IS SOCIETY A SELF-ORGANIZING SYSTEM

Authors
Citation
L. Leydesdorff, IS SOCIETY A SELF-ORGANIZING SYSTEM, Journal of social and evolutionary systems, 16(3), 1993, pp. 331-349
Citations number
45
Categorie Soggetti
Social, Sciences, Interdisciplinary
ISSN journal
10617361
Volume
16
Issue
3
Year of publication
1993
Pages
331 - 349
Database
ISI
SICI code
1061-7361(1993)16:3<331:ISASS>2.0.ZU;2-1
Abstract
Should society be considered a self-organizing (''autopoietic'') syste m? If so, what are the implications of this approach for sociological theory? The concept of paradigms has provided the sociology of science with a mental model for understanding self-organization as an agency at the supra-individual level. In the sociology of scientific knowledg e this ''anomaly'' in sociological theorizing has been elaborated by u sing the distinction between reflexive and substantive discourses. Thi s essay specifies the conditions necessary for a social system to beco me self-organizing in terms of communications. ''Interpenetration'' by action can then be analyzed in terms of structural and operational co uplings of the social communication system.