Translational conflicts

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The research project begins with two basic assumptions: Firstly it is based on the diagnosis of a functional differentiation of modern society. The research perspectve is focused on the inevitable conflicts between radically different functional logics and orientations in modern society. Secondly the research project begins with the assumption, that the conflicts of public debates do not only refer to different normative orientations or to the problem of the never ending search of good reasons. In contrary, the conflicts stem from the basic structure of functional differentiation. The research project will demonstrate this empirically using the examples of three cases, which have provoked public debates: the donation of organs, the conflicts among circumcision, and the field of palliative care. These three cases have in common, that they cause debates with broad public attention. These debates are characterized by conflicts between speakers from different origins. They can be regarded as generic cases, which are able to represent the structure of translational conflicts between different functional logics of society, between different professions and different forms of knowledge. The topic translation can make visible, that the different perspectives cannot become transfered into one another without remainder. This is why public debates often get into intractable conflicts, which however have to be solved empirically. Beyond the analysis of these three cases the research project pursues the goal to discuss the theoretical figure of functional differentiation with empirical means. On the one hand the research wants to reject the criticism, that differentiation means division of labour or something like a lack of contact between the differentiated parts of society. Such diagnoses stem from missreadings of theoretical figures. Our research deals with the problem, how a modern society can cope with its differentiation, regarding a society without a moderating, coordinating or steering central function, but a society that has to present self-descriptions day by day.