ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I make the case for using Luc Boltanski’s pragmatist sociology to analyse justification as a practice of normative ordering. Pragmatist sociology is part of the current “practice turn” in contemporary social theory and political science and sees justification and critique as constitutive elements of everyday situations of crisis. Actors refer to “principles of worth” as well as to their material manifestations in objects, symbols and subject positions for normative evaluation during these crises. According to pragmatist sociology, the plurality of these “orders of worth” – that is, normative orders – requires actors in particular moments of normative controversy to engage in contested negotiations of how to sort out principles of worth. The analysis of a world driven by justification and critique reveals the fragility of the constitution of normative orders. The chapter then turns to the methodological implications of pragmatist sociology and argues for an interpretive perspective. Specifically, I propose using text analysis with grounded theory coding techniques to identify possible principles of worth related to Security Council responsibility and to understand their consequences for normative order in the United Nations Security Council.
