Social Systems Theory

Saburo Akahori ()
Additional contact information
Saburo Akahori: Tokyo Woman’s Christian University

Chapter 25 in Handbook of Systems Sciences, 2021, pp 663-674 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The term “social systems theory” can be interpreted in many ways. However, this chapter mainly understands this term from the tradition of sociology. In some branches of sociology, the term “social system” is strictly defined, and at the same time, social systems theory is regarded as a significant part of general systems theory. According to Niklas Luhmann, the concept of social systems should be considered as an extension of the property of systems in general; furthermore, the idea of “social system” is not a mere analogy of biological system or machine. This chapter follows this attitude and assumes that social system is very suitable for the system concept because the meaning of “the social” is remarkably close to the definition of systems (unitas multiplex; the unity of multiples). Based on this idea, this chapter explores how general systems theory can affect the main concepts of sociology. The primary focus is on how systems thinking can be a tool for sociological thinking. In this context, this chapter pays attention to the common point of systems thinking and sociological thinking, that is: to see things otherwise. In conclusion, social systems theory has the potential as an analytical tool of sociology, but this mission has not yet fully accomplished.

Keywords: General systems theory; Systems thinking; Sociological imagination; Sociological enlightenment; Sociocybernetics; Observing systems; Second-order cybernetics; Second-order observation; Difference-theoretical approach; Communication code (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-981-15-0720-5_69

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9789811507205

DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-0720-5_69

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().