought: Multinormative Management of State Intervention beyond the Conflict Liberty vs. Authority: (Brazil, 1826–1930)