From a systems theoretical view, it’s interesting what has happened to the Republican Party recently. Political parties are autopoietic systems; like all autopoietic systems, they
Author: clclark563
I am a lecturer in the English department at the University of Wisconsin--La Crosse.
Draw a Distinction!
Luhmannian systems theory, as distinguished from the systems theory of the 1950s-60s, begins with the injunction to “draw a distinction.” Luhmann, following George Spencer-Brown, takes
Social Order?
If we agree that societies are not grounded in basic norms or shared values–or that there is no meta-level that can influence the system–and we
Norms and Shared Values
As for the second epistemological obstacle to an adequate theory of society, we cannot persuasively argue that societies are constituted, integrated, or coordinated by shared
A Theory of Society
Luhmann speaks of four “epistemological obstacles . . . to be found in the prevailing understanding of society in the form of four interconnected, mutually
