Introduction: Control Systems Thinking in Sociological Theory

Sociological control systems theories have emerged from the confluence of two of the major developments in twentieth century social and behavioral science: sociological theory and cybernetics. Over the past three decades, several groups of sociologists—working independently for the most part—have turned to cybernetic models, particularly negative-feedback models, in an effort to overcome the deficiencies in conceptual integration that have posed problems for sociological theory throughout its relatively brief history. This volume brings together for the first time examples of research and theory from all of the working groups of sociologists who have participated in this recent cybernetic turn.1 In this introduction, we will review the theoretical sources on which they have drawn, briefly describe the work of each of these research groups, and provide an overview of the chapters that follow.2