Stability is at the core of every discussion of order, organization or institutionalization. From an 'inside' perspective, the stability of each order-constituting element is assumed. In contrast, in critical discourses instability (e.g. through ambiguity or non-control) is located at the outside of the social order as its negative. By treating this argumentative symmetrical structure as 'idioms of stability and destabilization', the articles try to rethink order: How can we describe structures from a perspective in which instability, non-control and irrationality are not contrary to ordering systems, but contribute to their stability? How might the notions of identity, knowledge and institutions in social and cultural studies be contested by this change of perspective?

Nicole Falkenhayner (PhD), born 1976, teaches English Literature and Culture at Freiburg University. An alumna of the Cluster of Excellence 'Cultural Foundations of Social Integration' at the University of Konstanz, she has published on the representation of British Muslims and entanglements of media, structures of feeling and surveillance. Her research currently focuses on heroes and heroization in popular culture. Andreas Langenohl (Prof. Dr.) is professor of sociology at Justus Liebig University Gießen, Germany. Johannes Scheu (M.A.) has been a research associate at the Center of Excellence 'Cultural Foundations of Social Integration', University of Konstanz, Germany. Doris Schweitzer (PhD) is a research associate at the Center of Excellence 'Cultural Foundations of Social Integration', University of Konstanz, Germany. Kacper Szulecki (PhD) is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway.