Crises create exceptional possibilities by suspending normal rules of conduct.

Evidence

In the case of crisis techniques, additional problems appear, i.e. a lack of clarity in both conceptual and theoretical contexts. It is best initially to conceive of crises in a purely formal way from a temporal perspective as a phase in the process carrying exceptional dangers and, as a consequence of this, exceptional possibilities. … In this way advantages in temporal differentiation can be gained by suspending accepted premises of conduct. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 760

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s thesis on Ishiguro’s Stevens and institutional deference — crisis suspension of normal premises is what lets a nation or household defer judgment to authority. — connects to: Catastrophe can restore the practical agency that normal conditions obstruct — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2395; Crisis lets neoliberal officials arrogate sovereign power to define emergencies — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 945