Medium as a basic concept of sociology: contributions from systems theory

2006 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Tosini
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Basic Concept ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Sociological Analysis ◽  
Recent Developments

The main purpose of this article is to present the fundamental concepts of a theory of social systems, with special reference to the concepts of medium and form, and their application in sociology. By challenging the indifference and opposition shown by most contemporary sociologists to the ontological and theoretical questions of social theory (e.g. in the case of micro-sociologists’ aversion to Parsons), systems theory has, from the beginning, represented an attempt at an analysis focusing on the fundamental concepts (and on their coherent relations) of a general theory of society. Ignoring the elaboration of these concepts may be tantamount to reducing sociology to countless collections of facts of a limited informative value. Indeed, only an adequate conceptual framework will suffice. Certain recent developments in systems theory offer useful tools. Some of these developments are illustrated in this article, which marshals a network of concepts, each dealing with specific aspects relating to sociological analysis.

Can social systems theory be used for immanent critique?

Thesis Eleven ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexei Procyshyn
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Frankfurt School ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Social Systems Theory ◽  
Immanent Critique

Two trends have emerged in recent work from the Frankfurt School: the first involves a reconsideration of immanent critique’s basic commitments and viability for critical social theory, while the second involves an effort to introduce temporal considerations for social interaction into critical theorizing to help make sense of the phenomenon of social acceleration. This article contributes to these ongoing discussions by investigating whether social systems theory, in which temporal relations play a primary role, can be integrated with immanent critique. If such a synthesis were successful, it would promise to unify two distinct forms of social theorizing that have often been taken to be orthogonal or incommensurate since the debate between Luhmann and Habermas in the 1970s. The investigation proceeds in three parts: first, the article delineates immanent critique’s conditions of success; second, using these conditions, it identifies potential points of contact between social systems theorizing and immanent critical forms of analysis, while exemplifying these commonalities via a case study; finally, the article argues that, although immanent critique is not a strict method of analysis or investigation, its success conditions preclude social systems theory on the grounds that the latter approach cannot anchor itself within the context of analysis in the way ‘immanent critique’ requires.

scholarly journals Towards an Emotionally Conscious Social Theory

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benet Davetian
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Emotional Needs ◽  
Contemporary Theory ◽  
Cultural Boundaries ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Theories ◽  
New Evidence

This article attempts to contribute to the on-going discussion regarding the ‘future of sociology and social theory’ by suggesting that classical and contemporary social theories have yet to provide satisfactory accounts of the emotional components of human society. Following a discussion of how emotions have been downplayed in classical and contemporary theory, evidence is presented in support of a sociology that would include the study of emotions as part of broader studies of the social. A central proposition of this article is that the harmonization of studies of ‘micro’ and ‘macro’ realities would facilitate the development of a systems theory that neither excludes diversity nor minimizes the immutable emotional needs of individuals and their social systems. In support of the above argument, the author presents some new evidence pointing to the primacy of the human emotions across cultural boundaries.

scholarly journals Reframing the Medium Theory: McLuhan, Meyrowitz, and Luhmann

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (49) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Cheng Liu
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Major Theme ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Marshall Mcluhan ◽  
Medium Theory ◽  
The World ◽  
Medium System ◽  
The Media

This essay examines the concept of medium and other medium/media theories. Compared to the emphasis Marshall McLuhan and Joshua Meyrowitz place on the direct impact of the media on how people understand the world, the major theme of this paper is that such impact cannot be regarded as so direct, and their theories can be reframed with Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory. Thus, we can distinguish the medium system from the psychological and other social systems, and at the same time structurally couple with them. The concept of the medium system has not been envisioned by Luhmann; he constructed and explained a general theory of society and of social systems. In spite of this, his theoretical insights provide the basis for extension of his work to frame the medium theory.

scholarly journals The intersection between systems theory and grounded theory: the emergence of the grounded systems observer

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-21
Author(s):  
Barry Gibson ◽  
Jane Gregory ◽  
Peter G Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social World ◽  
The Other ◽  
Systems Methodology ◽  
The Social ◽  
The One

The aim of this paper is to outline how a theoretical intersection between systems theory and grounded theory could be articulated. The paper proceeds by marking that the important difference between systems theory and grounded theory is primarily reflected in the distinction between a revision of social theory on the one hand and the generation of theory for the social world on the other. It then explores figures of thought in philosophy that relate closely to aspects of Luhmann’s theory of social systems. An effectual intersection, an operational intersection, an intersection based on the concept of primary redundancy and a global/transcendental intersection between systems theory and grounded theory are proposed. The paper then goes on to briefly outline several methodological consequences of the intersection for a grounded systems methodology. It concludes by discussing the sort of knowledge for the social world that is likely to emerge from this mode of observation.

