Para una crítica a la teoría de sistemas de Luhmann. El EZLN como movimiento de protesta

El objetivo del presente artículo es valorar algunas de las contribuciones que la teoría de sistemas de Niklas Luhmann realizó a las ciencias sociales y a la filosofía. Para ello, en la introducción se hace un repaso sobre el pensamiento sistémico, el pensamiento complejo, el concepto de totalidad y las explicaciones sistémicas. En el desarrollo se parte de la teoría de conflicto de Luhmann y se analizan: el concepto de afectado, la diferenciación sistémica, sistemas y creación de complejidad. Además, se realiza el análisis de un movimiento social en México para ver los alcances, contribuciones y límites de la teoría de sistemas. Se concluye que Luhmann es un pensador conservador, ahistórico y que ha dejado de lado por completo al sujeto, lo cual evidentemente para las ciencias sociales trae grandes riesgos teóricos y para la administración grandes riesgos prácticos.The objective of the present article is rating some of the contributions made by Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory to the social sciences and philosophy. For this purpose, in the introduction becomes a review of systems thinking, complex thought, the concept of totality, systemic explanations. In development are based on the theory of conflict of Luhmann, analyzed: the concept of affected, systemic differentiation, systems and creation of complexity. The analysis of a social movement is also performed in Mexico, to see the achievements, contributions and limits of systems theory. It is concluded that Luhmann is a conservative thinker, ahistorical and that has left aside completely to the subject, which obviously for social sciences brings large theoretical and management risks great practical risks

Beyond the ‘other’ as constitutive outside: : The politics of immunity in Roberto Esposito and Niklas Luhmann

This article re-conceptualises the ‘constitutive outside’ through Roberto Esposito’s theory of immunity to detach it from Laclau and Mouffe’s political antagonism. It identifies Esposito’s thought as an innovative epistemological perspective to dissolve post-ontological political theories of community from the intertwinement with a foundational self/other dialectic. Esposito shows how a community can sustain its relations through introversive immunisation against a primarily undefined outside. But it is argued that his theory of immunity slips back to a vitalist depth ontology which ultimately de-politicises the construction of the communal outside. This article draws on Niklas Luhmann’s immunity theory to resituate immunisation in the political production of social connectivity. Following Luhmann, politics relies on immunisation through contradictions to reproduce its functional role as a decision-making institution, but is at the same time constantly exposed to potential rupture through the political openness immunity introduces. Through Esposito and Luhmann, this article identifies the relationship between a social inside and its outside as open-ended and secondary to an introversive process of socio-political self-differentiation. It can involve, but does epistemologically necessitate, the construction of an external otherPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Communicative Competencies and the Structuration of Expectations: The creative tension between Habermas' critical theory and Luhmann's social systems theory

I elaborate on the tension between Luhmann's social systems theory and Habermas' theory of communicative action, and argue that this tension can be resolved by focusing on language as the interhuman medium of the communication which enables us to develop symbolically generalized media of communication such as truth, love, power, etc. Following Luhmann, the layers of self-organization among the differently codified subsystems of communication versus organization of meaning at contingent interfaces can analytically be distinguished as compatible, yet empirically researchable alternatives to Habermas' distinction between "system" and "lifeworld." Mediation by a facilitator can then be considered as a special case of organizing historically contingent translations among the evolutionarily developing fluxes of intentions and expectations. Accordingly, I suggest modifying Giddens' terminology into "a theory of the structuration of expectations.

The Non-linear Dynamics of Meaning-Processing in Social Systems

Social order cannot be considered as a stable phenomenon because it contains an order of reproduced expectations. When the expectations operate upon one another, they generate a non-linear dynamics that processes meaning. Specific meaning can be stabilized, for example, in social institutions, but all meaning arises from a horizon of possible meanings. Using Luhmann's (1984) social systems theory and Rosen's (1985) theory of anticipatory systems, I submit equations for modeling the processing of meaning in inter-human communication. First, a self-referential system can use a model of itself for the anticipation. Under the condition of functional differentiation, the social system can be expected to entertain a set of models; each model can also contain a model of the other models. Two anticipatory mechanisms are then possible: one transversal between the models, and a longitudinal one providing the modeled systems with meaning from the perspective of hindsight. A system containing two anticipatory mechanisms can become hyper-incursive. Without making decisions, however, a hyper-incursive system would be overloaded with uncertainty. Under this pressure, informed decisions tend to replace the "natural preferences" of agents and an order of cultural expectations can increasingly be shaped

