Functional Systems as Metric Forms and Institutions as Non-metric Forms: A Neo-Luhmannian Approach

The article develops a new pair of fundamental concepts – metric and nonmetric – by exploiting the contrast between systems theory and neo-institutionalism. Borrowed from Manuel DeLanda, the concepts aims at describing the properties of social forms arising in a crowd of individuals functioning as a medium of communication. It is argued that neo-institutionalism privileges nonmetric forms. The crowd is rearranged into distinct groups just like space can be divided into topological zones. Individuals in the crowd take their identity from the group they are in: actor or non-actor, rational or non-rational, etc. By opposition, systems theory emphasizes metric forms as in the case of the functional systems of modern society analyzed by Niklas Luhmann. Each metric form is based on a signal activated by the circulation of individuals inside the crowd and thus creating a modulating flow. Metric forms are not tied to specific individuals. For the flow to go on, it is not necessary for the same individuals who once triggered the signal in the past to return and trigger it again. Anyone will do! Metric forms are truly different from their nonmetric counterparts since they do not categorize individuals by grouping them (or group individuals by categorizing them). JEL: B5, Y8