"Structural coupling, operative closure and overcommunication in Niklas Luhmann s Social Systems Theory" / "Acoplamento estrutural, fechamento operacional e processos sobrecomunicativos na teoria dos sistemas sociais de Niklas Luhmann"

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2005

RESUMO

This thesis - based on bibliographic research - presents and analyzes some of the fundamental concepts of the Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory, which proposes a new paradigm for the Sociology and intends to surpass the classic social theories. Social systems, in the luhmannian sense, are autopoietic, operatively closed and self-referred systems, emerged from a differentiation from the environment. This differentiation occurs with the establishment of a mark, which permits the system to recognize what pertains or not to the system. Social systems operate with communications that acquire meaning through the inside recursive net, which access is closed to the environment. The environment is formed by other existing systems and by disorganized information. The fundamental concepts of the theory are presented in order to introduce the debate about an specific aspect: the inter-systemic relationship, specially through structural coupling, the mechanism by which a system operates its own elements through the use of the structures of another system, meantime the limits between them are maintained. Structural couplings are long lasting inter-systemic relationships. Finally, the temporality, rationality and limits of the observation of the social systems are used for the proposition of a new concept: overcommunication. The concept intends to explain how external influences can occur in autopoietic systems without the abandonment of the premises of the theory, such as the operational closure and the self-reference. The formal structure of the thesis is as follows: an analysis of the functioning of the concepts of the theory, taking in account their integration into the general draw; reflections on specific aspects of the concepts which deal with the preservation of the integrity of the system and on the relationship of the system with the environment and with other systems and, finally, the presentation of the new concept, its structure, functioning and examples. A translation into Portuguese of a Luhmann’s text about structural coupling is attached.

ASSUNTO(S)

processos comunicativos fechamento operacional sistemas sociais processos sobrecomunicativos overcommunication communication acoplamento estrutural social systems structural coupling operative closure

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