Les Deux Angleterres et le Continent. Anglophone sociology as the guardian of Old European semantics

Abstract

Despite its influence in Central European sociology, N. Luhmann’s Social Systems theory remains a marginal branch of international sociology. In this paper, the theory questions the reasons for its own marginality in general and for its marginality in the Anglophone centers of sociology in particular, with the latter still being a surprise against the background of the theory’s cybernetic roots in the US. The theory arrives at the conclusion that, while Europe, or ‘the continent’, is still perceived as old compared with the Anglophone new world(s), it still is Anglophone sociology that preserves ‘Old European’ semantics. Sociology in continental ‘Old Europe’, however, seems to have a chance of slowly being acquainted with a new, post-enlightenment mindset focused on semantics and communication rather than on humans and action.

Multiplying the Division of Labour: Functional Differentiation of the Next Key Variables in Management Research

“…Although functional differentiation may safely be assumed to be the primary form of social differentiation today (Baecker, 2007;Beck and Lau, 2005;Beck et al, 2003;Brier, 2007;Laermans, 2007;Roth, 2015;Roth and Schütz, 2015), research and practice in management and business shares with the broader context of social sciences a surprising disinterest for the key concept of modern societies (Roth, 2013;Roth and Kaivo-oja, 2016;Wetzel and Van Gorp, 2014), and thus for the corresponding key variables. In this sense, our fields -although forms of functional differentiation themselves-seem to imply rather than study functional differentiation.…”

Four pillars of Luhmann’s analytical apparatus: Applications for communication research

“…Nevertheless, his theory of social systems seems to remain within the closed circle of avid followers and has been completely neglected by outsiders, especially in the Anglophone academic scene. 1 Many scholars argue that, despite his status as one of the dominant theorists in Europe, Luhmann has been unfairly undervalued in the Anglophone world (see, for instance, Andersen & Stenner, 2020;Bergthaller & Schinko, 2011;Borch, 2011;Roth, 2011). The underutilization of Luhmann's theory can be partly explained by the criticism 1 For the polarized acceptance of Luhmann's systems theory in the Anglophone academia, see Arnoldi (2001), and Roth (2011).…”