Social Systems in the Global Age

2021. Auflage 2027
ISBN: 978-4-431-54924-6
Verlag: Springer Verlag, Japan

Buch, Englisch, 192 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm

Reihe: Translational Systems Sciences

This book formulates an evolutionary and pluralistic view of social systems in the global age, especially with reference to Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems. Several paired concepts, such as national society/world society, stratification/functional differentiation, diffuse/specific, universalistic/particularistic, and inclusion/exclusion, illustrate the transformation of social structure and its effects on the constructive principles of social systems and the definition of individual identity. Every functional subsystem has become more autonomous and the socio-cultural sources of individual identity have become more diversified than in the past. The book proposes the concept of the “intermediary unit” and discusses its significance and relevance in the social systems theory. In the background of this discussion, the reality is that there is no system of meaning and values that are valid in all areas of the world society that has emerged in the process of functional differentiation and globalization, nor can we design such a system theoretically. The significance of intermediary units is considered; the competition of intermediary units and meaning-value spaces in the actual social process is defined as the politics of meaning; and a new form of pluralism based on the concept of polycontexturality is proposed. These factors seem to make the whole world more and more complex, risky, uncertain, and nontransparent. The evolutionary and pluralistic design principles of social systems including various intermediary units improve our capacity to cope with future risks.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Tokuyasu, Akira

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Gesellschaftstheorie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Politische Soziologie und Psychologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Politische Soziologie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Forschung und Information Kybernetik, Systemtheorie, Komplexe Systeme
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Globalisierung, Transformationsprozesse

Inhaltsverzeichnis

How to observe and describe the social system.- System epistemology.- From national societies to a global society.- Functional differentiation.- Inclusion/exclusion.- Identity of individuals.- The age of pluralism§ Paradoxes of pluralization.- Intermediary units.- Poly-contextual meaning-value spaces.