Collaboration and Its Political Functions

Abstract

What functions does “collaboration” play in our moral and political practices and how did it come to play those roles? We use the term “collaboration” to identify a valued partnership, but it also names a morally compromised association and functions as a reason for blaming and punishing complicitous behavior. However, it has also played nefarious political roles: shoring up patriarchy, legitimizing ethnic cleansing, and bolstering a myth of national unity. “Collaboration” plays various roles because it is both ambiguous and vague. It is ambiguous in that there are multiple conceptions of collaboration, and it is vague because it contains borderline cases that are difficult, even impossible, to resolve. An exploration of “collaboration” combined with the history of its coming of age shows why its study is so vexing and how it functions in unexpected and disturbing ways.

Notes from the Editors

“…The APSR publishes a wide range of excellent political theory articles including conceptual and historical papers. (For examples of recent conceptual and historical theory articles motivated by important political problems, see Arneil 2021 and Digeser 2021.) Much like the normative theory in the journal, the conceptual and historical work that we publish not only advances the subfield debates to which it contributes but also spells out its implications for how we understand and practice politics.…”

Collaborationism as an object of criminological research

“…P. Digeser (2022) explored the issue of collaboration as an undefined concept, which led to political abuse and manipulation, and also formulated the concept of gender collaborationism. Throughout Europe, Germany's Nazi ideology created various combinations and forms of cooperation with occupiers, ranging from military to economic collaboration.…”