Social system

About: Social system is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2974 publications have been published within this topic receiving 92395 citations.

Introduction to Systems Theory

Abstract: Translators Note and Acknowledgements System-Autopoiesis-Form: An Introduction to Luhmann's 'Introduction to Systems Theory' Editor's Preface to the German Edition I. Sociology and Systems Theory 1. The Functionalism of System Maintenance 2. Parsons II. General Systems Theory 1. The Theory of Open Systems 2. System as Difference (Formal Analysis) 3. Operational Closure 4. Self-Organization, Autopoiesis 5. Structural Coupling 6. Observing 7. Re-entry 8. Complexity 9. The Idea of Rationality III. Time IV. Meaning V. Psychic and Social Systems 1. Problems of "Action Theory" 2. Two Modes of Operation of Autopoiesis VI. Communication as a Self-Observing Operation VII. Double Contingency, Structure, Conflict Suggested Further Readings

System as Difference

Abstract: This is an edited and translated transcript of a lecture by Niklas Luhmann in which he outlined the foundation of his systems theory based on the notion of difference and distinction. After a brief introduction to early theories of distinction, the central ideas of Spencer-Brown’s Laws of Form as the most radical form of differential thinking are presented. For Luhmann’s systems theory, this has four important consequences. First, the system is the difference between system and environment. Second, the system can be defined through a single mode of operation. Third, every (social) system observes internally (i.e. within the system) its own system/environment distinction; there is a re-entry of the system/environment distinction into the system. Fourth, every social theory is part of the social domain and as such part of what it describes.

Corporate Social Capital and Liability

Abstract: Introduction: CSC: The Structure of Advantage and Disadvantage S.M. Gabbay, R.Th.A.J. Leenders. Section I: Conceptual Issues - Theory, Models, and Measurement. 1. Organizational Networks and Corporate Social Capital D. Knoke. 2. Social Capital of Organization: Conceptualization, Level of Analysis, and Performance Implications J.M. Pennings, K. Lee. 3. A Relational Resource Perspective on Social Capital L. Araujo, G. Easton. 4. Social Capital by Design: Structures, Strategies, and Institutional Context W.E. Baker, D. Obstfeld. 5. Corporate Social Capital and Liability: a Conditional Approach to Three Consequences of Corporate Social Structure I. Talmud. 6. Dimensions of Corporate Social Capital: Toward Models and Measures S.-K. Han, R.L. Breiger. 7. Organizational Standing as Corporate Social Capital P. Doreian. 8. Customer Service Dyads: Diagnosing Emperical Buyer - Seller Interactions along Gaming Profiles in a Dyadic Parametric Space D. Iacobucci. Section II: Structure at the Individual Level - Social Capital in Jobs and Careers. 9. The Sidekick Effect: Mentoring Relationships and the Development of Social Capital M. Higgins, N. Nohria. 10. Social Capital in Internal Staffing Practices P.V. Marsden, E.H. Gorman. 11. Getting a Job as a Manager H. Flap, E. Boxman. 12. The Changing Value of Social Capital in an Expanding Social System: Lawyers in the Chicago Bar, 1975 and 1995 R.L. Sandefur, et al. Section III: Structure at the Individual Level -- Social Capital and Management. 13. Generalized Exchange and Economic Performance: Social Embeddedness of Labor Contracts in a Corporate Law Partnership E. Lazega. 14. CEO Demographics and Acquisitions: Network Effects of Educational and Functional Background P.R. Haunschild, et al. 15. Public Service Organizations -- Social Networks and Social Capital E. Ferlie. 16. The Dark Side of Social Capital M. Gargiulo, M. Benassi. 17. Social Capital, Social Liabilities, and Social Resources Management D.J. Brass, G. Labianca. Section IV: Structure at the Firm Level -- Social Capital in Collaboration and Alliances. 18. The Triangle: Roles of the Go-Between B. Nooteboom. 19. The Management of Social Capital in R&D Collaboration O. Omta, W. van Rossum. 20. Technological Prestige and the Accumulation of Alliance Capital T.E. Stuart. 21. Networks and Knowledge Production: Collaboration and Patenting in Biotechnology L. Smith-Doerr, et al. 22. Supply Network Strategy and Social Capital C. Harland. Section V: Structure at the Firm Level -- Social Capital and Financial Capital. 23. Choosing Ties from the Inside of a Prism: Egocentric Uncertainty and Status in Venture Capital Markets J.M. Podolny, F. Castellucci. 24. Corporate Social Capital and the Cost of Financial Capital: An Embeddedness Approach B. Uzzi, J.J. Gillespie. 25. Venture Capital as an Economy of Time J. Freeman. Conclusion. References. Index. Contributors. Editors.

The diversity of resilience: contributions from a social science perspective

Abstract: The paper presents contributions to the widespread resilience paradigm from a social science perspective. Certain aspects of social systems, especially their symbolic dimension of meaning, need to be taken into account in the endeavor to research coupled social–ecological systems. Due to the symbolic dimension, disasters are defined as the failure of future expectations, and social resilience is defined as the social system property of avoiding or withstanding disasters. In relation to this, three capacities of social systems (adaptive, coping, and participative) that constitute resilience are presented. The adaptive capacity is the property of a system in which structures are modified to prevent future disasters, whereas the coping capacity is the system’s property of coping with calamitous processes that occurred in the past. The participative capacity is a measure of the system’s ability to change its own structures with regard to interventions by other systems, decreasing the system’s resilience. The concept of resilience provides important epistemological and political insights and can help overcome an orientation tied together with the concept of vulnerability that blocks social capacities for the mitigation of disasters.

Luhmann, Habermas, and the Theory of Communication

Abstract: In his critique of Luhmann’s sociology, Habermas (1987) argued that individuation and socialization are possible on the basis of linguistic structures. This critique touches the blind spot of sociological systems theory as a meta-biology. Whereas the paradigm shift from action theory towards communication theory was fully reflected in Luhmann’s sociology, the difference between the self-organization of social systems and the autopoiesis of biological systems remained underspecified. Social systems allow for communication about observations from within the system and/or from another perspective. Observers are able to participate both in the variation and in the selection; Giddens (1976) introduced in this context the metaphor of a ‘double hermeneutics.’ Through language the distinction between uncertainty and meaningful information is communicated reflexively, and the consequent codification may be changed without becoming confused. The implied communicative competences can be specified from the perspective of communication theory.