Time as sociology’s basic concept: A perspective from Alfred Schutz’s phenomenological sociology and Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 995-1012
Author(s):  
Mitsuhiro Tada
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Basic Concept ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Present System ◽  
Stream Of Consciousness ◽  
Social Systems Theory ◽  
Proper Position ◽  
Problem Of Time ◽  
Phenomenological Sociology

This paper aims to clarify the proper position of time as sociology’s basic concept in relation to meaning ( Sinn). In sociology, the inseparable relationship between time and meaning has been clearly shown by Schutz’s phenomenological sociology and Luhmann’s social systems theory. Referring to the respective theories of Bergson and Husserl, Schutz argued that the problem of meaning in Weber’s interpretative sociology is a problem of time. The meaning of an action that an actor subjectively thinks of is determined not by a common normative value for example, but rather through her/his own inner time: the meaning of an ongoing action ( Handeln) is the act ( Handlung) projected as an aim in the stream of consciousness. Similarly, Luhmann considered self-referential social systems as temporal subjects that cognize their own reality of the external world. Phenomena appearing to a social system through communicative intentionality are weighted by the system’s own past and future, and are thereby selectively (not randomly) actualized as meaningful units in the present. System order (or social order) is thus temporally organized in the atemporal, chaotic world of meaning. “Self-reference” is to refer to a system’s own eigen time ( Eigenzeit), which provides the basis for a system’s autonomy or freedom.

Managing uncertainty in healthcare interpreter-mediated interaction

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-164
Author(s):  
Claudio Baraldi ◽  
Laura Gavioli
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Social Systems Theory ◽  
Intercultural Mediators ◽  
Or History

This paper analyses healthcare interactions involving doctors, migrant patients and ‘intercultural mediators’ who provide interpreting services. Our study is based on a collection of 300 interactions involving two language pairs, Arabic–Italian and English–Italian. The analytical framework includes conversation analysis combined with insights from social systems theory. We look at question-answer sequences, where (1) the doctors ask questions about patients’ problems or history, (2) the doctors’ questions are responded to and (3) the doctor closes the sequence, moving on to another question. We analyse the ways in which mediators help doctors design questions for patients and patients understand and eventually respond to the doctors’ design. While the doctor’s question design aims at obtaining details which are relevant for the patients’ care, it is argued that collecting such details involves complex interactional work. In particular, doctors need help in displaying their attention to their patients’ problems and in guiding patients’ responses into medically relevant directions. Likewise, patients need help in reacting appropriately. Mediators help manage communicative uncertainty both by showing the doctor’s interest in what the patient says, and by exploring and rendering the patient’s incomplete, extended and ambiguous answers to the doctor’s questions.

A Group Awaiting Death: The Social Systems Perspective on a Naturally Occurring Group Situation

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Starker ◽  
Joan E. Starker
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Situation ◽  
Imminent Death

The decline and imminent death of an individual in a hospital's intensive care unit led to the creation of a transient group composed of family and friends. The dynamics of this tragic group are explored using the concepts provided by Social Systems theory. Ambiguity of the task structure and its inherent frustrations, fluidity of leadership and power, and failure of a utopian defense are all discussed as contributors to subsequent dissension and splitting. The social systems perspective provides a useful tool for understanding this naturally occurring group situation.

scholarly journals CASTING THE LIGHT OF THE THEORY OF OPPOSITION ONTO HOHFELD'S FUNDAMENTAL LEGAL CONCEPTS

Legal Theory ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
João Alberto de Oliveira Lima ◽  
Cristine Griffo ◽  
João Paulo A. Almeida ◽  
Giancarlo Guizzardi ◽  
Marcio Iorio Aranha
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
The Core ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Law ◽  
Opposition Theory ◽  
Legal Concepts ◽  
Number Of Authors

Abstract At the core of Hohfeld's contribution to legal theory is a conceptual framework for the analysis of the legal positions occupied by agents in intersubjective legal relations. Hohfeld presented a system of eight “fundamental” concepts relying on notions of opposition and correlation. Throughout the years, a number of authors have followed Hohfeld in applying the notion of opposition to analyze legal concepts. Many of these authors have accounted for Hohfeld's theory in direct analogy with the standard deontic hexagon. This paper reviews some of these accounts and extends them employing recent developments from opposition theory. In particular, we are able to extend application of opposition theory to an open conception of the law. We also account for the implications of abandoning the assumption of conflict-freedom and admitting seemingly conflicting legal positions. This enables a fuller analysis of Hohfeld's conceptual analytical framework. We also offer a novel analysis of Hohfeld's power positions.

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