Technology as an observing system : a 2nd order cybernetics approach

The role of technology in modern society is becoming fundamental to society itself as the boundary between technological utilization and technological interference narrows. Technology penetrates the core of an ever-increasing number of application domains. It exerts considerable influence over institutions, often in subtle ways that cannot be fully understood, and the effects of which, cannot be easily demarcated. Also, the ever-expanding ecosystem of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) results in an emergent complexity with unpredictable consequences. Over the past decades this has created a tension that has led to a heated debate concerning the relationship between the technical and the social. Some theorists subsume the technical into the social, others proclaim its domination, others its autonomy, while yet others suggest that it is a derivative of the social. Starting with Luhmann’s remark that technology determines what we observe and what we do not observe, this paper takes the approach that infers there are multiple benefits by looking into how Systems Theory can provide a coherent theoretical platform upon which these interactions can be further explored. It provides a theoretical treatise that examines the conditions through which the systemic nature of technology can be inspected. Also, the paper raises a series of questions that probe the nature of technological interference in other ‘function-systems’ of society (such as the economy, science, politics, etc). To achieve this goal, a 2nd order cybernetics approach is employed (mostly influenced by the works of Niklas Luhmann), in order to both investigate and delineate the impact of technology as system. Toward that end, a variety of influences of Information Systems (IS) are used as examples, opening the door to a complexity that emerges out of the interaction of technology with its socio-economic and political context. The paper describes technology as an observing system within the context of 2nd order cybernetics, and looks into what could be the different possibilities for a binary code for that system. Finally, the paper presents a framework that synthesizes relevant systems theoretical concepts in the context of the systemic character of technology

The Self-Organization of Meaning and the Reflexive Communication of Information

Following a suggestion of Warren Weaver, we extend the Shannon model of communication piecemeal into a complex systems model in which communication is differentiated both vertically and horizontally. This model enables us to bridge the divide between Niklas Luhmann's theory of the self-organization of meaning in communications and empirical research using information theory. First, we distinguish between communication relations and correlations among patterns of relations. The correlations span a vector space in which relations are positioned and can be provided with meaning. Second, positions provide reflexive perspectives. Whereas the different meanings are integrated locally, each instantiation opens global perspectives--"horizons of meaning"--along eigenvectors of the communication matrix. These next-order codifications of meaning can be expected to generate redundancies when interacting in instantiations. Increases in redundancy indicate new options and can be measured as local reduction of prevailing uncertainty (in bits). The systemic generation of new options can be considered as a hallmark of the knowledge-based economy.Comment: accepted for publication in Social Science Information, March 21, 201

Science as systems learning. Some reflections on the cognitive and communicational aspects of science

This paper undertakes a theoretical investigation of the 'learning' aspect of science as opposed to the 'knowledge' aspect. The practical background of the paper is in agricultural systems research – an area of science that can be characterised as 'systemic' because it is involved in the development of its own subject area, agriculture. And the practical purpose of the theoretical investigation is to contribute to a more adequate understanding of science in such areas, which can form a basis for developing and evaluating systemic research methods, and for determining appropriate criteria of scientific quality. Two main perspectives on science as a learning process are explored: research as the learning process of a cognitive system, and science as a social, communicational system. A simple model of a cognitive system is suggested, which integrates both semiotic and cybernetic aspects, as well as a model of selfreflective learning in research, which entails moving from an inside 'actor' stance to an outside 'observer' stance, and back. This leads to a view of scientific knowledge as inherently contextual and to the suggestion of reflexive objectivity and relevance as two related key criteria of good science

Sociological and Communication-Theoretical Perspectives on the Commercialization of the Sciences

Both self-organization and organization are important for the further development of the sciences: the two dynamics condition and enable each other. Commercial and public considerations can interact and "interpenetrate" in historical organization; different codes of communication are then "recombined." However, self-organization in the symbolically generalized codes of communication can be expected to operate at the global level. The Triple Helix model allows for both a neo-institutional appreciation in terms of historical networks of university-industry-government relations and a neo-evolutionary interpretation in terms of three functions: (i) novelty production, (i) wealth generation, and (iii) political control. Using this model, one can appreciate both subdynamics. The mutual information in three dimensions enables us to measure the trade-off between organization and self-organization as a possible synergy. The question of optimization between commercial and public interests in the different sciences can thus be made empirical.Comment: Science & Education (forthcoming

The communication of meaning in social systems

The sociological domain is different from the psychological one insofar as meaning can be communicated at the supra-individual level (Schutz, 1932; Luhmann, 1984). The computation of anticipatory systems enables us to distinguish between these domains in terms of weakly and strongly anticipatory systems with a structural coupling between them (Maturana, 1978). Anticipatory systems have been defined as systems which entertain models of themselves (Rosen, 1985). The model provides meaning to the modeled system from the perspective of hindsight, that is, by advancing along the time axis towards possible future states. Strongly anticipatory systems construct their own future states (Dubois, 1998a and b). The dynamics of weak and strong anticipations can be simulated as incursion and hyper-incursion, respectively. Hyper-incursion generates "horizons of meaning" (Husserl, 1929) among which choices have to be made by incursive agency

Management as a Symbolizing Construction?

In this article, we outline the concept of management as a symbolizing construction. According to Niklas LUHMANN, organizations process by referring to decisions. But decisions are not simply "given" and in principle invisible. This is the reason why organizations institute formalities like protocols, signatures or other insignia of the official that symbolize the decision—without actually being a decision. These symbols allow for making decisions "process-able." And just like a protocol or a signature, management symbolizes decisions as well. Management provides an organizational practice with symbols of decision making without being the "unity" of the decisions, as decisions perpetually have to be reconstructed, redefined and rearranged in the communication of all organizational units. Therefore management symbolizes on the one hand more than it can achieve. On the other hand the importance of management as a symbolizing construction lies in allowing the reconstruction, redefining and rearrangement of decisions by making them visible and recognizable. Heroic managers, meetings, management tools and procedures are solutions to the paradox of decision making. By symbolizing decidedness they create credibilities that conceal the self-referential construction of organizational communication and the paradox of its decision praxis