Die Gesellschaft der Gesellschaft

by Niklas Luhmann

Mit souveräner Konsequenz und Umsicht hat Niklas Luhmann in den letzten drei Jahrzehnten an einer Theorie der Gesellschaft gearbeitet, die er nun mit Die Gesellschaft der Gesellschaft vorlegt.

Genres: Sociology, Science, Nonfiction

1149 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Niklas Luhmann was a German sociologist, and a prominent thinker in systems theory, who is increasingly recognized as one of the most important social theorists of the 20th century.

Luhmann wrote prolifically, with more than 70 books and nearly 400 scholarly articles published on a variety of subjects, including law, economy, politics, art, religion, ecology, mass media, and love. While his theories have yet to make a major mark in American sociology, his theory is currently well known and popular in German sociology and has also been rather intensively received in Japan and Eastern Europe, including Russia. His relatively low profile elsewhere is partly due to the fact that translating his work is a difficult task, since his writing presents a challenge even to readers of German, including many sociologists. (p. xxvii Social System 1995)

Much of Luhmann's work directly deals with the operations of the legal system and his autopoietic theory of law is regarded as one of the more influential contributions to the sociology of law and socio-legal studies.

Luhmann is probably best known to North Americans for his debate with the critical theorist Jürgen Habermas over the potential of social systems theory. Like his one-time mentor Talcott Parsons, Luhmann is an advocate of "grand theory," although neither in the sense of philosophical foundationalism nor in the sense of "meta-narrative" as often invoked in the critical works of post-modernist writers. Rather, Luhmann's work tracks closer to complexity theory broadly speaking, in that it aims to address any aspect of social life within a universal theoretical framework - of which the diversity of subjects he wrote about is an indication. Luhmann's theory is sometimes dismissed as highly abstract and complex, particularly within the Anglophone world, whereas his work has had a more lasting influence on scholars from German-speaking countries, Scandinavia and Italy.

Luhmann himself described his theory as "labyrinth-like" or "non-linear" and claimed he was deliberately keeping his prose enigmatic to prevent it from being understood "too quickly", which would only produce simplistic misunderstandings.

Reviews

[Dan Richter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luhmann räumt auf mit dem Ballast, den die soziologische Theorie seit über 100 Jahren mit sich herumschleppt und die sie teilweise aus der politischen Philosophie geerbt hat: "Kritische" Sozialwissenschaft, Ontologische Ansätze, Mensch-Fixiertheit, Nationalstaaten-Theorie, Aufklärung usw.
Stattdessen entfaltet er eine umfangreiche Theorie, die mit dem Begriff "Systemtheorie" eigentlich nur unzureichend bezeichnet ist, z.B. da er ja auch die Evolution von Systemen aus nicht systemisch ausdifferenzierten Gesellschaften beschreibt. Seine Theorie ist gleichzeitig auch Medientheorie (Medium i.S. der symbolisch generalisierten Kommunikationsmedien verstanden) Evolutionstheorie. Er beleuchtet die Funktionsweise von sozialen Systemen, ihre Selbstbeschreibungen, ihre Leistung, ihre Reflexion.
Das alles sehr sauber und in einer klaren Sprache. Mir scheint, dass die späteren Werke Luhmanns viel leichter zu lesen sind. Frühere Werke (z.B. "Soziale Systeme" oder "Ökologische Kommunikation") wirken oft hölzern und kompliziert. Jenen Büchern verdankt Luhmann wohl auch den Ruf der schweren Fasslichkeit. "Die Gesellschaft der Gesellschaft", das ja sein Opus Magnum wurde, liest sich wirklich spannend. Ich würde es sogar Einsteigern empfehlen.

[homoness · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a rollercoaster Ride through philosophical thinking! One doesn't read the Luhmann, one dances with the Luhmann. After having dismissed a plethora of almost common sense sociology (among them Weber, Habermas, Lyotard, Durkheim) he replaces it with his own methodology, drawing heavily from George Spencer Brown and Deleuze. He's the thinker of the paradox, the best lover I've ever had and almost lucid; oh Niklas.
Highly recommended.

[Hal]

Empfehlung: Erst die Vorlesungen von Luhmann lesen