Hornidge, Anna-Katharina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9599-4348 (2017) Mid-range concepts – the lego bricks of meaning-making: an example from Khorezm, Uzbekistan. In: Area studies at the crossroads - Knowledge Production after the Mobility Turn. , ed. by Mielke, Katja and Hornidge, Anna-Katharina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9599-4348. Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 213-230. ISBN 978-1-349-95011-9 DOI https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59834-9_12.

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Abstract

Drawing on the intricate pattern of boundary negotiations in Uzbekistan’s water management (Hornidge et al. Natural Resources Forum 35(4); 251–268, 2013) as an example of first-level abstraction in local governance research, this chapter illustrates how such first-level abstractions—grasped and objectified as mid-range concepts—can act as entry points for understanding (in line with Max Weber) local society in the interconnectedness of meaning and being (as stressed by Karl Mannheim). Just like Lego bricks, these first-level abstractions act as building blocks of sense- and meaning-making and, thus, of the ontologies and epistemologies we/society lives in and that guide processes of social differentiation (inherent to any existing form of governance) through the ever continuing processes of boundary-making, -weakening and -renegotiating. To enable Area Studies students to identify first-level abstractions, instead of getting lost in the increasing empirical complexities of a mobile world, it is pertinent to systematically strengthen critical social theory in Area Studies teaching.

Document Type:	Book chapter
Programme Area:	PA Not Applicable
Research affiliation:	Social Sciences > Development and Knowledge Sociology
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59834-9_12
Date Deposited:	24 Jun 2019 10:30
Last Modified:	04 Mar 2026 16:43
URI:	https://cris.leibniz-zmt.de/id/eprint/2157

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