IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/srbeha/v35y2018i6p856-868.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘Niklas Luhmann before Relational Sociology: The Cybernetics Roots of Systems Theory’

Author

Listed:
  • Jean‐Sébastien Guy

Abstract

This article is meant as an intervention in a special context currently taking shape: in recent years, we have observed the rise of relational sociology and within this paradigm, we can witness the re‐emergence of Niklas Luhmann's systems theory. This is worth mentioning since the latter has been largely neglected by other sociologists until now. This article supports this re‐emergence and, in an effort to make it easier, it explains how Luhmann developed his systems theory by borrowing key elements from the cybernetics movement. These elements revolve around the concept of self‐reference. The article discusses the meaning of self‐reference in light of four figures: self‐regulation, self‐organization, self‐observation and self‐production. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean‐Sébastien Guy, 2018. "‘Niklas Luhmann before Relational Sociology: The Cybernetics Roots of Systems Theory’," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(6), pages 856-868, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:35:y:2018:i:6:p:856-868
    DOI: 10.1002/sres.2523
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2523
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sres.2523?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Guy, Jean-Sébastien, 2019. "Digital technology, digital culture and the metric/nonmetric distinction," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 55-61.
    2. Michael Grothe-Hammer & Héloïse Berkowitz, 2024. "Unpacking Social Order: Towards a Novel Framework that Goes Beyond Organizations, Institutions, and Networks Forthcoming in Critical Sociology," Post-Print hal-04426296, HAL.
    3. Le Ravalec, Mickaele & Rambaud, Alexandre & Blum, Véronique, 2022. "Taking climate change seriously: Time to credibly communicate on corporate climate performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:35:y:2018:i:6:p:856-868. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/1092-7026 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.